# Moderators cannot flag a message after it has been unhidden after a first flag?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-cannot-flag-a-message-after-it-has-been-unhidden-after-a-first-flag/24552
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [1월 29, 2015, 1:03오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-cannot-flag-a-message-after-it-has-been-unhidden-after-a-first-flag/24552 "2015-01-29T01:03:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 5
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@reaperoa](https://meta.discourse.org/u/reaperoa)
#### Post date: [1월 29, 2015, 1:03오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-cannot-flag-a-message-after-it-has-been-unhidden-after-a-first-flag/24552/1 "2015-01-29T01:03:22Z")
I’m not sure whether this is a bug, oversight, or working as designed, but I’m a mod on another forum, and currently the mods are talking about how to handle a certain person. The person is posting things that are against the rules (nothing warranting a straight ban or anything, but flag and hide forcing them to change their posts).
The problem I’m having is that once I flag something and hide it, if they alter their post they can unhide it without changing the content, and I can’t rehide it by flagging it again (the only thing that appears is the “Send a private message” option.
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [3월 4, 2015, 12:04오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-cannot-flag-a-message-after-it-has-been-unhidden-after-a-first-flag/24552/2 "2015-03-04T00:04:36Z")
> [@reaperoa](#):
>
> I can’t rehide it by flagging it again
I think this is intentional for moderation.
Second time around you would simply delete it, the system only gives users one “edit to turn hidden into visible” chance.
At that point you have 3 options
1. delete content
2. send a pm to user telling them to stop with this
3. copy edit content
Endless cycles of flag → hide → show → flag → hide , can only lead to tears.
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### Author:  [@reaperoa](https://meta.discourse.org/u/reaperoa)
#### Post date: [3월 4, 2015, 12:22오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-cannot-flag-a-message-after-it-has-been-unhidden-after-a-first-flag/24552/3 "2015-03-04T00:22:19Z")
It’s possible that I may be simply misunderstanding something, but I thought that, after a second flagging, it became impossible for a user to unhide their post by editing it. If that’s not the case, what exactly does the below indicate?
> [@Understanding post flags in Discourse](https://meta.discourse.org/t/understanding-post-flags-in-discourse/275/1):
>
> If the same post is hidden a second round of flags, the flags must now be manually handled by a moderator at that point, there is no automatic unhiding through edit possible.
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [3월 4, 2015, 12:26오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-cannot-flag-a-message-after-it-has-been-unhidden-after-a-first-flag/24552/4 "2015-03-04T00:26:00Z")
Yes the user can no longer unhide.
OK I think I follow.
So you want another option here, you want to leave “hidden” stub as opposed to removing the content so people can still see it?
At the moment second time around you only get an option to delete, if you initiated the flag.
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### Author:  [@chapoi](https://meta.discourse.org/u/chapoi)
#### Post date: [12월 4, 2025, 11:33오전 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moderators-cannot-flag-a-message-after-it-has-been-unhidden-after-a-first-flag/24552/5 "2025-12-04T11:33:31Z")