OMFG they pulled a Daniel Linden again!

These people deleted some forums again... I lost 500+ posts!
If you keep deleting everything how on earth will we ever finish the SL history wiki!

Yes Robin mentioned that they mistakenly deleted the Off-Topic Threads from (my guess) the old NEW IN SECOND LIFE Forum.

I also remember Robin saying they had backed up the old Forums.

So why not a restore?

If posts are deleted on purpose that were allowed to remain before, that feels somewhat weird, kind of like revisionist history.

I hate to play devil's advocate, but personally I doubt that all of the previous OT: posts were 'accidentally' deleted...

at a guess i bet they tried to batch move them, and that the software ate them.
managing a forum is a pain in the ass.

I'm not talking about a few posts, I'm talking about entire forums!
The old archive contained three forums. Now there is only one.
My guess is that they *gasp* deleted the rants forum and the way-offtopic forum.
They may be only rants to the lindens but I think that when people have strong feelings about something it is important to document it. In fact, infamous conflicts were something I planned on writing about in the SL history wiki, since we dont have any real wars in SL.
Prim hogging, land scanners, neg ratings... I suppose there's plenty of talk in the general forum, anyway.

Hopefully nothing of too much value was lost.

I feel bad for Daniel Linden.

Hehehe we dont actually know who is responsible for the loss of content this time. It could have just been the malfunctioning script thing that Robin mentioned.

All three of the separate old forums of archived posts were simply combined into one searchable forum - the Archive - available here: /120/1.html

Grr, I STILL lost 500 personal posts.

But not including the posts that were lost.


ugh

So we lost post count, but not actual posts? Is that it?

Don't know Eggy - I do know I can't open several threads I started that are NOT in the ARCHIVES but still show up in my Subscribed Threads list.


Try this link - see if it will open for you (anyone):


10.000 Things To Be Happy About

/invalid_link.html

I get a

"Merwan Marker, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:"

message

nope nada zilch

Same, does not work for me, either.

There were some posts that were deleted in batch moves. We are also trying to save some server space by not keeping things forever, so some of the very old posts were deleted. But yes, there is a back up (2 in fact!).

We can do a restore into an archive, and we're working on a policy for how long and what should be saved forever. If you have strong opinions, as some of you do, please let us know and we'll make an effort to take them into account and set up a good archive.

Thanks for the info Robin. How about this : I agree that you shouldn't keep everything forever. Why not open forum thread with links to long running threads and take votes for a period of time (week) on whether to keep in archive or not. I feel these threads would be easily identifiable by the number of postings, the lack of serious or harmful drama, and by the spread of the age of posters. Beyond that you could also have a thread nomination poll before archiving/deleting. My .02L

Is there a collection of postings by employees of Linden Lab that relate to decisions by LL? For instance, wasn't the policy atatment by LL pertaining to their position on "hate speech" buried somewhere in the missing material?

I would like there to be an area or repository for all the position statements, or other professional postings, of the Company. Otherwise, we lose a very important legal and historical resource.

For instance, does the absence of that posting now make it no longer binding? Was it binding in the first place? Was it true? Is it now not-true, since there is no reference?

If you are going to (or have) posted official notices, decisions, explanations and corporate forcasts in this forum, I think they really should be gatherd together in a public place.

Can we have a statment about this from Linden Lab?

(And have it preserved, as well?)

Kathy - the forum guidelines are posted under "Guidelines" - a link available at the top of every page in the forums. Also, feel free to read more about the guidelines in Robin's post about the new forums:
/3/44/24294/1.html

Robin, I dont know how large the forums are, but if you do choose to remove some of the old material, and if at all possible, I would like some way to download an archive of it and back it up to CD or DVD. Heck, I'll buy the backups off of you!
The forums are our main source of info for the ongoing effort to document the relevant aspects of second life history. The older material is thus, to me and other SL historian-wannabes, the most valuable of it all.
Any additional documents you may have would be worth their weight in gold. Ancient release notes, manuals, any sort of design and development documentation you may have kept from the early days, chat logs from old town halls or interviews...

If at all possible, I would like nothing deleted at all. I assume it really doesn't take all that much space. If clutter is the concern, archiving shouldn't be a big deal. Having posts just completely gone now is bothersome.

Jeska,

Thank you for pointing out those landmarks. I'm sure they'll come in handy. However, my posting had nothing to do with what is covered in those docuuments.

In case you are pressed for time to read what I wrote, here's the Summary: There were postings by Linden Lab that were statments of policy, clarification, and statments of intent. There were rulings by various Lindens, including Philip, that have appeared nowhere else. Important rulings.



In that spirit, here is MY opinion: Though I'd prefer a COMPLETE archive, I can understand the issues there. What we NEED is a complete archive of all Linden statments. Whether this is part of the "primary archive" or not, is not important, but it would be best if the Linden statments were in context.

I want Linden Lab to export the material they've posted to a place where people can read it. Or place a COMPLETE archive in a public place.

Jeska,

Thank you for pointing out those landmarks. I'm sure they'll come in handy. However, my posting had nothing to do with what is covered in those docuuments.

In case you are pressed for time to read what I wrote, here's the Summary: There were postings by Linden Lab that were statments of policy, clarification, and statments of intent. There were rulings by various Lindens, including Philip, that have appeared nowhere else. Important rulings.

I want Linden Lab to export the material they've posted to a place where people can read it. Or place a COMPLETE archive in a public place.

Yeah, I lost around 100+

I would say don't delete any. If you absoluetly need to however, I second Eggy's suggestion, I myself would buy any CD's/DVD's holding old forum archives as well.

The forums as well as the NWN are the *best* resource for history, I'd say even greater than residents themselves, because the history is *there* imprinted how exactly it happened not through anyone elses eyes except for the original posters themselves.

So yes, if you have to delete them, please put them on something so I and others interisted can keep copies.

Its hard to really tell what exactly is historical or what isn't. It would be impossible to take a vote on every single post made within the past year. And one person going through each thread to determine what should be kept or what shouldn't, well they may miss something that *they* might not find important, but others may.