The "deleted by author" text is confusing for new users

Forum Help
#1

The (post withdrawn by author, will be automatically deleted in [X time] unless flagged) has proven to be confusing to some new users recently. Some users when they see this, they are genuinely confused. Some think that it means that their post will be deleted within some time unless it was flagged. Some just straight up don’t understand at all.

This text can easily be configured by admins to something less confusing such as (**this** post is deleted, will be completely gone in [X time] unless it gets flagged). (added bold around this just for emphasis; probably wouldn’t be in the official thing. and thanks @rogchamp for that idea)

Edit: if we think about the community of the forum, the message could be made even less formal since that is probably what we are used to lol. Something like *This post has been deleted and will be removed in [X time]*, including the italics, to make it stand out a bit more.

14 Likes
#2

I’m gonna be honest here and sat while I do support the change, the users could easily look up what words they don’t understand mean. Many bilingual users do that already. They might learn something good from the forums for once lol

3 Likes
#3

I don’t believe that there is any way to change the text based on a simple search, though I could look at my own forum settings to see if I can (which I doubt). I’ve seen this a few times, though it’s very uncommon. Maybe stating in a PSA topic about this could help reduce this issue… though I do wonder why they don’t delete that post right away… Moderators and admins can still see it if it’s deleted as it’ll show up. Though an oversight could occur by making it harder to flag a post.

#4

It can be configured by admins using the js.post.deleted_by_author settings, and a psa for a QoL feature seems a little overkill to me.

2 Likes
#5

That must be in the backend as I can’t see it in my settings. The setting for how long the post will be there before being completely merged can be changed. I don’t know why they don’t change it to 0 just to fix the issue. The post still can be viewed by mods and admins too, regardless of whether or not it can be viewed by normal users.

Screenshot 2020-11-24 at 6.37.59 PM

#6

One reason is it gives you time to undelete it if you change your mind. I’ve changed my mind before and undeleted a post.

2 Likes
#7

True, though it could be reduced down to 5 minutes, that probably isn’t best. As incapaz suggested, the text should be changed.

#8

Oh yes!
This was something really confusing to me when I also first joined. (I forgot the exact reason why) But yes, I agree with your new proposal of future deletion messages; much more simple and clear than “withdrawn” and “author” and etc.

(I found out the way deleted messages work after taking the discobot tutorial; but I’m sure lots of users won’t see that…)

#9

Exactly. If people would just do the tutorials, none of this would be a problem. I made a feature request for this:

1 Like