Limit moderator from deleting threads.

[intender]

I swear this used to be an option at one point but I don't see it now.

Is there a way to not allow moderators to delete threads but to still allow them to delete posts? We ran into a an issue several years ago where one of our new moderators accidentally deleted a very active thread instead of deleting a single post.  That thread was was about 400 pages long and full of useful information and due to the way pro boards works there is no way to recover a thread once its been deleted, its just gone. 

I need to add a few new moderators to the forum I run, but I have created a new moderator role that I intended to give similar powers to a full moderator but without the ability to delete an entire thread and a few other restricted powers until they completed a basic "training" period and are used to the layout of the forum and how the moderator functions work and also prove that they aren't going to have a god complex or power trip and delete half the forum if they get mad about something. We have about 20k members with about 4k visitors per day with guests being allowed to post and only 2 active mods right now which makes it hard to keep up with on busy days. I would still like them to have the ability to delete the constant spam posts and troll posts but deleting an entire thread I would like to leave to the more seasoned moderators and admin and have them continue to report to the the higher ranks if they think a thread needs to be dealt with. 

[Kami]

I think you are misremembering, unfortunately. The only option that has ever existed is the power to "delete" both threads and posts.

I know it doesn't feel very intuitive but it's important to consider that a single post (the first post) can also be a thread on its own. Either the user can delete it, or they can't. Conflicting yes threads no posts permissions would leave this overall common use case unaccounted for.

Unfortunately there isn't much that can be done. You can mitigate risk by asking mods to *move* posts into their own thread before deleting them, but alas this isn't foolproof either (as misclicks still happen accidentally).

For your situation you can give this limited mod group the ability to move posts into their own thread in a private staff board, leave off the ability to delete, and  have a full mod delete them from the special staff board.

[Chris]

The following community sourced plugin was created to implement most of what Kami said above on an automatic basis, the user deletes as usual but it redirects that user's action to a move instead. 

Staff Deletion Backup Plugin

[Kami]

oh NICE Chris i hadn't seen that :0

tho ofc, with the caveat this doesn't work on the mobile version at this time, or if the user has javascript disabled.

[Scott]

intender, I recommend you read our Help Guide article on Preventing Forum Content Deletion

[intender]

Realized I forgot to add a link to the forum in question.  forum.gigabyte.us/

I did not setup this forum. It was originally setup by an employee for that company. I am now essentially admining the forum alone with a few moderators and trying to go through and figure out what has been done and what was not done and what needs to be done and removing people who do not need to have certain privileges, ie admin and mods who have not logged in for 3+ YEARS.

Thanks for the reply and suggestions.  The options for requiring manually entering the word "delete" were enabled. I did follow the suggestion to create a hidden category for the other moderators to move things into for review if they feel uncomfortable with the deleting process. While I am sure there are reasons why there is no option to limit deleting on a role to only a single post, but this would be the best option for what I need on this forum. Perhaps some day it will be an option. Accidentally deleting a thread by deleting the original post has never been an issue. It was the delete thread button in the Actions drop down box at the top and people clicking on the wrong thing trying to delete on mobile. I may be able to go through the custom theme and remove the Delete thread button completely from anyone that is not staff to resolve part of the problem. Mobile is a different issue all together. I would be happy if delete thread were not even an option on mobile.

To further explain the reason for wanting the option to only delete posts by certain roles, and this is mostly just me rambling at this point so ignore if you want.  Almost all of what needs to be deleted on this forum is spam from bots. We regularly get excessive (in the10's or even hundreds) of random posts within a short period of time in an existing thread advertising pill/porn/fake passports etc.  Very rarely do bots create a new thread. At one point I limited the forum to only members being able to post, but the bots still managed to get around this feature and activity on the forum was cut nearly in half during that time period. Being a tech forum for a major computer parts manufacturer having guest accounts enabled works the best for people within our scope of use. The only time I disable guest accounts now is if I have an angry user who has been banned that uses a VPN to get around the IP ban and keeps posting on guest accounts. In that circumstance I will disable them temporarily for a week or so until the user gives up. 

[Lynx]

This may seem overly simplified, but if you are able, just create a group and have just you in it. As part of its powers, have Delete set to Yes, then edit all other groups and set Delete to No - making it so only you can delete threads and posts (except for users deleting their own posts). Then, just simply tell your moderators to move threads/posts (since Delete won't show up anymore, no accidental clicking on Delete) to a Staff-only board. From there, you review the thread/post and delete if necessary. On most of my forums, this is how I have it set up. That way, no Staff can accidentally delete the wrong thing. They move it to the Staff-only board, I review it, then I take action on it.

Also, unless you have it enabled for guests to posts, it's highly unlikely that it's bots - as they can't get past the Captcha (sp?). The more likely scenario, if guests cannot post, is the actual people are registering just to make the spam post - since, as stated above, bots can't get past the Captcha to make the post.

[intender]

I completely missed your post Chris. that plugin could be useful. Thanks for the link. 

And MSG, I appreciate the suggestion for making a group with only me for deletion, but this is the way it has been for about 2 years. I don't have time to watch the forum 24 hours a day and need the mods to help delete this stuff.  I spent a few years as the only person with privileges to delete and not having admin control so that I could do the stuff I am trying to figure out now like creating a board to let the mods move posts to and creating new roles for people I trust to delete things and making a new role to help the new mods I need to learn without making these catastrophic mistakes again along with time to reinforce to delete using the gear icon for moderating rather than the drop down Action menu. With the combination normal life plus homeschooling my 2 kids due covid and I need help, but its going to have to come from new moderators since most of the old one have disappeared over time.

Also bots have been able to get around captcha for a while now. With improvements in AI it will only get easier for them to get past it. It will stop most of them, but not all. Either way, I will have to deal with it using the options available to me. I just thought I remembered seeing the option somewhere in a guide but I could have been mistaken or it could have been for an older version of proboards. If I can get my mods to move the posts to the board I created for review thats going to be the best option I think, and if the plugin from before works that will make my life much easier.