Quote from Bearbelly:
After reading the rules I am even more perplexed why my posts were deleted as I did not break any of the rules. The moderator thought I was off topic but I and some others do not think I was. Is being off topic grounds for deletion?
I'll see if I can un-perplex things. The Conduct Rules don't specify the exclusion of "off topic" posts, but an online community with a variety of forums/threads/posts cannot survive without that requirement. The majority here have no trouble abiding by that simple standard, and if they forget a straightforward reminder usually does the trick. If I remember correctly a few years ago the Conduct Rules were going to be modified to include that obvious requirement and more pressing matters came up at the time so it got put on a back-burner. But everyone at ET is aware of that condition for posting.
The thread in question is "Spydertrader's Jack Hershey Futures Trading Journal" which currently sits just under 800 pages long. Remaining on topic is even more critical for something that large, and members regularly complain that reading thru a thread of that size is an overwhelming task. The problem is when a post, in Bearbelly's case referring to software, is permitted (as it was earlier in the thread) then it opens the floodgates and invites others to engage in nonstop conversations about this or that or the other software, setting software preferences, changing options, software data feeds, modifying chart displays, announcing software upgrades, bugging the software designers, etc. etc. ad nauseam. After a series of complaints about 3 weeks ago I called a halt to it, removed the most egregious portions of the neverending software discussion, and made this post...
Quote from Magna:
Hey guys,
This isn't a QuoteTracker thread, nor a software thread of any kind, and the off-topic clutter is getting extensive. We have a Software Forum here at ET so please take these seemingly endless conversations, problems, updates, complaints, etc. to the proper place. Why not start a(nother) QuoteTracker thread there, or even a "Software Used to Trade Jack Hershey Methods", that way everything will stay in one place and this very long thread won't get unnecessarily longer. Thanks.
And, very graciously, later on that same day Tums started this thread in the Software Forum where it belongs. It is thriving there with over 6,000 views, more than just about any other software thread, and it normally sits near the top of the queue...
Software Used to Trade Jack Hershey Methods
I understand some people get annoyed that anything and everything can't be discussed in Spydertrader's thread to get more eyes on it (in the same way that some people get annoyed that every single thread can't be dumped in the Trading Forum so that it's more likely to be seen), but
the Software Forum is the place to have ongoing discussions about software, and given the title that Tums used Jack Hershey traders shouldn't have any trouble finding it.