How should a deleted forum post retained for context be marked?

Definition: Set Schema.org's creativeWorkStatus to Deleted on a retained DiscussionForumPosting or Comment when the object remains in the markup for context or threading. Google's discussion forum documentation describes this value for both posts and comments.

Key facts

• Google's discussion forum documentation is intended for forum-style sites where people collectively share first-hand perspectives.
• Google recommends nesting comments under the post they relate to and representing a forum's own threading structure with a tree of comments.
• For a retained deleted post, Google's recommended creativeWorkStatus property uses the value Deleted when the post remains for context or threading.
• For a retained deleted comment, the same property and value apply when the comment remains for context or threading.
• Schema.org defines creativeWorkStatus as the status of a creative work at a stage in its lifecycle. Its expected type is Text, and its domain is CreativeWork, as shown on the Schema.org property page.

When does the Deleted value apply?

Google's DiscussionForumPosting guidance places the value in the recommended properties for a post. The condition is specific: the post has been deleted, but its representation remains for context or threading. The instruction is conditional because the page ends it with “if applicable.” A retained object can therefore carry its lifecycle state while still occupying its place in the discussion structure.

The same documentation gives comment as a Comment property and says to mark comments in the order in which they appear on the page. A deleted reply that remains in that visible or represented thread uses the comment form of the same status property.

How should the markup look?

The status is a text value on the object that was deleted. The following fragments show the property on the two Schema.org types named by Google's post and comment definitions:

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DiscussionForumPosting",
  "creativeWorkStatus": "Deleted"
}

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "Comment",
  "creativeWorkStatus": "Deleted"
}

These are status fragments, rather than complete forum objects. Google still documents author, datePublished, and one of text, image, or video as required for a DiscussionForumPosting. For a Comment, it documents author, datePublished, and one of the same three content properties. The status marks the retained object's lifecycle state; it does not replace the documented object fields.

What does Schema.org mean by creativeWorkStatus?

Schema.org's creativeWorkStatus definition describes the property as the status of a creative work in terms of its stage in a lifecycle. The page gives Incomplete, Draft, Published, and Obsolete as example terms and says that organizations can define terms for their publication lifecycles. Deleted is the value Google specifies for the retained forum case.

Because the property expects Text, the JSON-LD value is the string Deleted, with the capitalization shown in Google's guidance. The property belongs to the CreativeWork vocabulary, which covers the forum types involved here.

How can you check the implementation?

Google's discussion forum page was last updated on 8 September 2026 UTC. It tells site owners to validate structured data with the Rich Results Test, fix critical errors, and use URL Inspection to test how Google sees the page. The page also says the page must be accessible to Google and not blocked by a robots.txt file, a noindex tag, or login requirements.

Check the rendered discussion page and its structured data together. The retained object should still correspond to the post or comment represented in the thread, and its status value should be attached to that object rather than to the surrounding page.

Related terms

• Structured data
• JSON-LD
• How should nested forum replies be ordered in structured data?

FAQ

Should a fully removed post receive this value?

Google documents Deleted for a post that remains for context or threading. Its guidance gives no separate value for a post that is no longer represented in the page's discussion markup.

Does Deleted replace the post or comment content?

No. Google's required properties still cover the author, publication date, and post or comment content. Keep those fields when the retained object is represented and the relevant values are available.

Can a deleted reply use the same property?

Yes. Google documents creativeWorkStatus on Comment and specifies Deleted when a deleted comment remains for context or threading.

Sources

1. Google Search Central, "Discussion Forum (DiscussionForumPosting, SocialMediaPosting) Schema Markup", 8 September 2026
2. Schema.org, "creativeWorkStatus - Schema.org Property", 16 September 2026

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