To clarify:
Sometimes, as in the case of the latest PETA thread, someone makes a post that is in clear violation of our posting policy. Most of the time we let those go, but once in a while we don't. Now that we have better controls for moderating posts and threads since the last upgrade, we are able to be more public about the occasional post that we 'remove' from a thread.
We almost never actually 'delete' a post or a thread. Even if we say something is deleted, it just got moved off into our moderator forum, out of public view. That way we keep a history of it.
By definition, generally all posts are automatically 'approved'--that is, as soon as you post, it's public. In the cases of special threads or special members, some posts will have to be approved first, before they are made public.
But we can also, 'unapprove' any post. For us, that leaves it in the thread, but it's unavailable for public viewing. When we either approve or unapprove a post, the poster is sent an automatic private message stating that the post was either approved or unapproved. However, we don't get to enter a reason at that point.
So, once in a while, we will 'unapprove' a post for a special reason.
Did that make any sense?
