This is pretty chaotical and it's nightmare for me to when I am giving moderator permissions for new moderators.. Why we have so many settings? It's only worse.

Since we have ModeratorCP (what was really good thing) we really don't need so many features for removing or hidding or deleting or what settings.

Now I am testing in on my test board and I don't understand few things.


First my solution - it's easy and it won't be chaotical any more.

Moderators should have two options:

- unapprove topic/post - this will be simply hidden from members view. Moderators and admin can still see it.
- delete topic/post - deleted things will be simply moved to ModeratorCP for review.

That's all.

Now where is problem.

I have a new moderator I am giving him moderator permissions for desired forums. Well, I want to set up permission for delete topics. And what now?

I see two possibilites:


Can delete others topics/polls?

Can 'Soft Delete' all topics

Feature "Can delete others topics/polls?" is OK, topic is deleted and moved to ModeratorCP for review (it's like Trash Can). But problem is that Moderators don't have any permission to see that topics! Since he deleted it he doesn't have any options to review it.

Feature "Can 'Soft Delete' all topics" in this case is better solution, but it almost the same as unapprove topic, because soft deleted topic moderator can still see in forums.

So suggestion is:

Feature "Can delete others topics/polls?" should have the same options like feature "Can 'Soft Delete' all topics" (and all options for "soft" can be removed from ACP). Moderator will delete topic, topic will be removed from forum (view) and moved to ModeratorCP. There can be viewed, restored and deleted completely.

In basic both features (Can delete others topics/polls? and Can 'Soft Delete' all topics) are the same, in both cases all topic are moved to MCP so there is not reason have two the same features.


Another thing, posts:

This is more logical:

Feature "Can delete others posts?" will move post to MCP wher can be review. Well, this is what I would expect.

But feature "Can 'Soft Delete' all posts" is the same as unapprove post. Post is hidden from view and is not 'moved' to MCP. Why soft deleted topic is moved to MCP and soft deleted post not?

These features must be easier. Hard to understand for admins for moderator completely.

Soft delete is not the same as unapprove.

Soft delete collapses the post, leaving a visible breadcrumb for all members. Unapprove makes the post completely invisible to everybody but moderators/admin, still takes up the same amount of screen real estate, and leaves a "Queued" tag on the board index until you deal with it.

Soft deleted posts aren't moved to the Mod CP because some communities like to leave breadcrumbs for members to see that a post has been deleted to maintain continuity in a discussion. Hard deletes can leave "skips" that can make it difficult to follow later on. If people see that a post was deleted, it helps explain that.

And another thing:

Both features (Can delete others topics/polls? and Can 'Soft Delete' all topics) must be enabled. When disabled, moderators CANNOT see soft deleted topics. Weird. Bug?

Soft delete is not the same as unapprove.

Soft delete collapses the post, leaving a visible breadcrumb for all members. Unapprove makes the post completely invisible to everybody but moderators/admin, still takes up the same amount of screen real estate, and leaves a "Queued" tag on the board index until you deal with it.

Soft deleted topic is COMPLETELY invisible for members. I tested it one minute ago.

Soft deleted topic is COMPLETELY invisible for members. I tested it one minute ago.

Please point out where I used the word "topics" in my previous post.

Doesn't matter. What is difference between soft deleted topic and unapproved topic?

Doesn't matter. What is difference between soft deleted topic and unapproved topic?

Edit:



Soft-deleted, from the view of a member with no moderation privileges.


I'd also like to add, each type of delete has it's own set of permissions, so feel free not to use all of them. They're options, not requirements.