Understanding Deletion

Good housekeeping is important in Dreams! Getting rid of stuff you don’t need anymore is vital in managing your limits and generally keeping things tidy for yourself and your collaborators.

This page and its related pages will cover:

  • How to delete whole creations, by which we mean all online and local versions of a creation, including any Quick Saves.
  • How to delete an online version or a local version of a creation.
  • The consequences of deleting whole creations or versions, i.e. the effects on you, your collaborators, or anyone else using the deleted creation or version.
  • Step-by-step instructions, best practices, tips, warnings, and things to remember.

Hit a limit and urgently need to free up some space? Head straight to one of these pages:

WARNING!

Deleting content is permanent! There are consequences for you, your collaborators, and anyone using or referencing the content you delete. Read on for details.

Consequences of Deletion#

The impact of deleting content varies according to:

  • The type of content (Element, Scene, Dream, Collection).
  • Whether it’s the whole creation, or versions of it, that are being deleted.
  • Your relationship to the deleted content (Owner, Collaborator, User).

A deleted creation and its versions:

  • Will no longer appear in any searches, Dreams or Collections.
  • Will not be available to stamp into another creation.
  • Won’t show in the Update Mode of anything they’ve been stamped in. Note that you’ll be informed whether it’s a deleted version or a deleted creation, and you can update versions using a workaround.
  • Won’t show in Genealogy, although the owner’s name (and any collaborators) will still appear in the credits of anything it's been stamped into, directly or indirectly.

WARNING!

Although nobody will be able to find your deleted creation in the Dreamiverse, if you originally released it as PUBLIC, they may be able to find someone else’s remix of it. To find out more about PUBLIC content containing deleted creations, read about permissions here.

Deleting an Element#

If you release an Element as PUBLIC and then delete it later, anyone who has already remixed or stamped a version of your Element will retain the same permission rights they had when they used it. This means they can still release as PUBLIC any creations in which they used your Element, even after you’ve deleted the original.

Example

1 - Alex creates a Pine Tree Element and releases it as PUBLIC .

2 - Beth stamps Alex’s Pine Tree Element into her own Forest Scene.

3 - Alex deletes the original Pine Tree Element.

4 - Beth can still release the Forest Scene.

An illustration of the example for deleting an element.

An illustration of the example for deleting an element.

This is true whether you are the owner of an Element, or a collaborator on an Element, or a creator who has stamped the Element into their scene. You will always be able to release anything a PUBLIC Element was used in before it was deleted.

A Note on Collaborators and LOCAL or PRIVATE Versions#

If collaborators on any (Element or Scene) creation have LOCAL versions of that creation, then once the owner deletes the creation they lose the ability to stamp, remix, or use those versions in any way.

Additionally, if a LOCAL version of the deleted creation was already stamped into another creation, they will be unable to release that creation as PUBLIC. The only way around this is to remove the deleted creation. However! If a PRIVATE version was already stamped in, they can release it as PLAYABLE.

Example 1

1 - Alex adds Jenny as a collaborator on the Pine Tree Element.

2 - Jenny saves a LOCAL version of the Pine Tree Element before Alex deletes it.

3 - Alex deletes the Pine Tree Element.

4 - Jenny is unable to remix , stamp , or otherwise use the LOCAL version.

An illustration of example 1 of collaborators and LOCAL/PRIVATE versions.

An illustration of example 1 of collaborators and LOCAL/PRIVATE versions.

Example 2

1 - Jenny stamps her LOCAL version of the Pine Tree Element into her own Christmas Scene.

2 - Alex deletes the Pine Tree Element.

3 - Jenny is unable to release the Christmas Scene as PUBLIC or PLAYABLE without first removing the Pine Tree Element.

Example 3

  • Jenny stamps a PRIVATE version of the Pine Tree Element into her Christmas Scene.
  • Alex deletes the Pine Tree Element.
  • Jenny can’t release her Christmas Scene as PUBLIC, but she can still release it as PLAYABLE.

BEST PRACTICE!

While creating, saving your creations online (whether PRIVATE, PLAYABLE or PUBLIC) rather than LOCAL is strongly recommended. It’ll often help you work around permissions constraints. Additionally, any LOCAL versions or stamps will have to be replaced when you want to release something as PUBLIC anyway, as we can’t verify your permission to use them unless they are online.

Deleting a Scene or Version of a Scene#

The effects of deleting a Scene (or a version of a Scene) which is being used in a Dream differ depending on who owns the deleted Scene:

  • If your Dream references only Scenes owned by you, you have complete control over the deletion of said Scenes.
  • However, if you have any Scenes owned by another creator in your Dream, you do not have control over their deletion.

If the owner of a Scene stamped into your Dream deletes that Scene:

  • The Dream will become unplayable, and will be made PRIVATE.
  • You will need to remove the deleted Scene from your Dream before you can re-release it.

Even if you’re a collaborator on the deleted Scene, there’s nothing you can do to avoid this if you’re not the owner.

However, some good news - if the Scene you want to use is PUBLIC, you can remix it and make yourself the owner!

BEST PRACTICE!

If you want to use something you didn’t make, remix it! Once you remix a PUBLIC Scene it becomes yours. You own it. You have complete control over its destiny! Put that remix into your Dream and there’s no effect on you if the owner deletes the original.

Example 1

1 - Jenny releases her Christmas Scene as PLAYABLE .

2 - Josh spots Jenny's Christmas Scene and asks Jenny if she’d mind adding him as a collaborator on it so that he can add it to his Winter Dream.

3 - Jenny is pleased! Someone wants to use her Scene! She adds Josh as a collaborator in the Christmas Scene.

4 - Josh stamps Jenny's Christmas Scene into his Winter Dream and releases Winter Dream as PLAYABLE.

5 - Jenny later forgets Josh is using her Christmas Scene and deletes it.

6 - Josh's Winter Dream is made PRIVATE. He must remove the Christmas Scene before he can re-release it as PLAYABLE.

An illustration of example 1 for deleting a scene or version of a scene.

An illustration of example 1 for deleting a scene or version of a scene.

Example 2

  • Dave releases an Ice Skating Scene as PUBLIC.
  • Josh stamps Dave’s Ice Skating Scene into his Winter Dream and releases Winter Dream as PLAYABLE.
  • Dave deletes his Ice Skating Scene.
  • Josh’s Winter Dream is made PRIVATE. He must remove the Ice Skating Scene before he can re-release it as PLAYABLE.

Example 3

  • Angela releases a Snowman Scene as PUBLIC.
  • Josh is finally learning his lesson. He remixes Angela’s Snowman Scene, adds it to his Winter Dream, and releases Winter Dream as PLAYABLE.
  • Angela deletes her Snowman Scene.
  • Josh’s Winter Dream is completely unaffected. Josh is a happy man.

REMEMBER!

You can only remix another creator’s PUBLIC Scenes. If they’re PLAYABLE you won’t be able to remix them.

And just because a Scene is PUBLIC when you stamp it into your own creation that doesn’t mean you own it. It’s only once you remix it that it becomes yours. Finally, remember that remixes count towards your limits.

WARNING!

The owner of the original creation is credited on a remix, but any Like, Comment or Used In acknowledgment on the remix goes to you. It’s only fair to say thanks to the original creator in your description on the cover page.

Deleting a Dream or Version of a Dream#

Of course, Dreams are not remixable (unless you own them), so if you stamp someone else’s Dream into your Dream (or Collection) and the owner deletes the original, then:

  • The Dream will become unplayable, and will be made PRIVATE.
  • You will need to remove the deleted Dream from your Dream before you can re-release it.

Deleted Content and Collections#

Deleted creations, and any creations which are PRIVATE, or have become PRIVATE since they were added, will appear as unavailable creations, with the icon, in any Collection they have been stamped into. This is visible only to the Collection owner and collaborators - to anyone else those creations are simply not there.

If you have a Collection containing unavailable creations, you may wish to clear them up. You can remove all fully deleted creations at once. To do this, edit the Collection and use the Remove Deleted Creations tool. This will clear out all the deleted creations in your collection.

Note that the tool will only clean up fully deleted creations, not deleted versions, and it will not deal with creations which have become PRIVATE.

PRIVATE creations must be removed manually, by hovering and pressing . You may wish to leave those in the hopes that they stop being PRIVATE at some point.

TOP TIP!

Unavailable creations still count towards the limit on the number of creations in a Collection so be sure to clear them up regularly!

The Dreams User Guide is a work-in-progress. Keep an eye out for updates as we add more learning resources and articles over time.