Edit history

Why old versions stay readable

Most places throw away what a public item used to say. That protects someone who wrote something they regret, and it also means anyone can rewrite an argument after the fact and flatly deny it ever read differently. In a place built for people to disagree with each other, that second thing is corrosive — you cannot hold a conversation with somebody whose words change behind you.

So the record stays. Every version you replace is kept and readable, with the reason you gave for changing it if you gave one.

Withholding a version

Keeping everything readable forever is the wrong answer when an old version contains something you genuinely need back — your address, someone else's phone number, a screenshot with a name in it. When you edit, you can mark the edit as withholding previous versions. Their content then can't be read by anyone except Kuldron staff.

It applies to every earlier version of that item, not just the one you're replacing. Something sensitive is rarely confined to a single revision, and withholding only the most recent one would leave it sitting in the one before.

What withholding never does is hide that you edited. Readers still see how many versions there were, when each was replaced, and that some of them were withheld. They just can't read them. You can take back what you said; you can't take back the fact that you said something and then removed it.

Why it's meant to be rare

Withholding is obviously the lever you'd reach for if you wanted to rewrite history and deny it, so it is deliberately scarce. You get a small number of withheld edits a month. Each one has to say why. Every one of them is read by Kuldron staff.

Using it to take back something that was merely embarrassing or inconvenient rather than sensitive is against the rules, and it's actioned like any other rule you break.

When history goes away

Deleting your own content withdraws its body, media and readable history, not just the current version. A Yap leaves a tombstone when replies or quotes still need its place in the conversation. Deleting your account withdraws the content across everything you wrote. See your account for what account deletion covers.

Edit history began partway through Kuldron's life. Older forum content may show that it was edited but have no earlier versions to show, because they were never kept.

Related

Discussion covers Yaps, forum posts, comments and topics themselves. Privacy Policy covers what we store about you more broadly.