Will we ever be allwoed to delete topics like we used to be able to do.

I think this is a vBulletin "feature". The administrators might be able to install some sort of hack to circumvent this, though. I don't believe they've ever made an official statement about this or anything.

I think the problem is that deleting threads will also delete replies (thus posts by other people). If someone posts a substantial, thoughtful reply to a thread, and the thread is deleted, they might be a bit upset.

^^^

Alright, now useless offtopic comment. I was about to go mention that earlier or evevntually, well not the first part of what you said, but about how he kinda stole your sig idea . (Talking about your signature)

Originally Posted by Trafton

I think this is a vBulletin "feature". The administrators might be able to install some sort of hack to circumvent this, though. I don't believe they've ever made an official statement about this or anything.

No, it's explicitly set in the user permissions.

Originally Posted by Link

No, it's explicitly set in the user permissions.

Why?

Quite obviously they are faking birthdays. Those threads need to be deleted. You should start banning people. Seriously. It makes me want to not come to the board anymore.

Originally Posted by Link

I think the problem is that deleting threads will also delete replies (thus posts by other people). If someone posts a substantial, thoughtful reply to a thread, and the thread is deleted, they might be a bit upset.

What does that matter? If they feel the need to bring back a forum, talking about the admins. But there are too many dumb topics on this board, and they have been spammed to death. Or something cruel has happened in the topic.

Originally Posted by Derivative

But there are too many dumb topics on this board, and they have been spammed to death. Or something cruel has happened in the topic.

Deleting one's own threads means that one can delete one's own threads, not those of other people. I don't understand how being able to delete your own threads would fix the problem of "dumb topics". Unless you consider your own topic "dumb" because of the replies... but that still isn't right to delete it. People would be deleting topics if they don't like the opinions of people replying or if they are losing an argument, amongst other things.

A real life example: Publishers/authors can stop the sale/propogation of their works. But they can't get rid of public responses by others. If you think you said something embarassing or "dumb" in your post, you can edit it out. But you can't destroy the responses of other people.

If the thread was an accident, or you change your mind soon after posting (not because of the replies), an administrator will be happy to delete it for you. But if you want the thread deleted because you don't like the replies, you will rarely get your wish. It is at an administrator's discretion what to do with a topic. If it's just turning into a flamewar, they will close it. If it's turning into spam, they might delete it. They'll consider input from users but it can't just be up to the author.

(Note: This is my opinion, not necessarily the official position of the board administration. It would be good if other administrators replied to this.)

I agree with Link's post right above this.

But the point I'n trying to get at is. This thing was on all the way up to the server crash. And it was never abused, that's why I don't see any reason to bring it back.

What Admin, hopefully not Derby who hasn't replied to my PM yet.

What Link said. If you delete your topic you also delete it's replies. This is why I've always been against this. There is no reason to allow this. If you want a thread deleted, you can just contact an administrator. Enough of them around :P

AFAIK this didn't work before the crash either (perhaps only if a topic didn't have any replies yet). I could be wrong I don't think so.

I believe it did work.

Originally Posted by Fquist

AFAIK this didn't work before the crash either (perhaps only if a topic didn't have any replies yet).

If that's the case, it might be ok to enable. I don't think there's a problem with deleting your own thread if it has no replies.