Am I crazy? Posts seem to disappear sometimes

No. I am sure it is a function of not understanding how the forum is structured. Sometimes a posting is removed when it doesn't mean the site standards, however that is infrequent. Generally those postings are pretty obvious. However, some postings will get driven to the second page fairly quickly. I have never had a posting disappear from my history. And now with the bookmarking feature you can bookmark any posting you want to follow. Just go to "My account" in the upper right hand corner. Can you provide an example of what you could not find?

PS -- Just noticed your posting count. You have been around here long enough to know how it works so if you are losing stuff it would have to be on your end or your computer. Then has been couple of times when I have make a response and later realized that I forget to hit the posting button so it was never posted.

I’m not sure what post you were following in the Italy forum but I had participated in an interesting and informative thread in the France forum in the past few days and the webmaster removed the whole thread, very disappointing. It is gone from the participants history too.

I've found that sometimes a thread will poof. Sometimes it's because a webmaster has deemed it inappropriate. And sometimes, I suspect, it's because the OP has decided (for whatever reason) to delete it. And all our responses will be deleted with it. Sometimes it's because the OP isn't getting the responses they were hoping for.

Yes, postings disappear. There are probably more reasons than can be listed here.

I have noticed that, beyond those that are obviously inappropriate and get removed by the Webmaster, sometimes people don't like the responses they get to their original posting and simply delete the entire thing. Some simply get the answer they wanted and then delete all signs they were ever here. Sometimes people realize they didn't exactly answer the question asked and will delete individual posts.

I tend to leave my postings out there. With edits if I missed the point of the original topic I thought I was replying to. So far, none of my postings have disappeared except for those included in a thread that gets purged.

It is frustrating when you know the answers to a question would be helpful for others with similar questions but the thread has disappeared.

Thank you for your quick responses. I suspect the posters deleted the posts, because often a new posting asking essentially the same questions will shows up, but with no responses.

My, very limited admittedly, observation is the same as above. It could just be an IT issue and the thread is still somewhere. But sometimes the person who started the topic deletes it, I suspect. Perhaps because the replies weren't what s/he hoped for, such as not supporting their complaints. In other cases, like the more political topics, I think the forum censor has to step in and stop matters getting out of hand (although, I've seen examples where s/he prefers to warn us, so deleting seems to be a last resort).

I would just email the webmaster and ask why it might be happening. If you know the title of one of those posts that disappeared, he/she would be able to tell you if it was deleted or it was just something on your side.

The only way to objectively test this is to bookmark the threads you're interested in.

I’m guilty of deleting a post I started. Just a couple weeks ago I put one up asking for recommendations for winery tours from Florence... after about 4 replies someone added to the comments with a completely unrelated response, claiming to be a hacker that knew untraceable ways of extorting money from people.. (or something like that) - I was so frustrated and a little concerned, since they claimed to be a successful hacker! that I just deleted the whole post. Seriously, what is wrong with some people?! Ugh

Lisa, you don't have to delete your whole post, just report that response and the webmaster will delete it. If it's part of a mass scam posting it will get deleted without your doing anything, but report it anyway.

Just today I responded at some length to a question about 2 weeks in Emilia Romagna, then a few hours later found the whole thread gone but, I think, a new, fuller, rephrased question from the OP. Absolutely nothing inappropriate in my response or in any of the previous responses to the original post. So I think he deleted it and re-posted.

Posts can be deleted only by webmaster or by OP. I don't think they can disappear by themselves.

I deleted a post I started just because most of the replies were really snarky - someone actually said that she wouldn't want to sit next to me on a plane! I had posted a link to an ad for an armrest divider. I thought it was kind of funny and kind of a good idea, if you're stuck in a middle seat in economy.

I decided it was better to delete the post than to swap insults with people I'll never lay eyes on.

Not all topics that the webmaster deletes are inappropriate. The topic Mona refers to (and others) was not inappropriate. Just the usual snowlake and off topic commenters ruined it, as usual. The webmaster preferred to delete the whole thread rather than delete some comments, easier for him to delete the whole thing.

Another I forgot is the OP has full control over their posts so they can simply re title it so if you are looking for the original title and it was changed it can be difficult to find.

My guess is the poster deleted it after their question was answered. I’ve only ever asked one question that was very direct and specific. Once answered, I deleted it.

Why??? You don't think someone else might have benefited from your question and the answers.

People delete their own posts, I have done this on occasion but rarely if ever when it was an original query. If they delete the original query your response gets deleted too. I have never missed one of my posts but I post quite a bit so might not have noticed. I sometimes delete my (reply) posts when others pile on in a very negative fashion. Of course the webmaster may delete posts too, but that is even more rare than someone deleting their own (I think). I think it's bad form to delete an original query unless you have a really good reason, because it deletes the responses, too.

“the webmaster may delete posts too, but that is even more rare than someone deleting their own (I think)”

In my experience, it is not rare at all for the webmaster to edit posts, delete posts and delete threads entirely. Happens much more often than posters deleting.

Becky,

From what I've seen, entire threads are often deleted by the OP for a variety of reasons. Sometimes they receive criticism or mildly "snarky" comments and don't like the answers they're getting, and sometimes they seem to delete them simply because they now have the information they were looking for. I suppose it's their right to do that, but I find it quite annoying to spend time researching and posting information only to have it deleted, especially when that same information could be of use to many others.

I imagine that practice will continue, but hopefully not often.

Ken, I agree. Often I do research before I post a reply that hopefully with be helpful to others too. Oh well, at least I know know most if the deleted posts were done by the OP. Thanks again to everyone who replied.