I did a search for Live_Wire_Oak on this thread: If you were on the old Garden Web, what was your 'name' there? I could not find them. I do remember the name from years ago, but I have not seen it for a while.

Maybe, you can start another post with their name in the title....for example "Anyone know if Live_Wire_Oak is still on this forum?"

What was the subject in their thread? I see you show a couple possible titles, but I don't know what the subject is (what it's about). Was it on the kitchen forum or another forum?

I remember the thread you're talking about and I agree it would be a shame if posts get deleted when a user profile is deleted. I tried searching the Wayback Machine (internet archive) but that is most effective if one knows the URL or the date; searching for archived Garden Web and Houzz kitchen forums you really only get the posts on the first page of the forum for the given date.

This is the original URL:

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2699586/getting-there-from-here-or-how-did-it-go-so-wrong

Even changing it to "https", which works for some threads, doesn't help.

https://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2699586/getting-there-from-here-or-how-did-it-go-so-wrong

Found on the WayBackMachine:

https://web.archive.org/web/20150313175317/https://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/2699586/getting-there-from-here-or-how-did-it-go-so-wrong

Other than some missing photos, including the key initial photo, everything seems to be there. FYI...the initial photo went missing sometime during the thread, so Live_Wire_Oak found a substitute that's similar, but not exact. If you're on the thread, scroll down toward the end and select/click on the photo space - the photo will pop up.

@chicagoans...Thanks for mentioning the WayBackMachine, I had forgotten about it!

Laurie -- I don't know if LWO is here under a different name. While looking for this thread, I noticed a lot of "User" labels where names used to be, including Sophie.

I think this is something new, or they've started to delete accounts that haven't been active for a couple of years and that's why I'm noticing it now.

It's a shame b/c we are losing a lot of useful information!

EDITED TO ADD: It appears threads are not deleted when a user's account is deleted, they just now have "User" as a username, which makes it difficult to find a specific thread from a now-deleted user. See Rebunky's post 8 posts down from this one.

I haven't seen CPArtist in around a year, I hope we don't lose her and her posts as well! She has a lot of helpful info on her home building journey that it would be a shame if the threads were lost!

(She also has a lot of good comments on other threads.)

Houzz does not want useful info or archives. They want to sell you things. Them deleting old posts and users is just the start. I cant find Sophie’s 10 tests for contractors either.

Unfortunately, it appears Sophie's account was deleted, so all the threads she started have likely also been deleted.

Do you have the old URL or at least the title? If so, we can check on the WayBackMachine.

Wow - that is really unfortunate. I have a notebook where I wrote down some info from LWO’s threads/comments. I also took some screenshots and saved them (plus, some posts/comments by other users).

I have recently noticed many comments by ”User” (instead of an actual user name) - when searching an old thread (and then someone referring to a user by name - but there weren’t any comments by that user).

It really is a shame if posts started by someone who has closed their Houzz account have been deleted. It also makes it impossible to search for comments by a user who has closed his/her account. Another change by Houzz that I don’t understand. . .

I initially found Houzz after doing a random search about something - I found several very helpful older threads about the exact issue. If those posts had been deleted, I may never have made an account on Houzz. I imagine many people find Houzz the same way as I did.

I was absent from Houzz for quite a few months - and after coming back, it seems like several regular members are not longer participating. I started wondering if there was some new design forum that people had migrated over to. . .

I miss gardenweb and all the folks that were on it. But I don’t miss photobucket, so there’s that.

When Photobucket went to primarily, paid, I kept it anyway so (1) my pictures that I've posted over the years wouldn't disappear and (2) it's actually not a bad backup if you're keeping it anyway. I do agree that the "direct upload" of pictures is much better than having to post from a photo-hosting site.

Regarding accounts...I think Houzz is doing the deletions. There are too many recent missing accounts for it to be users deleting their accounts. I strongly suspect that it's Houzz doing the deletions of inactive accounts. It's really too bad. I wish we had another place to host the Kitchens Forum since Houzz is very un-user friendly (unless, maybe, you're a Pro/Paying user) in many ways. (Loss of posting functionality, loss of useful searching, etc.)

Regarding Pros...Just so people know, anyone can get the "Pro" designation by having a paid account. I don't put too much stock in the "Pro" label (unless the Pro has shown they know what they're talking about and are truly knowledgeable). Plus, the user could be any kind of Pro, it doesn't mean the Pro knows anything about Kitchens! The Pro could be an Electrician, a Plumber, or someone who paid for an account.

I’’m a Pro procrastinator.

Buehl, thanks for finding that thread by LWO. It was an oldie but goodie for sure!

If Houzz is deleting certain inactive accounts, that would be a crying shame to lose all the invaluable threads and comments made by certain Pros, KD’s, ID’s, and Non-Pros alike.

I saw the recent change to ”User” in place of former posters like Sophie, GreenDesigns, LWO, and so many others. I can mostly tell who the original commentor was because I either remember the thread, their speaking manner, or someone will respond to their comment mentioning their name by saying something like, ”Thanks Hollysprings/Sophie for your help.” However, it makes it virtually impossible to find their comments because they all have the name ”User” now.

So, I actually saved that awesome thread by Sophie. I was afraid it would be lost someday so I copied it to my notes. However, I did a search and actually found the thread.

They removed Sophie‘s name as the author and it is now ”User”. It was not like that before. 🤔🙄

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5332686/10-tests-for-you-and-your-contractor-s-first-meeting#n=90

@Buehl & Co., thanks for the heads up about the threads disappearing. The How Did it Go Wrong thread is so useful. I looked for it 6 years ago, and need it again now that I am doing another kitchen. I never heard of the WayBackMachine, so many thanks!

@rebunky how do you save these threads?

It’s nice to know that the posts haven’t been deleted - but it is much more difficult. I’ve found it more difficult to find posts about a particular subject than it used to be - not just when looking for something posted by a particular user.

Houzz already made it difficult to post/comment if using an iPhone/iPad/MacBook Air awhile ago. It really irritates me to have to put my own apostrophes in + no auto capitalization of a word after a period + no auto period after spacing twice (plus, no autocorrect re: spelling + random insertion of repeated words/etc.) I first thought it was due to an update on my iPad - but then I realized I had no issues when using John Bridge Tile forum (they were helping me with issues re: a bathroom renovation).

I also have the same threads suggested over and over under the ”More Discussions” - I don’t know if that’s because less new threads are being posted? It seems like there used to be interesting threads suggested under there - at least, ones that hadn’t already been suggested twenty times!

While it made sense to stop suggesting really old threads under the ”More Discussions” because people would make a comment without looking at how old the thread was - it was helpful to see threads that were related to the post I was currently reading when I was doing some research on a particular issue.

Okay, I’ll stop whining. . .

Gardener123,

I had highlighted the original post (not the comments), copied it, and then pasted it into ”Notes” on my iPad.

Buehl,

It would have probably been more difficult to find, but because I had saved the OP by Sophie, I knew the exact title of the thread. So when I did search I wrote, ”10 tests for contractors” and it came up. 😁

Pro HU,

I“m sorry, I remembered that you actually had the correct title, so I am not sure why it did not come up for you earlier. Maybe they just put it back seeing this thread? 😆

I still miss Sophie.

One of the reasons it's more difficult to find threads when searching on Houzz is that they eliminated the ability to search a specific Forum. It used to say ".... in Kitchens". Now it says "... in Discussions" and it searches the entire Houzz site, not just Kitchens -- even if you start the search in Kitchens.

Sigh. Yet another degradation of functionality on Houzz.

Whatever happened to Sophie? Did she retire? A lot of people found her brusque but she gave a lot of good advice.