Question: Possible to delete soft deleted posts?

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

I deleted a misposted message from my profile tonight but forgot to uncheck the soft delete option. Is there a way to remove the soft deleted post? Or could someone do it for me, please? It'll annoy me otherwise hehe

[felix]

Ehh, we have the rights to do stealth deletes?

[NightWish]

Simple answer is yes, there is a way to remove it, and yes I've done so for you.

Originally Posted by Mr Hat and Clogs

... forgot to uncheck the soft delete option.

You can't actually un-check it because it isn't a check box. The widget on the form is a so-called "radio" button, meaning you are "selecting one option from a group of options", like the station selection buttons used on old radios (hence the name). There are actually two options, but you can only see one, so it is a little confusing (and pointless). The missing option is what Felix calls a "stealth" delete. The actual term used by the forum software is "physically remove". Due to its permanent nature the option is limited to administrative staff only. So, no, you don't have the rights to do stealth deletes.

[monster]

Oh, could you do it for me too please? Thanks

[Dist]

And me. It bothers me D:

Hell, can't you just make it so that when we delete our posts, be it VM or in threads, they are removed permanently?

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by Dist

Hell, can't you just make it so that when we delete our posts, be it VM or in threads, they are removed permanently?

It's generally important to keep an accurate history of events in case we need to resolve disputes, and (in the case of VMs other people leave on your wall) it also helps to communicate to the sender that their message didn't "get lost" (so needs to be re-sent) but was deleted on purpose. I'm not sure how vBulletin does it, but I assume that when they say "physically remove" they really mean that it's permanently and irrevocably gone from the database itself... which isn't what we generally would want. Perhaps it might be nice if there were a way to "hide" a soft-deleted message so it doesn't keep showing up... but that'd really be up to vBulletin to add, I guess.

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

Oh, gods, I've created a monster.

Thanks for fixing that up for me NightWish.