Originally Posted by
cooker
I too am shocked that an OP can delete a thread. Sometimes I consult past threads for research I or others have previously done on some topic under discussion; and sometimes I see posts that are very well written and thought out and I would go as far as saying they are literary contributions that deserve to be archived for posterity. The idea that one person can erase other peoples' contributions to the forum is actually quite disturbing. I will lobby to get that changed.
It's quite different if mods delete posts for objectionable content.
1. The thread in question contained no "literary contributions".
2. The thread in question was well on its way to being moved to P&R or closed thanks to the contributions that were made.
3. I doubt anyone here can remember the thread in question!
4. Being able to delete your own thread is the way Internet Brand forums, and other forums of this structure, are set up.
5. I wish we could change the titles of the threads we create ... but again, that's an Internet Brands forum structure thing, and we can't.
6. I wish the whole structure of these forums could be modernised, but Internet Brands isn't willing to put the money into doing that.
7. Being able to delete your own thread saves the mods time and effort. If you accidentally create a duplicate thread, you can delete the one you don't want. If you accidentally create your thread in the wrong subforum, you can delete it and recreate it where you want. If your thread goes into the toilet shortly after you start it, as the thread in question did, you can clean it up without bothering the mods about it.
8. If you've created something worth of literary recognition, don't leave it on Bike Forums or any forum for posterity!!
Save it in your own file. Forums are temporary. A server crash or change can and has lost many a thread. On one such server transition quite a number of years ago, something like 1/3 of the threads were lost.
9. And here's a 5-year prediction for you ... in 5 years forums could be a thing of the past. Actually, I can't put exactly 5 years on that. I've been seeing evidence that forums are dying for several years now and they are an old folks thing, so it could be as little as 2 or 3 years ... but on the other hand, some of the younger folk are rediscovering forums, so maybe as long as 10 years. But I do think forums will need to be modernised for that to happen.
10. This delete feature has been available to you since the forum began ... for the past 15-ish years.
