After merging topics and deleting a merged post the topic efectively becomes unlisted without being marked as such and doesn’t show up even to tl4 users or Admins.
It is expected that the topic will function normally and not become effectively unlisted. Speculating - It may also be the case that this topic is now viewed as “deleted” and potentially be removed automatically as part of cleanup.
Reproducible steps:
On 3.5.0.beta8-dev:
Create new topic topic 1 - that will be deleted with a single post as a and is user1 who is tl1
Create new topic topic 2 - that will break with a single post as user1.
As user1 delete our post in topic 1 - that will be deleted deleting the topic
As user2 who has moderator permissions:
Select posts in topic 1 - that will be deleted and select the first (now deleted) post > move to > topic 2 - that will break with preserve chronological order after merging checked.
As user2 delete the newly merged first post in topic 2 - that will break (the post that was moved from topic 1 - that will be deleted that now reads “(topic deleted by author)”) this will make topic 2 - that will break effectively unlisted.
The only workaround is following a link to the now hidden topic and undelete the first post.
Discussion:
This is a slightly less severe bug with identified as part of debuging and issue with calendar-and-event plugin - see separate bug report:
This sounds like you are indeed deleting that topic.
If you delete the first post of a topic then that does delete the topic. Deleted topics are removed from the main topic lists but are still accessible to staff users (or any group in your Delete all posts and topics allowed groups admin setting). You can use a direct link if you have one, but they can also be seen by visiting {YourSite}/latest?status=deleted
This isn’t a bug and very much a “working as expected” - Please feel free to close this out.
It’s just not particularly intuitive (to a newbie like me anyway) that a newly merged post that becomes the head of a topic acts as the root post for the topic.
Ah yes, there may be a few quirks you come across depending on the forum software you were previously used to, but I think they can be relatively quick to pick up. And we’re always happy to help on here with anything if you have any questions or issues.
FWIW One thing that can be quite useful while you’re getting used to everything is to create a ‘test’ category with some restricted visibility permissions so you can have a safe space to play with things before trying something ‘live’. Splitting, merging, tagging, topic timers, etc, etc. I think seeing things in action in a sandbox type area can really help provide some extra context and hopefully reduce the learning curve.
And we’re always happy to help on here with anything if you have any questions or issues. 