# How do you "delete a post"? {Posters cannot} **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [December 18, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284 "2021-12-18T15:51:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/1 "2021-12-18T15:51:27Z")
I’ve seen this now and then: “this post deleted by poster” How do you do that? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/2 "2021-12-18T15:55:18Z")
> [@Has the "delete post" function been removed?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-delete-post-function-been-removed/956176): > > I recently posted something, decided I wanted to think more on it and tried to delete my post. It was a function that used to be there. Now it seems to be gone. I had to edit my post saying I deleted it. Is there a reason this was removed? Is the board better in a way I do not know without a delete function? (even the delete function was restricted to one per day IIRC) ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2021, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/3 "2021-12-18T22:52:19Z")
Our intent was that you could delete a post as long as it was within the normal edit window, which was originally 5 minutes but has since been increased to 15 minutes. But we recently discovered that users were able to delete posts regardless of when they were posted, though it was limited to one delete per day. Since the delete function was broken, we removed it. You can still edit the post (within the 15 minute edit window) to say “nevermind” or some variation of this, just as you were able to do under the old vBulletin software. You could manually type in “post deleted by author” if you’d like. If having the “nevermind” post there bothers you and you want the post removed completely, as long as you edited the post to say “nevermind” (or similar) within the edit window, just report the post and a friendly moderator will delete it for you. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/4 "2021-12-26T18:11:58Z")
I am really sorry to muck up your thread. I haven’t really been around since vBulletin and was trying to figure out how to respond to a thread without replying directly to a poster. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/5 "2021-12-26T18:15:24Z")
> [@ShelliBean](#): > > I haven’t really been around since vBulletin Welcome back! You might find this thread useful: > [@Cool stuff in Discourse - Basics, tips, tricks, your favorite features](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cool-stuff-in-discourse-basics-tips-tricks-your-favorite-features/937378): > > Here are some basic tutorials. Basic new user guide. This is also listed in TubaDiva’s OP for the tips and tricks stickied thread in ATMB Shorter tips list with pictures for people getting started from the Discourse blog. Very basic with instructions on posting and quoting, etc. SDMB member GreysonCarlisle posted a getting started manual with a table of contents for easy reference. There’s also this Discourse reference for moderators Those are the getting started reference sources… ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2021, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/6 "2021-12-26T18:20:31Z")
Thank you!! ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/7 "2022-03-27T03:00:12Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Since the delete function was broken, we removed it. How broken? How did it hurt? Back in the day, everyone thought that allowing editing would be the end of civilization as we know it. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/8 "2022-03-27T03:07:46Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Back in the day, everyone thought that allowing editing would be the end of civilization as we know it. Have you seen civilization lately? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/9 "2022-03-27T03:58:59Z")
LOL 😄 😄 😅 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2022, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/10 "2022-03-27T06:17:40Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > > [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > > > Since the delete function was broken, we removed it. > > How broken? How did it hurt? Back in the day, everyone thought that allowing editing would be the end of civilization as we know it. It allows people to delete comments after the editing time limit. Which once again became a problem with a poster being able to hide evidence of their bad actions. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2022, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/11 "2022-03-28T07:16:08Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > How broken? How did it hurt? Just read this thread: > [@Zombies wake up to delete zombies, which wakes them. Huh?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zombies-wake-up-to-delete-zombies-which-wakes-them-huh/955982): > > I’ve noticed a few old posts that suddenly jumped to the top of FQ for no reason and after a bit of digging, realized that they were bumped because the second post in each was deleted. Stranger still, the message is replaced with “(post deleted by author)”, yet neither author has posted in years. One of the deleted posts was visible in the Internet Archive and seems perfectly innocuous. So zombie posters are deleting zombie posts which bumps said zombie threads. Is that intentional and is it re… It demonstrated the problem, and as a result of that thread they found they had to remove the “delete post” option to avoid that issue. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/12 "2023-01-14T22:03:09Z")
Is there no longer a way to delete a post immediately after hitting Reply by mistake? I thought we used to be able to within some small number of minutes. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post-posters-cannot/956284/13 "2023-01-14T22:06:21Z")
This is the answer you’re looking for. > [@How do you "delete a post"? {Posters cannot}](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-delete-a-post/956284/3): > > Our intent was that you could delete a post as long as it was within the normal edit window, which was originally 5 minutes but has since been increased to 15 minutes. But we recently discovered that users were able to delete posts regardless of when they were posted, though it was limited to one delete per day. Since the delete function was broken, we removed it. You can still edit the post (within the 15 minute edit window) to say “nevermind” or some variation of this, just as you were able t…