Cannot go to emailed post

[ericg]

I got an email today that advised of a post of interest:

When I tried to visit the referenced post, I was told that I was not authorized to visit that page. The message said that if that was a problem, I could contact admin.
So I clicked the admin hyperlink and got this:

I hope I'll find HS4 easier to use than the forum is right now....

[randy]

I received the same email. Because I am a moderator on that forum, I could see that the post had been deleted by the author. vBulletin’s splash page that you received is not very clear in the message it is delivering. Since the member deleted their own post, it is “soft” deleted, meaning it still exists, but only administrators and moderators have access. So the message you received is actually correct, but of an undetermined context unless you understand the underlying details.

[ericg]

, thank you for the explanation. Is it too much to ask that, whenever a peon like me tries to access a deleted post, he might simply be informed that said post was deleted, rather than somewhat peremptorily advised that he is unauthorized?

Also, what is the point of inviting a forum member to contact "admin", if it is foreordained that "admin" doesn't want to hear from the member, anyway?

[randy]

, thank you for the explanation. Is it too much to ask that, whenever a peon like me tries to access a deleted post, he might simply be informed that said post was deleted, rather than somewhat peremptorily advised that he is unauthorized?


Also, what is the point of inviting a forum member to contact "admin", if it is foreordained that "admin" doesn't want to hear from the member, anyway?

I don’t disagree. The problem lies in the unusual timing of this post.

1. the original post is created
2. an email is sent out letting you know it was made
3. the post is deleted by the author

As a result, the email was sent when the link was good, but it subsequently became bad prior to your visiting the post. There is no way the system could know the link would be bad when you later tried to launch the URL. It would be better if the forum gave you a working method of contacting the forum administrators. You might PM Rupp or macromark as they are involved in the configuration and administration of these forums and suggest configuration changes.