Posts count and highest post number

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AI-generated summary

The discussion revolves around the discrepancy between posts_count and highest_post_number metadata in a topic. faheem noticed this discrepancy in a specific topic, where posts_count was 98 but highest_post_number was 105, and hypothesized that it might be due to deleted or hidden posts. osioke confirmed that deleted or hidden posts are the most likely cause. faheem clarified that they are not an admin and asked if there are other possible reasons for the discrepancy. RGJ stated that non-consecutive post numbers are solely due to hidden or deleted posts.

1

I had a small question about the posts_count and highest_post_number metadata for a topic. These aren’t always the same. For example, the topic

has

posts_count = 98
highest_post_number = 105

Is this because some posts have been deleted or hidden? That seems like the most likely possibility. Though 7 deleted or hidden posts in a thread of 105 posts seems like quite a high number.

For example the URL corresponding to post 55, i.e. ending with /55, namely

shows post 54. This seems to be the first point in the thread where there is a discrepancy. So it’s possible that the preceding post was deleted or hidden.

If I’m off base, please let me know.

2

This is most likely the case, as an admin you should be able to see the number of deleted posts in a topic.

3

Hi @osioke,

Thank you for the reply. Just to be clear, I’m not an admin for that site (forum.valuepickr.com).

Is there any other possible reason for those numbers to be non-consecutive?

4

No, if post numbers are non-consecutive then there must be hidden or deleted posts.