The last modification here was done by Journeyman Geek (mod):
But for some reason, in the question list, the last modification is stated to be by Community (actually a currently deleted user):
Is this expected behavior? Where is it explained?
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1I've no idea either - though I wonder if the user deletion had anything to do with it. I might science it the next time I've to deal with something like that.– Journeyman GeekCommented Mar 20, 2023 at 8:53
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2 Answers
When an answer is deleted, for example by spam flags or by delete votes, this does not make the question active. Perhaps rightfully so; if an old answer gets deleted (as sometimes happens here with very old 'joke' non-answers via the review queue), do we want the (also old) question to get bumped to the homepage? On the other hand, it would make it easier to audit if a deletion is really warranted ... but I digress.
When you hover over the modified timestamp, you'll see that it's modified at 06:49 UTC, which is the creation date of the answer, not 07:00, which is when it was deleted. The creation was done by the now-deleted user, so it's consistent that the Community user takes the blame for the last modification.
answered Mar 20, 2023 at 9:15
Deletion doesn't have to be by a moderator; it could happen via a group of high reputation users. If three people voted to delete, which of them would we list on the question itself? Perhaps a case could be made for it being the last to delete.
What we show on the question is that the answer was deleted, and we indicate that by showing the question as last modified by the user owning the deleted question. Of course if that user is also deleted, then Community owns the question, so it is shown as last modifying the question.
When you look at the timeline with enough reputation to see deletions you see the full picture, i.e., who deleted the post.
answered Mar 20, 2023 at 9:18
