Forum Moderation Guide: Managing Posts and Threads: Deleting Posts and Threads
This page is part of the [[Moderating Microsoft Forums]] series.
Moderators have the ability to delete posts and threads. However, deletion can be seen as a form of censorship, so use caution when deleting posts.
Deleting posts should only be done under these circumstances:
· The post is a duplicate of another post within a thread, as shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Deleting Duplicate Posts
· The post contains SPAM, or otherwise violates the Code of Conduct or Terms of Use
· Deleting your own post
· Abuse scenarios
· Password cracks
· Product key postings
· Release of confidential information
Deleting threads should only be done under these circumstances:
· The thread exists elsewhere and the public was notified that the thread will be deleted. An example of alerting the user that the thread will be deleted is shown in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Warning Users that a Thread will be Deleted
· The thread promotes piracy or contains other illegal information. An example is shown in Figure 3.
Figure 3: Thread Posting Illegal Content
· The thread contains no content, as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Thread Containing No Content
Note: A thread should only be deleted when all posts within the thread should be deleted. If only a single post contains the text to be deleted, the post itself should be deleted and not the entire thread.
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