Patent ID: 7904510

Claim:
A method for deleting threads from a discussion group comprising a plurality of posts, the method comprising: determining whether at least one user has read at least one post within a thread; providing a message to the at least one user inquiring whether the at least one post was useful to the at least one user, wherein providing the message to the at least one user comprises providing, to the at least one user, a first selection operative to indicate, upon selection, a positive response, and a second selection operative to indicate, upon selection, a negative response; determining whether the at least one user has rated the at least one post within the thread as useful; if the at least one user has rated the at least one post as useful, retaining the thread; if the at least one user has read the at least one post and not rated the at least one post, retaining the thread; if the at least one user has rated the at least one post as not useful, deleting the thread; and setting a delete date associated with the thread to a predetermined value wherein setting the delete date to the predetermined value comprises: determining a type of the thread; if the thread is a first type then setting the delete date of the thread to a first predefined value; and if the thread is a second type then setting the delete date of the thread to a second predefined value, wherein the first predefined value is less than the second predefined value.