deleting stuff

I just want to call out this piece from the post at the top. If you think you need something deleted, follow this:

paul wheaton wrote:Here is my advice if you want help along these lines:

1:  Post your request as a new thread to the tinkering forum instead of sending emails or even PMs.   This way, it can be seen and processed faster as well as all of the active staff can see it at the same time and be able to discuss it.   It also verifies that you are the author of the post in question, rather than requiring us to do a lot of research to try to figure that out.

2:  Phrase your request as a request, not a demand.  

3:  no threats.

4:  no insulting the site, the people on the site, the policies, etc.

This does not guarantee that you will get what you want, but it does improve the odds.   We don't have any hard rules about this stuff, because valid reasons that crop up are often things we have never heard of before.   So I guess our general, squishy policy is that we don't delete stuff, but once in a long while, we have been convinced to make an exception.

And also, make the request from the same account that made the post in question. If you can't do that, then make a post in Tinkering about that situation first.

Often times, starting a thread in the tinkering is a better path than using the report button.  

A heads up!

1:  Post your request as a new thread to the tinkering forum instead of sending emails or even PMs.   This way, it can be seen and processed faster as well as all of the active staff can see it at the same time and be able to discuss it.   It also verifies that you are the author of the post in question, rather than requiring us to do a lot of research to try to figure that out.

2:  Phrase your request as a request, not a demand.  

3:  no threats.

4:  no insulting the site, the people on the site, the policies, etc.

A useful tip I learned circa 1996

If you can see a forum, social media, or website while logged out, search engines can see it too.

bumping as a reminder for newbies (more hints linked at the top of https://permies.com/f/11/tnk)

One of the ways I like to learn new things is to read forums and see what questions other people had and what solutions they had for them.

However, all too often, I stumble on situations like this
https://www.wetcanvas.com/forums/topic/clove-oil-or-no-clove-oil-in-palette-box-any-difference/

More than half the posts in a thread are empty

Later on in the archives, we can see the argument that lead this user to remove almost all their posts, both questions and answers, leaving hundreds of threads damaged and very difficult for future readers to understand.  They were a prolific writer.

Sure, it's a 6 year old thread, but the subject doesn't age.  People have been using oil paints since about the time we figured out cooking with fire.  It's as perennial a topic as gardening, building homes, cooking, and all that stuff

As far as I can figure out,  the tiff was about eating yellow paint or something as silly as that.  Judging from the few posts remaining by that user, it probably wasn't an argument in the real sense where people have difference of opinions, but that they had the same opinion, but different communication styles.


That's what I love about permies.  We aren't just writing to the other people involved in the thread.  With each post, we create a resource for the future.   I'm grateful that a thing as silly about how not to eat yellow paint isn't going to end in losing hundreds of useful threads.