Originally Posted by QuiltnCowgirl
A lot of message boards do not have a delete option. While it sounds like a simple option to have in the case of a double post I have seen it misused.
An example: A thread gets a little heated or controversial, posts get snippy, and then someone who was especially snippy will delete their post, come out smelling like a rose, while everyone else who responded in defense or offense to the deleted post look like crazy people. And then the posts go wild all over again because of that.
So, the simple solution on a lot of message boards? No deleting except by administrators or moderators.
On another board I go to that happens all the time. Posters have gotten into the habit of quoting at least the original post (because often the OP will delete when they don't get the responses they wanted) and sometimes other inflammatory posts because inevitably, the poster will come along and delete. And yes it makes for a very confusing conversation. :hunf: Most boards I go to also only allow editing for a set period of time. So you can quickly edit if you make a typo but you can't go and change things after several people have replied.