# What is the deal with missing threads?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-missing-threads/157978>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [February 27, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-missing-threads/157978 "2003-02-27T21:07:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-missing-threads/157978/1 "2003-02-27T21:07:59Z")

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I’m not talking about controversial threads that were killed for one reason or another, but “harmless little threads” that can’t be found with the search engine.

I remember a couple of different topics from “a while back,” but I can’t find them despite using words that I know should find them.

Were any threads actually lost in one of the board meltdowns?

Just in case you’re interested, I posted a question about William McKinley’s injuries in GQ (two years ago, maybe).

Another one was in GD, which was about Shoeless Joe, and cited a study that ESPN had done that showed he wasn’t quite so innocent as is often believed (three or four years ago).

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-missing-threads/157978/2 "2003-02-27T21:23:59Z")

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The whole period from ~12/07/2001 to ~03/20/2002 is missing, and back in UBB days, some forums were purged of stuff prior to ~07/01/1999. Individual items here and there have gone away as well.

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**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\
**Post date:** [February 27, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-missing-threads/157978/3 "2003-02-27T21:38:40Z")

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Plus, If you remember only 3 letter words from the thread, you can’t search for it. The search engine requires a 4 letter word minimum.

You might be able to locate some lost threads with a search on [http://www.boardreader.com](http://www.boardreader.com)

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**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\
**Post date:** [February 28, 2003, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-deal-with-missing-threads/157978/4 "2003-02-28T07:04:51Z")

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Also make sure that you’re setting an appropriate range of dates to search. I think that the default is “since yesterday”, whereas you probably want “a year ago or older”.