At present, when posts are removed, for whatever reason, they leave no trace. This is obviously desirable if the original post is spam or trolls etc.

But when it occurs in a bona fide thread, and that post has already attracted responses and replies, it is completely wrong, in my opinion, to leave no evidence whatsoever of the post.

The resulting thread is reduced to an inaccurate account of the postal transactions, making a mockery of all posts sent after the post was removed, but it actually compromises all posts in a thread.

It would be a more honest account of a thread's proceedings if the post's *contents only* were removed, and replaced with something like "post removed at user's request" or "post removed; mod action required" whatever the reason is. Then at least one could see that a post had been made, by whom and when.

This would give the subsequent posts a context and framework at least, and readers would have some information on which to base their understanding of a thread's contents. It doesn't matter what was in the post, the fact of the posting is what matters.

Dismantling the structure of a thread dismantles the thread itself. Without a record of a removed post, all posts are compromised, both before and after the removed post.

NT at the moment is unaccountable for its post removal actions. I realize it has every right to be so, but I feel that some public record of the action must remain. It happens frequently enough to be a point of very deep concern to me.

I must add that because of the present way of handling removed posts, I now wonder if I can continue posting here. The resulting mess of a butchered thread (and there are several, at the very least) gives such an inaccurate account of a thread's development and meaning.

I can no longer trust what I read. Or trust that what I write will be seen properly within the framework in which it was first written.

I am so saddened by it.

I have switched off PMs, mods may PM/email me if they need to; I feel this is an NT forum-wide matter and have no wish to discuss it privately.

This post may be removed; I would hope the forum admin is able to allow a free discussion. If it survives, please everybody think hard about the way removed posts are being handled.

They just need to be logged properly as part of a thread's integrity, or it has none.

all the best...

PS I want to make it clear I am addressing post removal only, not editing.