* Delete post options

[jimlad68]

....HELP I inserted extra posts by mistake, I can edit them but do not know how to delete them,. Is there a way?

[Advice from Mike Tate: Jim, next to the Edit post icon there is the Delete post dustbin icon.]

[jimlad68]

Mike re the

next to the Edit post icon there is the Delete post dustbin icon

This is not available on all my posts, I'm suspecting there are some rules, perhaps after editing, or subsequent posts or time period. Perhaps I missed the bin symbol before I edited?

[tatewise]

To edit a post you click on the Edit post icon of a pen & pad in the righthand toolbar.
To delete a post you click the Delete post icon of a dustbin that is next in the same toolbar.
Once you have entered editing mode with its B I U etc lefthand toolbar there is also a Delete post option top left, but that is not available when you have used Post a new topic or Post a reply to create a new posting.
I am not aware of any rules or timing issues.
Just hover your cursor on each icon in turn, and you will get the following tooltips:
Edit post, Delete post, Report this post, Information, Reply with quote.

[jimlad68]

Just tested that, seems basically that the 2 delete options are there until you have gone past the 'point of no return' (i.e. Post a new topic or Post a reply to create a new posting). Nice to know for future reference.

[tatewise]

I have no idea what you mean by point of no return..
The reason there is no Delete post option in the Post reply or Post a new topic window is that there is nothing to delete until you Submit it.
But after you have submitted the post then both Delete post options will exist.
If you decide you don't want to post a reply/new topic then use the browser Back button to cancel the posting, instead of Submit.

[BillH]

Mike,

If you post a message or a reply you do see the dustbin icon.

If you then post another message or reply to the same topic, you see the dustbin icon on the second message or reply, but the dustbin icon is no longer there on the first message or reply.

It seems you can only delete a message or reply that you post up until the point that you add another message or reply to the same topic.

If I understand Jim correctly, this is the point of no return he mentions.

Bill

[tatewise]

I have split this off as a User Group thread.

Does the Edit post pen & pad icon still exist on those earlier superseded posts?

If you use that Edit post option, does the Delete post option exist or not within the Edit post window?

Maybe my Moderator privileges grant me extra delete options, which explains the differences that I see.

[jimlad68]

post 1 - test posting to try to delete after further entry

[jimlad68]

post 2 - test posting to try to delete after further entry

[AdrianBruce]

Without experimenting, other than by looking at the icons, I appear to be able to edit any of my posts (i.e. the edit icon is there) but the delete icon only appears when it is the last post in a thread. In particular, if anyone posts another reply to the thread after yours, then the delete icon is no longer visible.

That, at any rate, is my impression.

Jim - I hope that this doesn't mess up your testing - I'm presuming that you would have finished your test by now, based on the time that you posted. If not, I seriously apologise!!!

[jimlad68]

Sorry for the delay in this 3rd post, but had an internet connectivity issue (Adrian got one in in the middle)

OK, just done 2 posts, image attached. You will note the post 1 no longer has the delete bin box, neither was there a delete while editing option.

I suspect this is some sort of safeguard, to stop threads becoming incomprehensible, as if people removed previous entries, the thread might make no sense.

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temp fh.jpg (41.73 KiB) Viewed 13484 times

[tatewise]

Maybe Jane could add her thoughts to this scenario.

Removing the Delete post option does not safeguard much, because you can still presumably Edit post and delete all the text (except one character such as a dot or comma), and delete all attachments, and delete the Subject line text, just leaving a confusing empty posting!!!

[AdrianBruce]

... Removing the Delete post option does not safeguard much, ...

I decided that it was a probable safeguard when I discovered it, but came to a similar conclusion to you! I don't know if the posts might contain URLs (e.g.) that would go pear-shaped if the target was removed but certainly the meaning of the thread isn't at all safeguarded.

[Jane]

As far as I can see it's the standard way that PHPBB is configured, once a post has a reply only moderators can delete or edit it (which is why Mike is seeing things differently), so if you double post just set one blank or a message saying please delete I am sure one of the mod's will do it for you.

Mike I can lock it down more so users can only edit/delete posts for say 15 minutes before they lock, which would make the option more logical.

I did look at the settings, but could not see an easy way to change the behaviour to allow unlimited editing or deleting but could not find anything.

I suspect there is probably a mod to do it, but PHPBB mods are much more tricky to install than say Wordpress ones.

[jimlad68]

To me the current system with, as say Jane suggests, an extra time period sounds like a good compromise.

[tatewise]

I have no strong feeling either way, except that maybe best left alone so users not involved in this discussion are not taken unawares.

Should the Forum Usage Guide (4252) (or elsewhere) mention this Delete post effect with advice about asking Moderators to delete posts?

[AdrianBruce]

I don't really think locking it down more would help. So far as I know, there is no evidence of people being confused by earlier posts being edited by their authors. The reason I found out that I couldn't delete earlier postings, only edit them, was when I wrote something part-way through a thread that I hadn't checked properly and Mike suggested (rightly) that the post was misleading and could I delete it.

When I found I couldn't delete it (in retrospect, because Mike had posted after me), I just edited it, blanking out much of the text and leaving a comment in that said "Previous comments deleted as misleading" or similar. I'm not sure that it would have added anything if I'd had to ask Mike to delete / edit it. Yes, people could make a thread look odd but it would probably be fairly obvious as only their words would change.