# Why do some first posts get locked?
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [October 19, 2021, 7:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414 "2021-10-19T07:26:26Z")
**Posts on this page:** 12
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@szhorvat](https://meta.discourse.org/u/szhorvat)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 7:26am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/1 "2021-10-19T07:26:26Z")
It has happened more than once now on our forum that the first time I see a new post, it is already locked. I am unable to figure out how it might have gotten locked. I am posting here in the hope of getting some tips about what might be happening.
- Can normal users (not moderators) lock their own posts?
- The moderation history is empty. If another moderator had locked it (by accident), if would show in the history, right?
- Does the system auto-lock first posts which appear to be of low quality? The locked ones were like this.
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### Author:  [@IAmGav](https://meta.discourse.org/u/IAmGav)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 7:29am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/2 "2021-10-19T07:29:02Z")
Normal users cant lock their topics.
The topic can be lock depending on what is set in the category settings.
There is also a setting in admin settings that can lock a topic if an staff member edit this topic.
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 7:32am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/3 "2021-10-19T07:32:53Z")
> [@IAmGav](#):
>
> Normal users cant lock their topics.
A user can dustbin the OP if there are no replies. This locks the topic. It should replace the OP text with ‘topic deleted by author’, or something similar. I think that leaves an edit history though.
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### Author:  [@szhorvat](https://meta.discourse.org/u/szhorvat)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 7:44am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/4 "2021-10-19T07:44:04Z")
Thanks for the quick responses!
> [@IAmGav](#):
>
> The topic can be lock depending on what is set in the category settings.
(Most) other posts in the same category did not get locked, so I don’t think that’s it. I checked the category settings and found _“Auto-close topic after: … mins”_. It is not enabled.
> [@IAmGav](#):
>
> There is also a setting in admin settings that can lock a topic if an staff member edit this topic.
I found this as well, and it is not enabled.
> [@JammyDodger](#):
>
> A user can dustbin the OP if there are no replies. This locks the topic. It should replace the OP text with ‘topic deleted by author’, or something similar. I think that leaves an edit history though.
I have seen this before, and indeed it looks different. As in your screenshot, it shows _(topic deleted by author)_. In this case, the topic simply had a padlock icon next to it, but otherwise everything looked usual, and there was no sign of an edit history.
* * *
Any other ideas?
Maybe it’s best if I link the topic here: [https://igraph.discourse.group/t/how-should-i-do-for-reducing-graph-object-memory-usage/909](https://igraph.discourse.group/t/how-should-i-do-for-reducing-graph-object-memory-usage/909) (It’s already unlocked though.)
At the moment it’s not a big deal, as it’s only the second time I notice it, and it was easy to unlock the topic. But I’d like to avoid unnecessary frustration for our forum users, so it’d be good to understand what is happening.
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### Author:  [@JammyDodger](https://meta.discourse.org/u/JammyDodger)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 7:45am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/5 "2021-10-19T07:45:06Z")
There are a few suggestions in this topic, though I’m not sure a definitive answer was found:
> [@Topic closed without system record](https://meta.discourse.org/t/topic-closed-without-system-record/196813):
>
> Lately our community has been seeing topics being closed after the first post without any staff action or system record. I cannot find any record in Settings \>\> Logs \>\> Staff Actions either. Any hint on what is causing the auto-closure, which has never happened before? Thanks!
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### Author:  [@szhorvat](https://meta.discourse.org/u/szhorvat)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 7:54am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/6 "2021-10-19T07:54:50Z")
@IAmGav Was this you? [https://igraph.discourse.group/t/test-please-ignore/911](https://igraph.discourse.group/t/test-please-ignore/911) Well, you seemed to manage to trigger the auto-lock.
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### Author:  [@IAmGav](https://meta.discourse.org/u/IAmGav)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 7:56am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/7 "2021-10-19T07:56:18Z")
That is me.
Nothing happened until I deleted my post.
So it’s something todo when a new user deletes the post
What version of discourse are you on ?
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### Author:  [@szhorvat](https://meta.discourse.org/u/szhorvat)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 8:02am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/8 "2021-10-19T08:02:20Z")
> [@IAmGav](#):
>
> That is me.
Thanks for testing!
> [@IAmGav](#):
>
> Nothing happened until I deleted my post.
>
> So it’s something todo when a new user deletes the post
Did you delete, then undelete again? It does not seem to show the usual _(topic deleted by author)_.
Either way, this explains what happened. Thanks so much!
> [@IAmGav](#):
>
> What version of discourse are you on ?
It seems to be `Discourse 2.8.0.beta6`. This is an installation managed by Discourse-the-company on the discourse.group domain, so I never had to deal with updating, or even checking the version.
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### Author:  [@IAmGav](https://meta.discourse.org/u/IAmGav)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 8:04am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/9 "2021-10-19T08:04:34Z")
If I delete it, it locks the post, but don’t change the text.
If I Undelete it, it unlocks the post.
I smell a 🐞
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### Author:  [@szhorvat](https://meta.discourse.org/u/szhorvat)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 8:10am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/10 "2021-10-19T08:10:08Z")
For future reference, it looks like this to me (no sign of deletion):
> [@IAmGav](#):
>
> If I Undelete it, it unlocks the post.
This is good news. It means that the user whose post get locked will be aware of what happened, and will be able to “unlock” it themselves.
I think all is good (and I assume the Discourse people will fix it eventually).
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### Author:  [@IAmGav](https://meta.discourse.org/u/IAmGav)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2021, 8:13am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/11 "2021-10-19T08:13:16Z")
Now that we have screenshots and know how to replicate this issue, please go ahead and delete that post 😁
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### Author:  [@system](https://meta.discourse.org/u/system)
#### Post date: [November 18, 2021, 8:13am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/why-do-some-first-posts-get-locked/206414/12 "2021-11-18T08:13:43Z")
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