[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

All,

After seeing some members bringing back some 'old' threads I was thinking of implementing an 'auto close' hack and would like your feedback on it ...

[Leader]

I said "180 days"--although now that I think about it, I think that's 6 months~! I don't think in "days."

6 months is actually too long IMO...3 months would be plenty of time for most. 1 month is too short...sometimes things need an update after that amount of time.

On the other hand, there are certain threads (like the "goals" threads or "my time to boast" thread) that it would be nice to have *never* close.

[cditty]

I'm not a big fan of auto-closing threads. I would more recommend dropping the similar threads OR customizing it to pull data from within the last X days. VB.org whould be able to help with that if it is a viable option for you.

Chris

[Haiko de Poel, Jr.]

I am a big fan of auto closing, 90% of the times you don't stupidity happens.

I've been all over VB.org (over a year) and I think this is the best alternative.

[Gordon]

In my opinion I think some of the forums like Fraud, ParasiteWare, Programming / Coding and some of the threads in various merchants forums need to never be closed as new knowledge can always be added and to old knowledge, plus it also gives a time frame for various things like what the parasites have been doing in the pastand for how long.

One day some of these posts might come in very handy.

[MichaelColey]

Perhaps an even better "hack" would be something that would make it more obvious when you're viewing and/or responding to a very old thread? Sometimes there can be very valid information to add to an old thread. Other times, the viewer doesn't realize that they're responding to something old.

[SSanf]

Sometimes a thread needs revisiting even years down the road, just to give us perspective. I agree, something that adds a highly visible alert that we are viewing an old thread would be good.

[ecomcity]

This new board has a keyword/subject listing similar threads at the bottom that just beg for opening. Personally without searching or seeing those links many here would never really grasp that we're often running headlong into the same bridge crossed years ago. Same folks-same problems ....just new spin. ABW can be like a good OLD book, when things get slow, and the daily subject boring.

[Leader]

This new board has a keyword/subject listing similar threads at the bottom that just beg for opening. Personally without searching or seeing those links many here would never really grasp that we're often running headlong into the same bridge crossed years ago.

He brings up a good point. I've almost accidentally posted in some really old ones that came up there myself.

[yintercept]

I voted 90 days, 90 days fits well in the quarter cycles used by business.

Rather than re-opening threads, you might implement a program that allows people to link to old threads.

In my opinion I think some of the forums like Fraud, ParasiteWare...

These are the threads you definitely want to close. I hate when an old fraud thread gets revised. I often pull merchants when I hear they have parasites. Quite frankly, I had been ready to pull clean merchants because a two year old parasite thread had been revived.

Making a more robust linking method would allow contributers to build better histories of a merchants parasitic past.

[Deb]

I'm inclined to agree that some threads should never be closed, but I'd like to add . . . "as long as they stay focused on the subject it began with." When threads veer off track, then they no longer add any value to that subject and they should be ended or moved to another thread, which takes human thought and cannot be done automatically.

When researching particular subject, I'd rather get a long thread that was started a long time ago (to see how a problem was solved - the processes that people used and how long it took them), rather than many short threads about the same subject that may have never come to a solution.

I have to admit I've also been a bit confused, thinking a post was recent when in fact it was a couple of years old. We just need to get used to looking at the date the post was originally made (which is clearly listed).

[cditty]

Here's an idea H. Edit the Similar threads template and add a note right under the Similar Threads words. Make it red and bold. Not too big though. That way, maybe people will notice that these COULD be old messages. You could also move the Last post column to the front.

[crm911]

I'd like to see threads remain open unless determined by a mod to be closed. Not all discussions are time-constrained.

[Paul_Ward]

Do you mean auto-close regardless? or auto-close after a period of inactivity? I'm for the second but not the first and would make it 3 months.

[ecomcity]

LOL as you'll find one ABWer posted the last word in over 4000 threads. Someone poor me some coffie ...I'm a closer...

[Mr. Sal]

Auto Close Threads, Sure.....
When?
I don't know but.............

======================================
View Poll Results: Time frame to auto close threads
30 days ---------------- 1--- 4.76%
60 days ---------------- 1-- 4.76%
90 days ---------------- 7--- 33.33%
180 days -------------- 2--- 9.52%
1 year ------------------ 2--- 9.52%
No, don't do it! ------ 8--- 38.10%
======================================

I'm torn between 180 days and 1 year but, definitely something must be done.

I find it very ridiculously to come in here to click on the new posts to read what's going on and to find out later after you just made a reply post, that you just reply to a two years old post that some Newbie just happen to reply.

I won't blame any Newbie for replying to an old post, but I sure will blame the new board for not allowing us to delete our own posts like in the old info-pop board.

Sal.

[MichaelColey]

I still think the best solution would be some sort of education. Require a specific number of posts to reply to an old message. Disable quick reply for old messages. When replying to an old message, display a warning message and perhaps require a confirmation or moderate the message.

[rmjvol]

Originally Posted by MichaelColey

I still think the best solution would be some sort of education. Require a specific number of posts to reply to an old message. Disable quick reply for old messages. When replying to an old message, display a warning message and perhaps require a confirmation or moderate the message.

If it's not a bear to implement, that all sounds reasonable to me. Replies to old threads should be the exception to the rule but it would be good if there is the ability to do it in certain circumstances.

[webworker]

Too bad it's closed, I definitely would have voted for 3 months or 6 months. Think about the Tiger Direct thread that was from a few years ago that recently got bumped and was WAY out of date - and incorrect.

How about 6 months for starters, and if that isnt enough knock it down a notch to 3 months?

If a thread ever warrants opening up again, an admin or mod can always open it up if that functionality is available, or maybe board permissions can be set up so that admiins or mods can post to threads no matter how old but members can't.

[weisinator]

It's a good way to make more hay to bury the needle in, effectively making your forum software's search function useless. If someone needs clarification on a subject, they have to start another topic.