Threads getting perm deleted when they shouldn't be

[mme42]

We seem to be having a problem with threads getting permanently removed when they shouldn't be. We have permissions set so that only admins can perm delete. Yet, we're seeing "Thread Removed" in the moderator logs for many of the mods (about 1/3 to 1/2 of them). It should be only a soft delete, but it seems they are somehow getting permanently deleted.

I've double checked the permissions for these mods and they shouldn't be able to perm delete. I've tried to replicate the problem on an offline test forum with these mods' accounts but nothing seems to work. The option to perm delete isn't available when using their accounts to delete. It would seem that either there is some kind of bug that is turning a soft delete into a perm delete, or they are finding someway around not being allowed to perm delete. Either way, I can't reproduce it.

Does anybody have any idea what could cause this? It's starting to drive me nuts, haha.

Thanks.

[Ronald0]

Did someone prune the forums? Backup the database. and re import it.

[mme42]

Nobody pruned anything that I know of, but I'll confirm that when I talk to the other admins tomorrow. I'm not sure what backing up the database and re-importing would do. If the threads are already permanently deleted, they won't be coming back with a re-import, right?

I'm actually not trying to get these threads back per se. I want to stop it from happening in the future. Normally, we have our moderators soft delete threads/posts that they feel the need to. Then an admin looks through the threads before they are permanently deleted to make sure they had good reason to.

[Lynne]

In the admin cp under the forums & mods > show all mods, check the permissions every place the moderator is listed on that page. If they are a super mod, they will be listed in the super mod list and possibly the moderator list also.

[mme42]

Thanks for the replies, I've figured it out though. The "Thread Removed" message in the moderator logs was caused by moderators merging threads. Apparently, it makes two entries...one stating "Thread merged from multiple threads" for the thread title to which both threads were merged to, and the other stating "Thread Removed" for the thread title which doesn't get used.

So, it was false alarm. Nothing was actually getting permanently deleted except for what would be an empty thread after the merge. It was just a matter of how vB enters the mod actions into the log. I'm not sure how I didn't notice that at first since there was always an adjacent entry by the same mod stating "merged."

But, thanks again