Probably the wrong place for this, but is it possible that when users delete posts that a "Post #3977 deleted by [user/mod]" note remain? It'd still allow users to remove the content of their post (the post above shows why this is a good feature) but keeps the context of replies in place. Otherwise it can mess with the flow of the thread (for instance, if captaindejavu deletes his post my reference to "the post above" won't make much sense*). That'd keep post numbers correct too - which is important when people make references to them. Several times in this thread people have replied directly to a post number - all those references are to the wrong posts now.
A related aside: do the permalinks to posts still work when earlier posts have been deleted? That is, if I permalink to post #100 and posts #10-#19 are deleted, will my link point to the same post (now #90) or still #100 (which isn't what I originally linked to)?
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* edit: he did! or PPRUNE's database is being funny again. Anyway, he mentioned a good reason deleting posts should be allowed.
Can't do that - Moderators have no control over users deleting posts. User deleted posts don't disappear forever, they simply disappear from public view and the post number resets.
Whilst we have the ability to edit and post within any post, or un-delete a deleted post, for a variety of reasons we do not do that unless absolutely necessary.
Tail Wheel