A user has suggested implementing a warning feature in Discourse that alerts moderators if changing a topic’s category would cause the Original Poster (OP) to lose access to their topic. This issue often occurs when moving topics to categories like the Lounge. ChrisBeach proposed this idea after receiving feedback from a user who lost visibility of their topic due to a category change. sam pointed out that this warning shouldn’t be limited to the OP, suggesting that it should also include other affected members. ChrisBeach agreed that the warning message could be expanded to include other members, but emphasized that OPs are often the most invested in their topics.
Just had some feedback from a user confused (and annoyed) when I inadvertently moved their topic to a category they didn’t have access to
(modding performed on mobile UI)
This happens occasionally with categories like the Lounge and can be hard to spot if the OP will lose visibility of their topic.
It would be great if Discourse could present a warning (on both desktop and mobile) if a category change will affect the OPs visibility on the topic.
Hmm why restrict this to the OP though?
Moving this category to lounge will cause
@sam,@jane,@fredand 4 other’s no longer to see this topic, are you sure?
I think the reason OPs care most about “losing” their topic is that they’re usually the ones following most closely. They cared enough about a given subject to create a new topic on it.
But if the warning message could include other members affected by the move, that would be even better.