Why doesnt Deleted Posts show up?

November 10, 2009 5:53 AM

No Deleted Posts Script? It doesnt seem to be working for me (Firefox 3.5, Windows Vista)
posted by wheelieman to Bugs at 5:53 AM (19 comments total)

Working for me, Firefox 3.5, Windows XP.
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 6:05 AM on November 10, 2009

Someone accidentally posted a question to the blue earlier this morning, and its been deleted yet I dont see the normal reason for deletion or anything. Super Deleted?
posted by wheelieman at 6:16 AM on November 10, 2009

You mean this one? I'm just speculating here, but I imagine the deleted posts scripts operates by finding missing post numbers between existing post numbers. If that's the case, the script can't identify the missing post until another one with a higher number is posted, which hasn't happened yet.

Also, it was either moved or re-posted over on AskMe.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 6:21 AM on November 10, 2009

There's no such thing as "super deletion".
posted by carsonb at 6:24 AM on November 10, 2009

I know carson b, it was meant to be one of those Meme things you guys like so much.
posted by wheelieman at 6:26 AM on November 10, 2009

Mods please super delete this, or whatever you do. Thanks Devils Advocate for the insight.
posted by wheelieman at 6:34 AM on November 10, 2009

The deleted thread is there now, with an undeleted thread on top of it.
posted by maudlin at 6:45 AM on November 10, 2009

Yep, DevilsAdvocate has it—the scripts need a starting point.

I will reiterate, for any lurking script-authors, the bulletproofing notion of incrementing the initial observed index a few times and checking backwards from there if they want to make their scripts even more awesome and make this bit of confusion go away on these occasions.

Also, it was either moved or re-posted over on AskMe.

Just reposted by the user. We don't move 'em ourselves, since the situation doesn't come up often enough and isn't onerous enough for the user for it to make sense to engineer a migration tool.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:02 AM on November 10, 2009

There's no such thing as "super deletion".

That's just what they want you to think. I've said too much.
posted by Who_Am_I at 7:40 AM on November 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

cortex: "I will reiterate, for any lurking script-authors, the bulletproofing notion of incrementing the initial observed index a few times and checking backwards from there if they want to make their scripts even more awesome and make this bit of confusion go away on these occasions."

I haven't done this just for the simple fact that "that's not a deleted post" is an uncacheable result. If I cached it as a "no, not deleted", we'd still end up with these. And if I never cached it, it would double the number of page requests made every time someone hits the home page.
posted by Plutor at 8:31 AM on November 10, 2009

Ah! You and your science. Fair enough.
posted by cortex (staff) at 8:33 AM on November 10, 2009

I super-deleted my chicken sandwich yesterday at lunch. It was super-delicious.
posted by blue_beetle at 9:18 AM on November 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

What do you get when you cool Leonard Bernstein with liquid nitrogen?
posted by box at 12:03 PM on November 10, 2009

A superconductor!
posted by box at 1:22 PM on November 10, 2009

*rimshot followed by crickets*
posted by wheelieman at 3:19 PM on November 10, 2009

I'm totally stealing that, box.
posted by brundlefly at 3:49 PM on November 10, 2009

Plutor, what about just inserting something before the first post saying something like "There may or may not be another deleted post HERE," with a link to the next ID? Then people who are looking for a post can just click the link instead of opening MeTa threads.
posted by scottreynen at 6:00 PM on November 10, 2009

This is going to sound callous, but do we really have that many "hey I think there's a deleted post why don't I see it in my script" questions?

I mean.. you're peeking behind the curtain as it is. Do you need a by the minute update if a post has been deleted?

I appreciate the original question is "Hey, do the scripts still work", but I don't think the best answer is "Why not guess there are 4 more deleted threads from the most recent one clicked so go hit the server 4 times looking for them for the lulz."
posted by cavalier at 7:25 AM on November 11, 2009

Since 99.9% of the time, the case will be "not", I think having that message always above the first post on every sub-site will 1) be annoying and 2) teach users to ignore it.
posted by Plutor at 7:26 AM on November 11, 2009