I understand why but must point out it is very easy to post on an old topic on this forum. A single page can contain a whole year worth of post. Who reads the date. Not needed on most forums. Most forum you can go several pages on the same year posts. jfyi
-- Edited by Glenn West on Wednesday 6th of July 2016 08:02:56 PM
Howard said
09:04 PM Jul 6, 2016
We aren't "most forums". Our reasons for not wanting old threads revived have been documented over and over. All it takes is a quick look at the posting date under the poster's name on the left. If the posting date of the original post in a thread is over a year old, it's time to start a new thread to 1) make sure the responses are current, 2) make sure responses are relevant to the original poster's question (an issue of staying on topic), and 3) to make sure people don't have to wade through old information to get to the newer information.
Members are starting to pay more attention to the dates because now we are seeing "I know this is an old post but ......". We'll just keep closing those old threads as they are revived, and we'll keep asking folks to please just start a new thread rather than tag a post at the end of two pages of posts that were done years ago. I'm still working on the forum software to automatically close threads that haven't had activity after a certain amount of time - then we wouldn't have this issue.
Although what we consider bad habits learned on other forums bleed over here, we try very hard to keep threads on topic and fresh.
We don't catch everything, but we won't compromise our standards based on how other forums operate. We do things differently here for valid reasons.
RonC said
09:26 PM Jul 6, 2016
Preach it brother!!
Glenn West said
10:21 AM Jul 7, 2016
I wasn't being critical. Just stating why it happens.
Howard said
07:04 AM Jul 8, 2016
No worries. It just gave me another opportunity to explain why we don't want old posts revived.
Since most people that have been on the Forum for awhile use the "Recent Posts" feature to see what threads have been updated, it's really easy to check the dates on the thread. When you click on a thread in Recent Posts, it doesn't take you to the last post, it starts you at the top of the thread - piece of cake to just check the date of when the thread was started.
This Forum is a fantastic source of information, but I'm highly sensitive to those doing research like I did eleven and a half years ago. I try to put myself in the shoes of those that are seeking information for the first time and my top three things are:
1. Title the original post in a thread properly so that others looking for the same information can find it. This is always a big problem that is hard to fix. Many folks title their thread in a way that it only means something to them, thus causing good information to be missed because people don't really know what it's about and for those that do click on the thread, they end up wasting time because they thought, based on the thread title, that the topic was about something else.
2. Stay on the topic of the original poster. We've beat this to death, and we do a pretty darn good job of staying on topic here. If we just put ourselves in the shoes of the person starting a topic, who probably has "subscribed" to their topic and gets email notifications of each post on THAT topic, it's frustrating to see responses that hi-jack the topic and take it in a different direction or responses that are completely irrelevant. Or for those searching for information, they see a topic only to start reading posts and find that people are talking about something completely different than the topic title.
3. Don't "revive" an old thread. Again, those searching for information and using the "Recent Posts" feature look at any threads where there has been a new post. Then, they end up reading through a lot of old information that may be outdated, incorrect, and possibly even unsafe. Yes, we want folks to use the "Search" function, but we have no problem here with people asking the same question again if the last time it was addressed was over a year ago.
With all that said, we're a lot more flexible/lenient on topics posted in the Community Chat subforum. That's more of a member communication spot, and I don't moderate it as much. But it is comical to see a question asked five years ago by someone that hasn't been on the Forum in three years get answered as if it was just asked. So, just check the dates, and you can even check the original poster's profile to see the date of their last access.
Just trying to make finding information easier (without wasting time) for members and non-members alike. :)
Barbaraok said
03:16 PM Jul 8, 2016
Howard, you're not old enough yet to understand what happens with aging eyes, but small type off to the side isn't easy for people with growing cataract or collapsed veins in an eye or wet or dried macular degeneration. Or some of us have bifocals with no line which means things on the edges are very blurry.
TheNewhalls said
08:51 AM Dec 30, 2016
I just read a post that originated in 2007. I wouldn't have opened the thread if I knew it was almost 10 years old. Is it possible to put the originating date of a post in the heading page or somewhere, so we know how old the thread is without having to open it?
This topic was about the 2007 Albuquerque Balloon Festival, something we are interested in. No need to start from the beginning, which is where I would have caught the date.
I understand why but must point out it is very easy to post on an old topic on this forum. A single page can contain a whole year worth of post. Who reads the date. Not needed on most forums. Most forum you can go several pages on the same year posts. jfyi
-- Edited by Glenn West on Wednesday 6th of July 2016 08:02:56 PM
We aren't "most forums". Our reasons for not wanting old threads revived have been documented over and over. All it takes is a quick look at the posting date under the poster's name on the left. If the posting date of the original post in a thread is over a year old, it's time to start a new thread to 1) make sure the responses are current, 2) make sure responses are relevant to the original poster's question (an issue of staying on topic), and 3) to make sure people don't have to wade through old information to get to the newer information.
Members are starting to pay more attention to the dates because now we are seeing "I know this is an old post but ......". We'll just keep closing those old threads as they are revived, and we'll keep asking folks to please just start a new thread rather than tag a post at the end of two pages of posts that were done years ago. I'm still working on the forum software to automatically close threads that haven't had activity after a certain amount of time - then we wouldn't have this issue.
Although what we consider bad habits learned on other forums bleed over here, we try very hard to keep threads on topic and fresh.
We don't catch everything, but we won't compromise our standards based on how other forums operate. We do things differently here for valid reasons.
No worries. It just gave me another opportunity to explain why we don't want old posts revived.
Since most people that have been on the Forum for awhile use the "Recent Posts" feature to see what threads have been updated, it's really easy to check the dates on the thread. When you click on a thread in Recent Posts, it doesn't take you to the last post, it starts you at the top of the thread - piece of cake to just check the date of when the thread was started.
This Forum is a fantastic source of information, but I'm highly sensitive to those doing research like I did eleven and a half years ago. I try to put myself in the shoes of those that are seeking information for the first time and my top three things are:
1. Title the original post in a thread properly so that others looking for the same information can find it. This is always a big problem that is hard to fix. Many folks title their thread in a way that it only means something to them, thus causing good information to be missed because people don't really know what it's about and for those that do click on the thread, they end up wasting time because they thought, based on the thread title, that the topic was about something else.
2. Stay on the topic of the original poster. We've beat this to death, and we do a pretty darn good job of staying on topic here. If we just put ourselves in the shoes of the person starting a topic, who probably has "subscribed" to their topic and gets email notifications of each post on THAT topic, it's frustrating to see responses that hi-jack the topic and take it in a different direction or responses that are completely irrelevant. Or for those searching for information, they see a topic only to start reading posts and find that people are talking about something completely different than the topic title.
3. Don't "revive" an old thread. Again, those searching for information and using the "Recent Posts" feature look at any threads where there has been a new post. Then, they end up reading through a lot of old information that may be outdated, incorrect, and possibly even unsafe. Yes, we want folks to use the "Search" function, but we have no problem here with people asking the same question again if the last time it was addressed was over a year ago.
With all that said, we're a lot more flexible/lenient on topics posted in the Community Chat subforum. That's more of a member communication spot, and I don't moderate it as much. But it is comical to see a question asked five years ago by someone that hasn't been on the Forum in three years get answered as if it was just asked. So, just check the dates, and you can even check the original poster's profile to see the date of their last access.
Just trying to make finding information easier (without wasting time) for members and non-members alike. :)
I just read a post that originated in 2007. I wouldn't have opened the thread if I knew it was almost 10 years old. Is it possible to put the originating date of a post in the heading page or somewhere, so we know how old the thread is without having to open it?
This topic was about the 2007 Albuquerque Balloon Festival, something we are interested in. No need to start from the beginning, which is where I would have caught the date.