# Suggestion for "missing" OPs. **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 20, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-missing-ops/349069 "2006-03-20T01:01:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-missing-ops/349069/1 "2006-03-20T01:01:37Z")
A good amount of threads recently have been started by socks/trolls/whoever, and so had their OP’s deleted while (often) the thread continues on. This often means confusion as whoever posted 2nd may be cited as the OP, and relevant information as to the nature of the thread may be lost. So, I have a suggestion. When the OP is deleted, replace the old OP with one under a different account (for example, “Placeholder”) that’s maintained by the mods. A small point could be added to let people know the original OP was deleted (at least until people got the idea). An example (using myself so no one gets mad) would be: > [@Sock](#): > > **Let’s all talk about lego!** > > What cool things did you make with lego? > [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > I made a tree! Would become: > [@Placeholder](#): > > **Let’s all talk about lego!** > > What cool things did you make with lego? > > \*\*Original OP banned. \*\* - mod name. > [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > I made a tree! That way the OP remains, and the thread is not as confusing. It would mean slightly more work for the mods, but if it’s a long OP, it could just be cut and pasted by them. Obviously whether or not to keep the OP would be a judgement of the mod’s, but if it was rule-breaking then the thread would be closed anyway. This suggestion would be for threads that are continuing and in which the OP broke no rule other than being a sock (that is, no rule breaking in that post). Good idea/bad idea? ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-missing-ops/349069/2 "2006-03-20T02:09:35Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > Good idea/bad idea? Valid suggestion. However, we are not permitted to edit any post, and vB has no feature to add a place holder post. Besides, re-posting the OP under a different name would defeat the purpose of deleting the OP in the first place. The best we could do with your suggestion is to add a mod note (below the post, where you usually see something like “reason: fixed coding.” to post #2 stating that the OP has been deleted. That’s my view. Other mods might have different suggestions. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-missing-ops/349069/3 "2006-03-20T16:43:43Z")
I thought this was going to about **Revenant Threshold’s** disppeared thread, _humorcrazy - Please Stop._ What the heck happened to that one? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-missing-ops/349069/4 "2006-03-20T16:58:43Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > I thought this was going to about **Revenant Threshold’s** disppeared thread, _humorcrazy - Please Stop._ What the heck happened to that one? He got banned, all his threads were deleted, so my Pit thread was closed, too. Seeing as how no one had enough time to disagree with me, I consider my first Pitting to be a success! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-missing-ops/349069/5 "2006-03-20T18:03:54Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > He got banned, all his threads were deleted, so my Pit thread was closed, too. > > Seeing as how no one had enough time to disagree with me, I consider my first Pitting to be a success! 😉 Not just closed. It was disappeared. A bit different. I understand deleting all sock threads, but you ain’t no hosiery. Right? ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2006, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-missing-ops/349069/6 "2006-03-20T18:15:36Z")
> [@Contrapuntal](#): > > Not just closed. It was disappeared. A bit different. I understand deleting all sock threads, but you ain’t no hosiery. Right? How interesting. I know it was locked, but I wasn’t around to notice it being disapeared. And no sockiness here. 🙂