I think that when threads are closed, it should be obvious to anyone reading them why they have been. ie: generally it has been reduced to unhelpful bickering/insults/flames or the thread has gotten carried away, or is seriously into beating a dead horse. As Raccoon stated so well: "Sometimes people subconciously have to get the last reply in, and locking the thread breaks that cycle. This should have been pretty self evident." I can recall several locked threads that include posts from a moderator saying essentially enough is enough, take it private.
As for modifying posts, surely its clear when someone sees:
"look, you <deleted by moderator> you should just go <deleted by moderator>....." with a note or post made reminding ppl that namecalling and insults arent needed, Or "hey come to my new website/network <deleted by moderator, please dont spam here>" WHY it has been edited? No, you have no way of knowing what pm i have sent to that user, but since its between me and that person, why should you? I send posters a pm about their posts requiring editing if i havent said why in a post. Altho i rarely delete a thread or post (other than crossposting, spam, or the amazingly vulgar insult) the poster involved gets a pm.
"...and NEVER give a reason"
"But, then again, instead of responding and saying why you don't like to explain yourselves, you'll probably just delete this post as well... "
no, you dont know what pms go between me and other users, any more than i feel they need to be informed of the ones that have gone between you and i. i have often said that if anyone questions my reasoning in any matter or has concerns, to feel free to pm me or catch me online. Those who have (including yourself) are well aware that i respond to them. When someone has questioned me in a thread, i have replied to that post.
in general what i may edit/delete, altho i consider each case on its own:
-insults, name calling, vulgarity (some of it quite inventive)
-spam
-real names and personal info like age/location/email/phone
-abuse
-incorrect info (rather than embarassing the poster if they havent corrected themselves or been politely corrected, i would rather delete it and the flames they have recieved as a result and pm them about it) (i dont include scripting corrections in this heading, since those can be subjective and learning experiences)
-nonsense like 57 emoticons or posts that consist only of lk4jvifmt$
-posts giving advice on how to evade (ie bans, school policy) or locations to find cracks/illegal downloads/hacking techniques
