Some posts and threads will disappear soon.

When they do, don't complain. Don't question why. Just get on with life! Don't stop posting... don't stop being yourself (as if you could be anything else). There just come times when one wishes to wash the dishes, wipe the counters and the kitchen table, mop the floor, and otherwise tidy up.

If you do feel a deeply burning desire to complain, discuss, or otherwise vituperate, don't post it on the forum. Send me an email. At account name vorpalmage. At domain hotmail. At top-level domain com.

If you would like your posts to survive future such cleanings unscathed, one simple guideline will assist you:

Keep posts on-topic. Voilá!

ESquared

I was reviewing some older stuff in here and came across this thread.  The clean up issue was something I was curious about as a relative newcomer to Tek-Tips.  Is there a hard-and-fast rule on how long threads are kept?  

Is there any warning before deletion?  For example, today is February 15- might we be warned that "on Feb. 28 every thread whose most recent post (which seems the logical criteria to me) was before July 1 will be deleted."  That way members can go back and review, print, etc.

Hope this doesn't violate your "Don't question why" admonition- just wanted clarification on the rules.

Tim

Mr. Tim,

Asking for clarification is fine.

Threads or posts are only deleted if they are off-topic or out of line. No old posts are being deleted just because they are old.

For example, in the Shaggy Dog Stories thread, as time goes by I trim out all the "I can't believe you made me read that" comments... those posts aren't wordplay.

Mr. Erik

Thanks, Erik - that answers my question completely.  I guess I was thinking that with nearly a million members and thousands of posts/threads, capacity might be an issue with whatever this thing lives on.

P.S. - nice take-off on "Mystery" - it took me a minute...

Tim

I made no reference to Mystery! I just like to address people in different ways.

P.S. You know that this is a member-moderated forum? What I say here doesn't apply to Tek-Tips as a whole.

"address people in different ways"? Doesn't this make the post office go postal?

BocaBurger
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The pen is mightier than the sword, but the sword hurts more!

Erik

So how does this site count threads/replies/votes/etc...?  This is simply the coolest internet site I've ever seen (Nerds, just be quiet a bit).  

I guess I am wondering how one goes from 25 replies to 21?  Do your deletions of off-topic items result in negative counts on the "What Others can see about You" tally board?  Just wondering.

P.S. - yeah, even before signing off, I've got a head cold and am feeling a bit foggy....

Tim

I have no idea about any of the answers to your questions.

If I may ESquared.

The site does not count threads nor total replies, but does maintain a replies per thread count.  That number will go down if posts within the thread are deleted.

With respect to the counts in the Personal Statistics Page, you should not pay too much attention to them.  That page is still under construction so you may see erroneous data from time to time.

Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

CC:

A bit late on my part, but thank you very much for the info.  I happen to really like the member-info area for several reasons.  

First, I can guage the degree of my own complete addiction to this site (let's see, member 120 days, logged in 812 times - hmm, dude needs a hobby...).  Second, when I read a post I tend to check the poster's status before responding (on the rare occasion I have something useful to offer).  I think newbies (being one myself) deserve a bit more slack than experienced techies.  

Anyhow, I hope the member stat area can get perfected.  It seems odd to have a negative number of posts...

Best wishes,
Tim

"It seems odd to have a negative number of posts...", maybe it's the positive count of negative posts?  ESquared can be very judgmental.
-Karl