[Maryann Corbett]

Early in the day on June 1 (Sunday), I'm going to prune the poetry boards, leaving up just 30 days' worth. So if you've got threads from April that you want to preserve, print 'em now!

Maryann

[S. A. Oleksy]

Maryann, are the posts gone for good once you have deleted from the active boards? You mean there is no archive?

SAO

[Maryann Corbett]

I'm sorry, but that's right; there's no archive. That's the main reason I warn people. There has been more concern here that a poem's workshopping history go away, so that editors don't see it, than with archiving.

We've said this before, but it bears repeating: don't use the board as your record of what you've done to a poem. Keep separate files.

"The Wayback Machine" provides a partial record of Web pages that change; give it a try if I've pruned your only copy.

Maryann

[Alex Pepple]

SAO, if it's something that was deleted recently, say within a couple of weeks or so, you may also be able to find it from Google's cache (that is the 'cached' link that accompany most Google search results.)

Cheers,
...Alex

[Sherri Damlo]

Originally posted by Alex Pepple:
SAO, if it's something that was deleted recently, say within a couple of weeks or so, you may also be able to find it from Google's cache (that is the 'cached' link that accompany most Google search results.)

Cheers,
...Alex

I've found threads just a few weeks ago that were from when my username was still in my maiden name (Sherri Ryan), and that was nearly 2 years ago..!

[Alex Pepple]

Hi Sherri, only the poetry forums are pruned, so that would not be surprising for the other permanently stored forums such as Mastery, Distinguished Guest, etc. They go back several years, and as we all know Google will ferret out anything you leave online.

Cheers,
...Alex

[Sherri Damlo]

Alex - Well, it is amazing, I think! (I had actually found my first poem I had posted here, so Google must cache [and keep] more than I had thought--it's a bit scary, I think.)