Yesterday I was doing housecleaning on the message board and I deleted several current posts by mistake.
When someone clicks the ALERT button for a post, the message is emailed to all the mods, but it also goes in an Approval Queue and it sits there until I clean it out about once a month. There are two options - approve all alerts or delete all. After five freakin years of doing this, this time I clicked "delete all" thinking it meant delete all the alerts, but it deletes all the posts that had been alerted.
That is why the "Florence is Overrated" by Sock Monkey thread is gone (we probably got an alert on the first post and when that is deleted, the whole thread goes).
I have asked Groupee if it is possible to recover them, but I bet it isn't. I am sorry about this and it probably will never happen again!!
Ah, Pauline--glad you follow the adage--"never say never" when "probably" is so much better. Making the same mistake twice, thrice or more is a common event in my life!
I have not heard back from Groupee as to whether or not they can restore the deleted posts/threads. My guess is that they cannot. Chris has email versions of some of them, so we may try to recreate them - or at least go thru them to see what was deleted.
Several of the alerts were notes to me to be sure I added the info to the site.
Hi, Pauline. Though I am pretty new to this site, I have to say that both I and my husband have found it immensely enjoyable, useful, entertaining, and most importantly- promoting a real sense of shared community in a cyberspace world. You do a marvelous job maintaining this busy, engaging site, so I'm sure I'm not alone in saying not to worry! Best, Mindy http://bobmindysitaly.blogspot.com
Posts: 47 | Location: Boston | Registered: 13 June 2006
Actually, I bet what would happen if you did delete one is that I would be disappointed for about 5 seconds, and then put out another post asking people for whatever info I needed that was deleted, and then they would rapidly(!!) respond with the replacements- but let's not test that theory!
Posts: 47 | Location: Boston | Registered: 13 June 2006
This is a relief to hear as I thought it was my post to "Florence is Overrated" that got it deleted. I used the B word with an asterisk and wasn't sure if that was OK.
While I know that you will probably continue to beat yourself for a while, please don't on my account.
We never delete a thread - unless it is just one post that is a commercial post or spam (well, we never intentionally delete a thread).
If we edit or delete a post, we send the poster a PM (only premium members can respond to a PM, but everyone can receive one - and it is easier for us to send the message that way than by email). And we don't do that often.
Topics are covered many times in different threads. Usually someone will post a "Look at this older thread" message, then folks go right on discussing and helping. Everyone here likes to chat! So, anything vital that may have been inadvertantly deleted will turn up again when needed. You've built a great community, Pauline, and don't need to worry about there ever being enough information here to satisfy anyone.
Thanks! Bucky "Trying To Slow Down" Edgett
Posts: 750 | Location: Maryland | Registered: 24 April 2006
Originally posted by Pauline: You say that now - but wait until I arbitrarily delete one of your posts!!
I still CANNOT BELIEVE that I did this!!
Well, I can (at least for me) ! I do things like this all the time, I'm afraid.
As I read along, I wondered what could have been in it that someone would send an 'alert' to the moderators but I see that you do alerts to remind yourselves to use something from a thread too.
But, not to worry. Glad you were able to see that it happened. You know? In Yahoogroups, we email versions of discussions too if we opt for it. Nice to have that in case those have the item(s) you were looking for.
quote:
This is like the early days - over 5 years ago - when I wiped out the whole message board database - TWICE!!
(Thanks for your comments - I am sure I will feel better when this turns into a faded memory.)
As a newcomer, I am only impressed by the quality of both the contributors AND the various people who help to administer this site. I really appreciate the fact that this site encourages people to read the tremendous amount of archived information themselves and then ask questions. There is a danger in message boards that I have visited that people come to a message board and expect other people to construct their trip for them....and I am appreciative that the people on this site, although very helpful and extremely open to sharing info and opinions, encourage others to check out information on their own. That is one reason why this site is so readable and varied...with not the same answer having to be given time after time....other than advising people to read specific sections of the site. So thank you...thank you...thank you...for doing a great job on this site. As a fairly wide traveller (but never to Italy!! horrors on horrors...) I was loathe to ask the stupid questions that were in my mind, but having the ability to read the site in its entirety and learn from everyone else, I am getting closer day by day to understanding how I can make a wonderful stay in Italy.
My first thought upon reading Pauline's initial post in the moderators' forum was "Oh no! What did I do?" I got a new computer on Friday, and it is somewhat like giving a baby a loaded gun.
Groupee cannot do anything to help - all they can do is restore a backup from the night before, but then we would lose several days of posts.
I agree that we should not be so attached to old posts on this board. Chris has copies of all the alerts and sent them to me, so I can go thru them, but I probably cannot reconstruct that "Florence is Overrated" thread, so I am going to start it again (from a slightly different angle).
Thanks for being so understanding - I guess these things just happen sometimes.
Pauline, Stop worrying, girl! Have a cold one, and fugeddabout it! It's just a post...no need to spend a lot of time on it. My daughter would completely commiserate with you...she published a local newspaper for a long time, and had her computer crash, with all of the regular ads, business card directory, regular columns, layouts, templates and other important things...totally lost!
"Computers are like Old Testament gods; lots of rules and no mercy." ~ Joseph Campbell Brenda
I've been MIA for a bit (recovering from my latest Euro-adventure!) ... may I ask why my post about Florence being overrated was removed?? I was only curious what people thoughgt .. I hope it wasn't something I said that made it inappropriate!
It was a boo boo, a mistake, an error, a oops, a blooper, an "Oh $^*! why did I do that?" moment. Nothing that you did or said, read the thread from the top.
Ah hah! Okay, good! Well, mistakes = bad, but I'm glad it wasn't something I said or did!
As you can tell, I'm obviously still a bit mushy-brained from the trip (or more likely, from being back at home!!) ... if I wasn't so busy dreaming about Italy, Spain and France I would have paid more attention to the reason listed!
Topic Closed
. Like all the previous posters have noted, who among us hasn't pressed a delete button by mistake, on more than one occasion?
Have a cold one, and fugeddabout it
an error, 
a oops, 
a blooper, 
an "Oh $^*! why did I do that?" moment. 
Nothing that you did or said, read the thread from the top. 
