Thread Resurrections????

[MacWage]

I am curious about the number of revival/resurrection of old threads.
Recently, there have been a HUGE number of them (or it just might seem that way).
Some I perfectly understand. I have revived/bumped several "how-to" and informational threads myself.
I also fully understand relevant updates or someone thinking about the topic and wanting to know more info or add some pertinant (sp?) info.

What I don't understand when it is with a statement of "Yeh, I hate that" with little else.

Instead of hijacking a thread or something, I figured we could discuss it here.



:beer: :sux:

:mrgreen:

[Rampant Lion]

I'm with you, MacWage. Clicking on the New Posts link and getting an archaic thread that has been resurrected by a new post with little or no substance is a little pointless, if not frustrating.

The ones that really get me are the Welcome posts that are made months after the initial new member thread was started. I was thinking with these threads, that maybe the mods could lock them after a couple of months. I don't think anyone really needs to be "welcomed" after they've been a member for more than a couple months, do they?

I suppose in the grand scheme of things, it really isn't a big deal. Just a little annoying I guess

[pdcorlis]

I totally agree - I don't get it, with all the new posts here each day how does anyone find the time to dig up a three year old "Welcome to XMarks" thread just to add a "Me Too"...?

[turpin]

I totally agree with the newbie thread locking, and have suggested that threads older than a certain number of weeks (months?) get some kind of pop-up if a reviewer tries to post on them informing him/her that it's an old thread and asking if they really want to update it. Don't know if that's possible with the VBulletin software, but it would sure cut down on the unintentional bumps.

[jordanjm]

I have been surprised by the resurrection of threads also.

[furrycelt]

i might be alone in this, but it has taken me awhile to train myself to look for the posting date of a post. the date stamp does not stand out at all. it hides in plain sight.

personally, i would put the date stamp between the post title and the post body; not above the avatar of the author. i typically gloss over the avatar image unless the person is new or a rare poster. i can recognize the commonly seen avatars out of the corner of my eye, and naturally i never look above it.

is this something that the mod's/admin/owner can fix/change?

[Panache]

Gentlemen,

Speaking for myself (Mod Hat off) I think that one of the great things about X Marks the Scot is that there is such a wealth of information on Kilts and Scottish culture available to us -stored away in the old threads. Sometimes a resurrected thread can be a very interesting one when our older members can reflect on what has happened since they posted.

I actually like it when an old interesting thread pops up. I have been here a year but I still feel like there is so much I still have to learn. Looking back at a time when Riverkilt still had single digit kilt collection is rather enjoyable.

I agree that it would nice for people to read the dates on older threads and think a moment before responding. But then again I wish that most of the people out there in the world would stop a moment and think before saying or writing anything.

As long as there are people, people are going to make mistakes. I think the extra work to put locks or delete older threads isn't needed if people can just politely work together to teach our newer members to excercise some good judgement.

Cheers

Jamie

[Robin]

I think it would be an impossible job for mods to decide what's a sensible revival of a topic and what's...less sensible.

It's good to see people use the search to find information...instead of asking a question already asked and answered a dozen times before.
And when they have something to say about it...well...sure they can reply. Drawback...it's possible the original posting became heavily outdated...for instance the original poster (and those who replied) might have a different opinion now or triple the amount of kilts etc.

The welcome posts...I don't see the problem. It's visible you replied to a post, so when it returns...don't bother checking it again.
Not a big deal, even though it makes little sense.

[mddock58]

Remember, most of those that resurrect the threads are new themselves, and with the "similar thread" area, it gives them a chance to read rather than ask the same old questions.

Most of us DO NOT look at the date the thread was started, we go read the new thread!
Then we comment based on the new post, then we get surprised when we realize it is actually an old thread.

Bear with it, with the influx of new people, we will always have this problem. I just laugh at the welcome threads that are revived, and the person being welcomed has been here longer than most of us.


Try to understand that those who are "newer" may have never seen a post from some of these people, they do not really look at the dates, or how many posts the user may have made, they are trying to be friendly!

[Tattoo Bradley]

:sux:

That about says it all...

Ok, so the threads are annoying. You open it up only to find it's old, and the poster is inactive (in some cases.) It's annoying. I agree. But, I think this post is even MORE pointless than those. No offence. Just throwing out my thoughts.