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Sometimes I will leave a comment or note on my answer before deleting, something to the effect of:

"Yep this won't work correctly, thanks for pointing this out @TrustedUser"

..and I wonder if it is visible to them or other Mods/Trusted Users. I wonder the same thing with deleted comments. So I am curious, what can Moderators and Trusted Users (over 20000 rep) see that others can't while viewing the site?

For example, who can see (while viewing the regular site, not moderator tools section):

What else can be seen in the normal flow of using Stack Overflow (outside of Moderator tools)?

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  • 3
    I honestly can't decide on which sketchy claim to make about what mods can see. So many come to mind...
    – user1228
    May 11, 2011 at 20:47
  • I assume Mods can see what I had for breakfast when I post. I think it's good to keep users misinformed sometimes, keeps the paranoia healthy.
    – anon
    May 11, 2011 at 20:53
  • 6
    We can see that, but only about 12 hours afterwards, ifyaknowwhatimeanandithinkyoudo.
    – user1228
    May 11, 2011 at 20:56
  • I can see what you're doing there, and it's gross. Stop that.
    – user149432
    May 11, 2011 at 20:56
  • @Wes, that's true, it helps them follow up when they use one of their less-well-known abilities.
    – Pops
    Jul 27, 2011 at 17:43

2 Answers 2

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This isn't an exact duplicate of "What are the moderation tools available to high-reputation users?" I don't think, but the top answer does have what you're looking for with respect to 10k+ users here: Welbog enumerates them here

As far as I know the privileges described for 15k and 20k users on the FAQ:

15000 Protect questions to prevent answers by new users

20000 Vote to delete negatively voted answers and stronger question deletion votes

Are the only descriptions available, and they're pretty specific to what they allow and aren't as nebulous as "moderation tools"

Addressing your list specifically:

  • Deleted comments? Moderators, and only moderators, have the privilege to see these now.
  • Deleted questions yes, but they don't show up in the questions list or in user profiles, they have to have a URL from somewhere (either from someone else's post or a SEDE data dump or from the moderator tools)
  • Deleted answers yes, those display inline with the question along with any comments that were on that question as well as who deleted it and when
  • Grace period edits? no
  • Comment revisions? yes
  • Who has voted to close and/or why no, only counts of close votes but anyone who has the close vote casting privilege can see this, it's not restricted to 10k+
  • Specific up and down votes no, though everyone who has earned the "see vote counts" privilege can see the up vs down breakdown, but never who has voted for what
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  • Isn't this a different context than when viewing the normal areas of the site? I am thinking that deleted answers (for instance) could be seen while viewing the question, but I'm not sure.
    – anon
    May 11, 2011 at 20:31
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    @Wesley not sure what you mean - deleted questions/answers can be seen by 10k+ users, diamond moderators, and the post owners (as is mentioned in Welbog's answer)
    – Daniel DiPaolo
    May 11, 2011 at 20:35
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    I missed that part at the end, thanks for pointing it out. So it sounds like the only items in my list that can be seen by trusted users and mods are the items that don't have a question mark, correct?
    – anon
    May 11, 2011 at 20:39
  • @Wesley - you don't get to see who cast close votes (except when everyone else does as a result of a successful close), you do get to see how many have been cast but anyone with vote-casting ability can see that
    – Daniel DiPaolo
    May 11, 2011 at 20:41
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The only things that 10K+ users see on a day-to-day basis is deleted answers and a link to the edit review page when the number of edits is greater than the threshold (4 for SO, less for other sites).

You obviously have access to the tools pages, but you have to go there to see all the goodies on offer.

You don't see deleted questions while browsing the site. You can see them via the tools pages. (https://stackoverflow.com/tools?tab=delete)

Moderators can see deleted questions when they view people's profiles.

You get too see the types (but not number) of close votes before the post is closed, but not who has voted. You only get to see who voted to close after the post has been closed and then only the majority decision is shown.

No one (except perhaps developers via the database) gets to see:

  • Deleted comments (this is enabled now for moderators)
  • Grace period edits.
  • Comment revisions. (this is enabled now for moderators)
  • Specific up and down votes.
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  • If you couldn't see deleted questions, stackoverflow.com/tools?tab=delete wouldn't be half as useful as it is.
    – Gabe
    May 11, 2011 at 20:40
  • I had heard that anyone at 20,000+ rep can view deleted questions. Is this incorrect?
    – anon
    May 11, 2011 at 20:41
  • @Gabe - damn, forgot about that page.
    – ChrisF Mod
    May 11, 2011 at 20:43
  • @Wesley - see the update.
    – ChrisF Mod
    May 11, 2011 at 20:45
  • @ChrisF Thanks this is helpful. Sometimes I leave a comment and after reading it, it sounds rude or confusing so I just delete it. It's good to know that besides the inbox the comment won't be seen - but of course I should just be writing better comments.
    – anon
    May 11, 2011 at 20:45
  • My understanding was that mods could see specific up/down votes, just not on their own posts. Otherwise it would be hard to investigate suspicious patterns of voting.
    – Gabe
    May 11, 2011 at 20:52
  • @Gabe we get tools that list what the system considers suspicious. We don't get to see individual votes taken by people, just aggregate data.
    – user149432
    May 11, 2011 at 20:58

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