Old threads....

[CMH]

Why don't something be done to old, unused threads so people would have to create new ones?

What I really mean is, why don't a thread be automatically locked after nobody has read/replied to it after a year? I'm sure something like that can be programmed in, and some exceptions may be allowed, such as certain forums or stickies which may be relevent for a long long time.

 

[sllewe]

Well in a perfect world, alot of people would use the search bar, and would never have to make a thread because their question has been answered. This is supposed to help stop us from answers 15 threads on the same thing.

Now if we start deleting things, their search results will be alot less likely to come up with the answer.

But do people actually use the search bar? I dont know, I guess Julio may be able to tell. My guess is no.

 

[Jesse_hz]

Another thing I'd like programmed in: automatic detection of double posts.

Should be easy to do.

Edit: NEVER MIND

 

[CMH]

Not deleted, but locked, so nobody can reply.

And we live in an imperfect world, so expect people not to:
1. read stickies.
2. use the search.
3. be all nice and courteous to everyone else.
4. explain their problems in perfect detail.
5. to know what they're talking about.
etc
etc

And we should accomodate small problems, especially the first 2. Besides, in the fast paced world of computing, news become old as quickly as an hour (CNC3 Demo out? Old news, was out an hour ago). So its quite acceptable that people don't search for 2 year old threads for answers...


Btw, double posts sometimes are necessary. For example, guides are usually too lengthy to fit into a single post. But its true the overwhelming majority of posts in techspot doesn't require doubleposts.

 

[Julio Franco]

I don't think closing old threads would resolve anything... like you say, imperfect world.

 

[Didou]

I do know another forum using vB that implemented a necromancy plugin. Whenever the thread is more than 30 days old, you get a nice big warning before getting to the reply form.

 

[CMH]

That would be good, anything to stop 15 year old thread popping up, with the latest reply going "That processor is SOOO old, I remember having one as a kid".

 

[Jesse_hz]

Maybe, but 30 days is waaay to little. Maybe it should be up so that you would only get a warning if the previous reply in a thread was more than 30 days old, regardless of the age of the thread.

 

[KingCody]

@ CMH, I think the "automatic lock" after a year is a great idea.

@ Didou, I think the "pre-post warning" after 30 days is also a great idea, but jesse has a good point, it should be the last post, not the original thread start date.

@ AtK SpAdE, people must be using the 'search bar' (or a general search engine), because otherwise they would never find such old posts to begin with

just my 2¢... cheers :wave:

 

[CMH]

Hmm... good point, people ARE using the search.

But I still think that an automatic lock, or at least a pre-post warning would eliminate all these old threads popping up. But then again, its not a huge issue, they get pushed back down to the "forgotten" pile after awhile anyway.

But it does confuse the heck out of me when I see a "new" thread coming up, about something really old.

p.s. I checked my karma and someone seemed to have given me a bad one for something I said in this thread.... hmmmz

 

[KingCody]

I thought you couldn't get [good or bad] karma in this forum???

karma would be turned off for posts in Meeting Spot, Introduce Yourself, and Site Comments & Suggestions.

 

[SNGX1275]

Umm.. I didn't post in this thread (until now). And you quoted me out of context <text removed >

Edit: The only word KingCody left out of that quote of me was the first word in the sentence, "Ideally". That was my opinion on what I was hoping would happen with the Karma system, it was not in any way meant to be taken as how things are or will be, as that is up to Julio.

 

[SNGX1275]

Now to discuss the actual subject of this thread.

I don't know that anything should be changed at all. If someone brings up a thread from a while back usually 4 things could have caused it:

1. Spammer - appropriate action would be to click on the red exclamation mark in the top right of the post and report it to a moderator for removal.

2. They have a question unrelated to the thread - appropriate action would be to report the post to a moderator, asking if it could be made into its own new thread.

3. They have a question related to the thread - appropriate action would be to answer their question if you can.

4. They responded with a solution to the original question - appropriate action would be to ignore it, it is still a valid solution and can help people that may find the thread in a search, the thread will fall back quickly out of view on its own.

 

[TimeParadoX]

I dont use the search bar... Most of the time my problems are with games which is usually just a update bug or something

 

[wolfram]

I do use the search bar, but it always returns stupid results

 

[TimeParadoX]

You mean something like this wolf?

 

[KingCody]

my apologies SNGX, I thought the system was set up that way. I also thought that moderators had control over the karma system too. I guess I was wrong about both :blackeye:

P.S. I should have provided a link to the post that i took that from, so to avoid confusion, here is where that was quoted from

cheers :wave:

 

[Tmagic650]

I have been thinking about the "this happens to me too"... additions to an existing thread where the original problem was solved long ago, but the many "this happens to me too"... were never solved. Most members should open new threads dealing with their particular problem. Many of the helpful threads that are showcased at the top of the Forums, are so full of meaningless replies that it is hard to get to the "meat" of the thread. The Search function often gives so many hits that it takes a lot of time to sort through all the crap. A fresh Google search can speed things up, if you disregard the Techspot hits that you just left