# Moving posts



## Loob

I remember being totally bemused when the first question I posted was "moved", and I couldn't work out where or why. I finally found it, and there was a happy ending in that several people responded to my query; but that didn't detract from my junior-member puzzlement!

Now older and wiser in the ways of WRF (though not as old and wise as many!) I still find myself puzzled by the "move" process. There was a thread today which I'd like to have responded to, but it had been moved to pastures unidentified and - to me - undiscoverable.

A plea to all mods - when you move a post/thread, could you please leave a link behind showing where it's gone?

Loob


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## panjandrum

I'll try to explain the dilemma from a personal perspective.

When moving threads, mods choose between leaving the link and not.
If I move a translation thread out of the English Only forum and leave a link, I am pushing a genuinely English-Only thread off the front page.  Why, I ask myself, should a thread posted in the wrong forum take precedence over a genuine English Only thread?

Once upon a time, the forum was relatively quiet and a few links to other forums for wrongly placed threads was OK.  Times have changed, and a place on the front page of the forum is now something to be prized.

So, if I find a thread that is evidently in the wrong forum I move it to the right place without leaving a link. If it's a newbie post and I have time, I send a PM.  If not, I won't - regular members should know better. 

The alternative is to delete the thread.  I do that sometimes.


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## Loob

Thank you, panj, for your response. As you know I have enormous respect for your point of view - on pretty much everything!

But we need to remember how it feels to be a junior member of WRF: not knowing which forum to post in, not knowing all the rules about context, not knowing about being over-helpful with other junior members...

And. at minimum, needing to know where wrongly posted posts have gone

Loob


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## Flaminius

If you want to find the whereabouts of posts made by yourself, you can always resort to "Find all posts by UserName" item in under your UserName in your posts.


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## jonquiliser

Hmm, I've never had this problem. In fact, many times I might not even notice that a post of mine has been moved, because I simply use the control panel that will shuffle me right to the place of my post!


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## badgrammar

Yes, now here's some excellent advice from Jonquiliser, and it's something I did not really learn how to use properly until around my 1500th post:  All hail *The User Control Panel*!  It is fantastic.  

Here's how it works:  Click on the User Control Panel on the left of the menu bar.  It takes you to a list of all of the threads you are subscribed to (even if they've been moved), and they are in bold if there are any new replies.  Click on a thread and there you have it!

I have gotten into the habit of logging on to that page every time I check in, it is the most efficient way to keep track of everything.  And you can disable all those (to me) pesky thread updates that fill up your email box, because if there has been a reply, it is highlighted there.  And if there has been no reply, you'll still find it there!

Hope that helps, it really took me a long time to figure out why it is so useful, but now I rely on it!


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## Outsider

I'm lost. Usually, when a thread is moved a "trace" of it remains in the forum where it was originally posted, doesn't it? You can find the new location by clicking on the title of the thread at the old location.


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## Jana337

Outsider said:


> I'm lost. Usually, when a thread is moved a "trace" of it remains in the forum where it was originally posted, doesn't it? You can find the new location by clicking on the title of the thread at the old location.


There are three options:
- permanent trace,
- expiring trace,
- no trace.

Personally, I use expiring redirects. They help people find straying threads and do not pollute the forum forever.


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## jonquiliser

Yes, badgrammar, the CP is superfantastically brilliant - I'd be completely lost without it!


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## Etcetera

The CP is the nicest way to track your threads. I definitely prefer it to e-mails.


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## TrentinaNE

Outsider said:


> I'm lost. Usually, when a thread is moved a "trace" of it remains in the forum where it was originally posted, doesn't it? You can find the new location by clicking on the title of the thread at the old location.


This function is available when entire threads are moved. Sometimes individual posts from within a thread are split off (usually because they veered off the original topic but are worth discussing on their own). No "redirect" is possible in this case.

Elisabetta


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