# Closed threads



## la reine victoria

Can someone please tell me why threads are suddenly closed without explanation?

I perfectly understand the reason for closing some of them.

I paticularly wanted to add something to the "Yee-Hah" thread, only to find it closed without explanation.  

Never mind, I will start a new one when I have a huge piece of Yee-Hah news.  Sooner than I thought!  




LRV


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## ILT

Hi LRV:

Usually when a thread is closed the reasons are posted in the last message, sometimes (especially if the thread has not grown considerably) the person who opened it in the first place receives a PM from the moderator closing it with the reasons.


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## la reine victoria

Thank you very much ILT.   





LRV


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## maxiogee

I love translating said:
			
		

> Hi LRV:
> 
> Usually when a thread is closed the reasons are posted in the last message, sometimes (especially if the thread has not grown considerably) the person who opened it in the first place receives a PM from the moderator closing it with the reasons.



As the one who started the Yee-Hah thread, I didn't receive any notification of the closure.
(This is not to say that I think I should have.)
It did appear to have run its course. It was a piece of whimsy which was prompted by the word "appropriate" — which in the mood I was in was an open invitation to a bit of naughtiness. 

I was startled it got as far as it did before it was shot down like a dawg!


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## fenixpollo

This is the second recent thread that was asking why moderators don't notify forer@s more directly when a thread is closed or moved, or a post is deleted.  Perhaps more standardization is necessary between different moderators' styles.


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## Chaska Ñawi

la reine victoria said:
			
		

> I paticularly wanted to add something to the "Yee-Hah" thread, only to find it closed without explanation.




The thread had gone from people signing in with a genuine appreciation of the day .... to chat and only chat.  As the mod who closed that particular thread, I felt no explanation whatsoever was necessary under the circumstances.  I apologize, however, to those people who needed further explanation.


Friend Fenix, I do see your point.


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## la reine victoria

That's OK Chaska.  

Thank you.





LRV


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## Benjy

To be perfectly honest:

It is impossible to notify everyone all the time of everything that mods do. Sometimes if a thread is yanked from public view I  don't have the time the inclination or the energy to PM everyone involved.

If a thread is closed 99% of the time a message is left on the end stating what happened.

If a thread is deleted a reason is typed in the convenient little box.

If a thread is pulled from view the thread starter is messaged about it.

those are the standard procedures and they are by concensus what we do in the vast majority of cases.

if i dont do the whole informing thing  its usually one of two reasons why: 

It's spam/so rediculous that it doesn't warrant a reason.

OR

I just don't have time! Sometimes i'm late for work/a date.. or pfff a multitude of rreasons. I don't live on WR  I'm not going to face a disciplinary at work so that XYZ can know the exact details of a particular thread closure etc..

my 2 cents.


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## elroy

Benjy is 100% right. I gave a similar answer in the other thread alluded to by Fenix in post #5.


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## fenixpollo

elroy said:
			
		

> Benjy is 100% right. I gave a similar answer in the other thread alluded to by Fenix in post #5.


 That wasn't the thread I alluded to, so make that "three recent threads."

Thanks for the responses to my comment, Ben and elroy.


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## LV4-26

Benjy said:
			
		

> [...]
> If a thread is deleted a reason is typed in the convenient little box.
> 
> If a thread is pulled from view the thread starter is messaged about it.
> [...]


Could you tell me the difference between "deleted" and "pulled from view"? I've always thought that a deleted thread would be pulled out from view. Or did you mean _closed_ instead of _deleted_?
Where is the "convenient little box"?


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## Benjy

By pulled from view I mean moved to what we term the trash can. It's our recycling bin if you will.

By deleted I mean that it has been deleted. When a thread is deleted the moderator is presented with a page with dialogue boxes just as when you delete one of your own posts. There is a space to leave a message. Aslo when a thread  is deleted it leaves a post thingy displaying  the reasonwhy is was deleted.

edit likethis : clicky


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## LV4-26

Thanks very much, Benjy.
From what you're saying, I take it I've never seen a real "deleted" thread. Because each time I've been looking for one I couldn't find the slightest trace of it, no title hence no message explaining the reason why it was deleted, nothing. Therefore I guess, all the deleted threads I've looked for were really "in the bin".


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## geve

Benjy said:
			
		

> By pulled from view I mean moved to what we term the trash can. It's our recycling bin if you will.


_Recycling_ bin you say? Can we know what you make out of pulled-from-view-threads material?


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## Benjy

geve said:
			
		

> _Recycling_ bin you say? Can we know what you make out of pulled-from-view-threads material?


i turn them into beautiful origami models and sell them to a highly secretive network of buyers.

actually we just clean it out from time to time. 

sometimes we move threads there to split them then reinstate them and other such boring things.


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## GenJen54

Geve said:
			
		

> _Recycling_ bin you say? Can we know what you make out of pulled-from-view-threads material?



THESE, of course.  Re-woven from the best thread material there is!


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## geve

Benjy said:
			
		

> i turn them into beautiful origami models and sell them to a highly secretive network of buyers.


 I want one of those!! 

Thank you Benjy for this interesting glimpse of the life of a moderator.

And now, I'm off to post lots of rubbish threads to help your origami business.




-- [edit]  of course, Gen! I want a pair then!


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## cuchuflete

> Can someone please tell me why threads are suddenly closed without explanation?


Threads are closed when they begin by violating, or come to violate either forum rules or, more generally, forum guidelines.   Explanations are either posted or PMed in most cases, but, as Benjy has pointed out directly, time doesn't always allow for a notification.  

If any member, thread starter or participant or reader, wants more detail about a specific closure, they are welcome to ask any moderator by PM. Closed threads, unlike deleted ones, almost invariably carry a message giving the reason for the padlock.


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## fenixpollo

I talked to a forer@ this morning whose thread was closed but who didn't want to PM the moderator. Said forer@ was frustrated about the situation and angry at the mod, but was afraid that asking the question "why?" would appear confrontational or contentious, especially in the heat of the moment.

I think that the _very least_ a mod could do when they delete or close a thread, or delete a post, would be to post a detailed description of the reason.  If that weren't appropriate/possible/practical, I think they have an obligation, in a certain sense, to take the extra minute or thirty seconds to send a PM to the person who's being deleted or locked.


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## Bonjules

I have no problem with closing threads; in fact, some should never be opened since it is pretty clear from the beginning what is likely to happen.
But once a thread was there and was closed - I do not understand, really, why it has to be 'deleted', ever.
Assuming it has been ok for a number of posts, which is why it was not closed earlier - why can't we still read what was said before closure? I feel offended and censored for not being given that opportunity. The mods can even delete addtl. posts before closure (or after, I'd guess) -but the whole thing? I see no logical reason for that. Can someone explain that policy?
(It also seems unfair to folks who contributed good posts to that thread)


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## lsp

Bonjules said:
			
		

> I have no problem with closing threads; in fact, some should never be opened since it is pretty clear from the beginning what is likely to happen.
> But once a thread was there and was closed - I do not understand, really, why it has to be 'deleted', ever.
> Assuming it has been ok for a number of posts, which is why it was not closed earlier - why can't we still read what was said before closure? I feel offended and censored for not being given that opportunity. The mods can even delete addtl. posts before closure (or after, I'd guess) -but the whole thing? I see no logical reason for that. Can someone explain that policy?
> (It also seems unfair to folks who contributed good posts to that thread)


Closed threads aren't always (dare I say "rarely") deleted.


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## panjandrum

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> I talked to a forer@ this morning whose thread was closed but who didn't want to PM the moderator. Said forer@ was frustrated about the situation and angry at the mod, but was afraid that asking the question "why?" would appear confrontational or contentious, especially in the heat of the moment.[...]


Asking a Mod "Why" by PM is very unlikely to be considered confrontational or contentious. Unless, of course, the question happened to be expressed in a confrontational and contentious manner.

Deleted posts are tagged with a reason.
Deleted threads are tagged with a reason.
Closed threads have a post explaining why.
Removed threads are notified to the thread-starter.

Qualified, in all cases, by "normally".

It is probably worthwhile to assume that Mods are fairly normal people. We do our best, but occasionally lapse. Some of us snap and growl occasionally, but rarely actually bite. If a thread deletion is in progress when a crisis emerges elsewhere, something untidy may happen. That crisis could be an urgent PM about a spammer or a call from home to say "Don't forget the milk."


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## elroy

fenixpollo said:
			
		

> I think that the _very least_ a mod could do when they delete or close a thread, or delete a post, would be to post a detailed description of the reason. If that weren't appropriate/possible/practical, I think they have an obligation, in a certain sense, to take the extra minute or thirty seconds to send a PM to the person who's being deleted or locked.


 Fenix, which part of the post I linked to was not clear?  We already do what you suggest, and when we don't it's not intentional. 

(By the way, I'm sorry about the confusion regarding the old thread. I didn't realize _yet another thread_ had been opened about this topic.)


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## fenixpollo

elroy said:
			
		

> Fenix, which part of the post I linked to was not clear?  We already do what you suggest, and when we don't it's not intentional.


 I'm sorry if I implied that any one particular mod (especially you, elroy) is commonly derelict in his or her duties. I just meant to impress upon the team that people who have their threads or posts deleted/moved/closed do not often have positive reactions (as you know better than I) but that despite their reaction, providing a reason to them is important -- especially to them, even if not to the mod.


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## Bonjules

Dear Moderators,
I do hope you won't consider me impertinent for asking for this simple explanation. Why are threads that have been running w/o apparent objection for a long time or some time deleted from memory?
ISP tells me it happens 'rarely'.
A quick check of the last 6 (six!) pages of 'CD' titles shows 2 closed threads, one of 18, the other one of 3 posts(another single post was 'locked' bec. it was a pers. announcement) as of last night.
Where have all the closed threads gone? If I remember right, there were a number of big ones recently. Is the famous Yee-Haw thread totally gone? I would have liked to know what it was all about.
Thank you


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## lsp

Bonjules said:
			
		

> Dear Moderators,
> I do hope you won't consider me impertinent for asking for this simple explanation. Why are threads that have been running w/o apparent objection for a long time or some time deleted from memory?
> *L*SP tells me it happens 'rarely'.
> A quick check of the last 6 (six!) pages of 'CD' titles shows 2 closed threads, one of 18, the other one of 3 posts(another single post was 'locked' bec. it was a pers. announcement) as of last night.
> Where have all the closed threads gone? If I remember right, there were a number of big ones recently. Is the famous Yee-Haw thread totally gone? I would have liked to know what it was all about.
> Thank you


yee-ha*h* - closed, but not deleted.


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## Bonjules

thanks for the link, lsp


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## lsp

Bonjules said:
			
		

> thanks for the link, lsp


No problem, do you think the misspelling caused you not to find it? I was thrown off because you said you were looking at the 6 CD pages, so you should have been able to notice it.


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## Bonjules

I don't know how I overlooked it. I was looking for the 'pad locks' - if it's there, I simply must have missed it.
Enjoyed reading some of it!
( still hoping to get some answers to the broader question)
Thanks again


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## geve

Bonjules said:
			
		

> I don't know how I overlooked it. I was looking for the 'pad locks' - if it's there, I simply must have missed it.


The yee-hah thread is in the Congrats, not in the CD


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## GenJen54

Bonjules,

Perhaps THIS will help explain about the threads which you seek.


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