Auto Deleted Adverts

[Neil Mc Ivor]

In the small ads section of this forum;Is it possible to recover an auto deleted advert.

[Mick F]

No, sorry.
They auto-delete, and delete is delete.

I've sold stuff on here in the past, and would love to retrieve the posts and the accompanying photographs plus remember who bought them.
What I should have done was made a copy.

[700c]

I asked previously and was never given a good reason why they cannot simply stay...

It cannot be server resources: look at the "3 word" games and random other clutter in the forum.

[Mick F]

From what I remember about it ...............

The For Sale board was chock-a-block with old forgotten adverts, so it was easier for Admin to set an "auto delete" rather than the Mods going though it manually to delete the stuff. 30days seems to ring a bell.

If you think the automatic thing is wrong, or 30days of inactivity is too short, please say so to the Mods.
I think this system has been in operation for half a dozen years or so.

[[XAP]Bob]

Was that on previous software?
because all that happens nowadays is that the number of pages grow.

I suppose it becomes harder to search for things in that forum - but there is a "limit results to previous" dropdown option...

[Mick F]

No. This is the way it works now.
Maybe it came in on the Old Board, I can't remember, but I do remember the discussions.

Oldest inactive posts on the For Sale boards is 30days from the last post, after which, the thread disappears completely and irretrievably.

This one for instance.
viewtopic.php?f=32&t=98966
Last post by Freddie on the 22nd August 2015 ......................... 31days ago tonight.
Maybe it's longer than 30days?
Maybe it will disappear by tomorrow morning?

[drossall]

Google for it and view the cached version?

[TrekMad]

I'd be interested in say a 6 month auto delete. Other sites do this but encourage users to leave the sale price on the advert, this way is easy to search for a resale value if you are selling, or what the going rate for an item is if buying.

[[XAP]Bob]

MickF - sorry, I meant was the limit imposed due to restrictions in a previous forum software package?

[Mick F]

Not from what I remember.
It was brought in to stop the build-up of For Sale threads that had run their course. Stuff that had been sold or left unsold etc.

The For Sale boards are very different to the rest of the forum in that they end/finish/die. The "normal" boards are a wealth of knowledge and information and can be opened and added to at any time.

The auto delete was brought in to weed out the dead For Sale threads.

As I said, if someone wants to ask the mods for a re-think, please do so.
Meanwhile, I've alerted them that the subject has come up.

[Graham]

Thirty days seemed like a reasonable time for a small ad to be inactive before house-keeping it into oblivion.

If an advertiser has a good reason to increase its endurance, they may do so with a bump or two. i.e They will have to actively manage it.

If someone wants to respond to an advert, best to make some sort of contact at an early stage - ( obviously ).

If an advert has been deleted already and no contact made then maybe post on WANTED . . . .

Subject : Rubber Cranks - previously advertised

Text : To the person who advertised this item a couple of months ago. Please get in touch.

Summary : I like the auto-deletion facility.
It limits the endurance of these transient items, keeping things reasonably tidy & manageable.

I receive a few requests per year, to revive auto-deleted small ads ( which I cannot do ).
Also , I receive a few requests per year to explicitly delete small ads, where the transaction has completed, but the advertiser is not aware of the auto-deletion facility.

I vote for no change.

[[XAP]Bob]

I don't particularly have a strong view - occasionally I'd have liked to look back, but it's not unreasonable...

[700c]

Paypal Dispute is 180 days.
Would be helpful if the small ad was also 180 days (and non editable by the seller).

[Bicycler]

But when do you need 180 days to inspect a product in a private sale? A good either arrives or it doesn't. It is either as described or it isn't. It really ought to be checked on receipt (ie. within a week or so of the sale). Bear in mind that all sellers on the forum are meant to be private sellers so, unlike business sellers, the only legal requirements are that the item is theirs to sell and it is accurately described. They aren't responsible if it breaks a few months down the line like a retailer might be.

Maybe if a few weeks went by, the good hadn't arrived and alarm bells started ringing it might be worth bumping a thread to preserve it but we really must be talking a miniscule proportion of all forum sales. In any case I can't imagine why an item not received claim would require access to the original listing when you already have Paypal as proof of the transaction.

I'm with Graham on voting for no change re: the autodeletion.