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Message 1.Â
Posted by Leaping Badger (U3587940) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Hi Tayler, I see you closed the old thread which had been bumped so as to 'avoid confusion'.
Given that you have acknowledged that bumping old threads causes confusion, wouldn't it make sense to lock/close threads automatically after they have been inactive for a while, say 6 months? Or perhaps to delete them entirely, which would also save server space.
Old threads tend to be bumped for one of two reasons: because a poster has click on the 'last page' link on a topic page and thinks they are replying to a new thread; or by a small number of posters in order to cause confusion and annoyance. (In this particular case the thread was bumped to make the point that it is silly to have such old threads still live on the board.)
It seems a bit silly if old threads are going to be left 'live' until someone bumps one of them, at which point it will be closed. It would make far more sense to close them /before/ they have been bumped.
Thanks in advance.
'Ö' -
Message 2
Posted by Tayler Cresswell - Host (U14232848) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Hi Badge
I think this is a fairly rare occurrence but I see your point. I'll put it to the web team for consideration.
Thanks,
Tayler -
Message 3
Posted by Leaping Badger (U3587940) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Not that rare, Tayler. I'm guessing you don't see most of them, and probably only saw this one because the person who originally started the thread asked for it to be removed and the mods passed it to you for consideration.
Thanks for passing on the request.
'Ö' -
Message 4
Posted by Reggie Trentham (U2746099) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
I'd just like to lend my support to Leapers (not that he hasn't got a quite adequate support already).
I'm not sure why people bumping long dead threads is so annoying but it is and I know there are other people that find it so. It shouldn't be difficult for the techie people to write something that will automatically close a thread where the last post is two weeks or a month or whatever old. -
Message 5
Posted by Tayler Cresswell - Host (U14232848) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Thanks both,
Will see what I can do.
Tayler -
Message 6
Posted by Nelson_G (U13801071) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Hello,
Could I put a bid in for not being too hasty. I didn't see the thread, indeed I don't spend much time in The Bull, so I don't know how often it happens or how irritating it is, but I recently resurrected the Silent Protest to Silence Bert thread and would like to do so again the next time the old fool pops up, which may take more than 6 months. The Shout to Silence the Silence Bert thread was resurrected in response. I enjoy the long running silliness and would like it to continue.
In addition there are a couple of catalogue type threads each dedicated to a series of posts in FA that don't see much action, but it would be a shame to see them go.
Long live Lizzy -
Message 7
Posted by Spartacus (U38364) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Or perhaps to delete them entirely, which would also save server space.Â
Badge, just fyi, the entire DNA Database (no, not that one, the one where the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú stores messageboard threads etc.) was approximately 200MB. /after/ nearly ten years at the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú, /including/ every page that was ever created on h2g2, 360, WWII, the "Buffy" site etc.
It would fit on a 256MB memory stick, if you could get them that small still, and leave room for nearly three years more at the same rate. -
Message 8
Posted by Leaping Badger (U3587940) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Gosh, I'm amazed. Well that scotches that argument, then. But I still think it would be better for the board if threads were either automatically closed or deleted after a certain amount of time.
'Ö' -
Message 9
Posted by Nelson_G (U13801071) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
I certainly wouldn't want old threads deleted. FA is heaving with wonderful posts.
Its quite nice when the SWs have forgotten what they wrote a few months ago to be able to remind them. The recent menu update / public information crayfish hunt is more entertaining when you are reminded of how regularly the bull's menu is updated.
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Message 10
Posted by Bette (U2222559) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
I think there should be a cut-off point too - though how long that should be is a moot point!
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Message 11
Posted by Nelson_G (U13801071) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Any particular reason?
This thread for example was resurrected after 5 years and its return was much welcomed.
Who wouldn't want to be reminded of one of Mr Snowy's wonderful poems:
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Message 12
Posted by Bette (U2222559) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
OK, how about threads being closed after a certain period, but could still be linked to?
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Message 13
Posted by Leaping Badger (U3587940) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Well threads used to be deleted after a period of several weeks of inactivity until the move to DNA in 2005. I think message boards work better as an ephemeral medium rather than an archival one. But if they must remain, best they are closed/locked after a certain period of inactivity. A thread is a thing of its time, and I think bumping them after a long period of time somehow spoils them.
Anyway, the point is to prevent the accidental or malicious resurrecting of age-old threads. As Bette says, if they're closed but still on the server, they can be linked to and everyone can enjoy them all over again if they want to.
'Ö' -
Message 14
Posted by Leaping Badger (U3587940) on Wednesday, 5th October 2011
Well Tayler, it's happened again, two days in a row - this time an accidental bumping from the last page, by the look of it: - so not as rare as all that.
'Ö' -
Message 15
Posted by Nelson_G (U13801071) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
Is it possible to apply this to just The Bull or exclude FA? The Limerick and Haiku threads don't see as much action as they used to, and can go for weeks or months without an addition, but they are still active.
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Message 16
Posted by Peggy Monahan (U2254875) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
I have kept some very old threads in my discussions because I want to keep the information in them. I would be very upset if they were deleted.
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Message 17
Posted by Leaping Badger (U3587940) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
How did you cope in old ML, Peggy, when threads were deleted after a few weeks?
If you want to keep information, you can of course copy and paste the information into a word processor and save it on your hard drive.
But if threads were frozen, that wouldn't be a problem.
I suppose, just as a host has powers to close a thread now, they can also reopen a thread, so if there was a special case, say a FA thread which had automatically been closed, someone could email Tayler to ask her to reopen a thread. I'd imagine this would happen pretty rarely, so shouldn't be a problem.
Or, as Nelson G suggests, apply this just to The Bull and DTA, which are the more fast-moving and more 'ephemeral' topics.
'Ö' -
Message 18
Posted by Peggy Monahan (U2254875) on Thursday, 6th October 2011
How did you cope in old ML, Peggy, when threads were deleted after a few weeks?
If you want to keep information, you can of course copy and paste the information into a word processor and save it on your hard drive.
But if threads were frozen, that wouldn't be a problem.Â
I don't remember - when was that? I've been posting since the boards ere blue but maybe I didn't have any threads I kept for those reasons. Being frozen is no problem but copying each and every post into a word document sounds a bit of a fag. I could do if necessary though if I was told I had to. -
Message 19
Posted by kk forever in the cyber atlantis of mustardland (U4670994) on Friday, 7th October 2011
It seems a bit silly if old threads are going to be left 'live' ... Â
This is probably true of threads in TB, but not necessarily true of threads in TVH.
Consider, fr'instance Danse Macabre*, which has been dormant for over a year ... sometimes it's useful to have specific or detailed information grouped on one thread rather than on a series of shorter ad hoc threads.
The routine and indiscriminate deading of dormant threads would risk throwing out the baby with the bathwater imo. This is not a plea not to close threads, rather to suggest that closing threads or bumps adjudged 'silly' does /seem/ reasonable but who decides what constitutes 'silly' and then shoehorns it into a shoe box marked 'Dead'?
BTW I haven't missed the irony of suggesting that that particular thread merits intermittent revival ;~)
* Thank you, Laura. -
Message 20
Posted by Gil Holroyd (U14164075) on Friday, 7th October 2011
Just tagging on to add another plea that threads in TVH be kept, if not live, then at least available. I've seen old threads resurrected in DTA & TB, and yes, I know it causes confusion and annoyance, but imo TVH 'community' threads serve a very different purpose.
Today alone I've bookmarked three invaluable links provided in a thread there. Of course I bookmark the original sites where possible, save text to word files, etc., but it's very helpful to be able to refer to the original post - both as backup, and to read about the link in context. Also it's often been the case that I just haven't realised information provided would become relevant to me at a later date - and it's been so useful to be able to dig out the old thread in that situation. Then again, reading through old threads will often give new insight into a difficult problem.
Or sometimes it can be a whole exchange between posters that's particularly informative. To save this interplay offline could mean copying and pasting 500 posts in a single month - frequently more. I could do it of course, but I'm thankful that, at the moment, I don't need to.
What I'm saying is that, though I appreciate it's ultimately my responsibility to archive information which is important to me, while it's possible for old threads to be stored on Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú servers I'm extremely grateful that they're kept available there. -
Message 21
Posted by Leaping Badger (U3587940) on Friday, 7th October 2011
You can copy and paste a whole page (50 posts) at a time, so not so time-consuming.
It sounds as though automatic closure/freezing of threads after a certain period of inactivity, with the option of the host reopening a thread on the rare occasion when it's wanted, would be the best compromise.
'Ö' -
Message 22
Posted by Gil Holroyd (U14164075) on Friday, 7th October 2011
You can copy and paste a whole page (50 posts) at a time, so not so time-consuming.Â
Oh Badge, I know - and really I'm not offering up any excuse for being a lazy and disorganised car ; ) All I'm saying is that I value the archived resources in TVH while they're there, and would be grateful if they could be kept available as long as possible.
I agree about the ephemeral nature of threads in TB & DTA (and perhaps it's not even a good thing that those blessed with eidetic memories can go rootling around for ancient quotes to beat other posters about the head with). I just wanted to mention that TVH is a very different 'beast' in the way it, and its archive, are used - a fact which I thought might, understandably, be overlooked by those who rarely venture there. -
Message 23
Posted by Leaping Badger (U3587940) on Sunday, 13th November 2011
Just to show that this phenomenon isn't confined to TB:
'Ö' -
Message 24
Posted by RS Acre (U6057963) on Sunday, 13th November 2011
What ho Leapers, Tayler, everyone
I'm only posting to say I don't think I care either way.
However, Im bookmarking this fred, so I can come back to it in a year or so if I change my mind ...
pip pip
(_!_)y -
Message 25
This posting has been hidden during moderation because it broke the in some way.
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