"Rubbish Bin"

[sveakul]

What was the rationale behind this recently added section?  It's still giving the content a public forum which is what their posters wanted in the first place, and IMO invites more such activity.

[boroda]

Yes. Unacceptable or senseless posts must be just deleted.

[frankz]

I think I might start exclusively posting there.

[phred]

Yes. Unacceptable or senseless posts must be just deleted.

The moderators do not have the option to delete start-posts. What we would do with a start-post that was spam was delete the text and subject and change it to "Spam Removed / User Banned." At some point Steven would see it and delete it. Now what we're doing is moving the spammy start-post to the Rubbish Bin which Steven will check the next time he logs in and will delete whatever is currently there.

I suppose if SMF was able to limit access to the Bin to only admin and mods, you, the general public, would not have to see it. Of course, this will prevent frankz from posting there, which would be  a shame.

[boroda]

The moderators do not have the option to delete start-posts. What we would do with a start-post that was spam was delete the text and subject and change it to "Spam Removed / User Banned."

ahh. ok.

Of course, this will prevent frankz from posting there, which would be  a shame.

 

[hiccup]

What was the rationale behind this recently added section?  It's still giving the content a public forum which is what their posters wanted in the first place, and IMO invites more such activity.

I think at least there is a problem with how this 'new' rubbish bin is being used/implemented.
The content of the posts—including all commercial weblinks—are indeed still there to see for anyone. (and clickable)
So they remain active spamposts, they only have been moved to a different board.
And they still all show up when you e.g. click 'View the most recent posts…'.
(until the sole admin deleted them himself)

In my opinion posts that are without a doubt spamposts should be deleted immediately by one of the mods.
I know they are not currently able to do that (due to one (2?) mishap(s) in the past), but perhaps that should be reconsidered.

Then there could be a rubbish bin as there was in the past.
It was where posts from humanoids that were completely useless, stupid or containing false information used to go.
Some may not support that idea, but I think it is much better than:

A. Leaving such useless posts spoiling the original topics for eternity.
B. Applying hard censorship by completely deleting them. (not a fan of censorship)

And then that rubbish bin could serve as some enjoyment and/or education on how not to behave.

[phred]

I understand the comments you're making, hiccup.

Typically Steven has been deleting the rubbish bin contents at least once a day. And as you stated, the moderators can not remove a (spam) start-post. Before the rubbish bin "method" was implemented, I would "modify" a spam start-post, changing the subject and the body to "Spam Removed / User Banned" and then Steven would remove that. Even if we went back to that method, these spam posts would still show up as "most recent posts." I don't think there's an option within SMF for the rubbish bin to be viewed only by admins, but that might help.

I guess the final decision is up to Steven as to what works best for him.

[hiccup]

And as you stated, the moderators can not remove a (spam) start-post.

If I am not mistaken, the mishaps in the past occurred on first posts (even whole threads, yeah don't remind me  ;-)  of actual humanoid forum members.
In threads that had been there for a longer time.
Perhaps the SMF forum engine has some setting that posts older than e.g. a week can not be deleted by mods?
That could solve this problem?

[phred]

Zak dug into the SMF features list and found that specific forum sub-forums could be hidden from the general population.

I have just tested it by creating a test spam post and moving it into the Rubbish Bin. I then logged in with a test (non-moderator) account and while I did see my original post in the list of new posts when I clicked on it it the link to the Rubbish Bin was displayed. But when I clicked on the link I couldn't reach it. Also, the Rubbish Bin is not showing on the main forum page.

So I think we've addressed the concerns raised in this thread.

Thanks to Zak, for finding the feature, and to Steven for enabling it.