If your post was hidden, closed, or rejected, then it was taken down by a staff member, presumably because it broke one of our rules. Each of these terms means something different; a description of each one (plus others) is available below.
- If your post is hidden, then it is withdrawn from public access and can only be seen by you and staff members. You can hide your own posts, and when you do, you can also re-show them. Staff members can hide and re-show anybody’s post.
- If your question is closed, you will see a message on it that says, ‘closed with the note…’ or a link to a duplicate question. Closed questions cannot be answered or edited. Usually, if a question is closed, staff members intend to hide it and have closed it first so others know what is happening. Some rule-breaking posts are closed instead of hidden if there happens to be worthwhile content on them.
- If your post is rejected, then it was declined by a staff member in the approval queue. Rejected posts are treated much the same as hidden posts, except that you can re-show them to send them back them to the approval queue or edit them.
- If your post is flagged, then it means somebody (or multiple people) have marked it for attention from staff, likely because it breaks the rules or needs to be edited. You will see a red message on flagged posts that shows how many flags they have received. Staff members can clear flags, and moderators can see who gave flags. If a post receives five flags, it is automatically hidden.
- If your post is edited, then it means somebody has changed its contents or converted it from being an answer to be a comment. All questions and answers have an edit history, which you can access if you’re logged in by clicking the blue link where the date is specified.
- If your question is retagged, then it means somebody has changed its tags. If your post’s tags were changed at the same time any of its contents were changed, then the site will report the post as having been ‘edited’.
- If your post is deleted, then it is gone forever and can’t be accessed by anybody. Only the site admin can delete posts. (You cannot delete your own posts, and it is not usual practice for Pokemaster to delete posts on request.)
If your post has been removed and you don’t understand why, you can ask for an explanation or appeal against the decision using this thread or by asking the staff member on their wall. Feel free to follow up on any edits made to your posts using comments or a message on the relevant user’s wall. (Please remember to be nice!)
There are no penalties for having your posts hidden, closed, rejected or flagged, and you will keep all your points if your post is hidden. We hold nothing against you for simple errors like posting a duplicate question. However, if, for example, you are repeatedly posting disrespectful messages that get removed, then we might resort to banning you.
If you’re having trouble finding a post that was removed (or otherwise), then check this thread. Note that wall posts are different from other posts and can only be deleted, not hidden. There is no way to retrieve them once they’re deleted, so make sure you only delete wall posts if you’re sure you don’t want them.
