Mindovermaster Moderator Posted March 26, 2018 Moderator Share Posted March 26, 2018 I don't know if this has been talked about by staff or members, but... Can you set threads that are X number of months old are auto-closed, so people aren't posting in threads from 2012, for example? I know in another forum <name hidden>, does this. And allows the OP to contact staff, and have them open it again. I do not know if that will take the server down, if you have to close 1 Million threads. But, is there a way you can enforce this NOW? In that any thread past April 1st will get this treatment? Just my 2 cents, take it with a grain of salt... Just what I've seen every week or so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted March 27, 2018 MVC Share Posted March 27, 2018 I'll take any replies I can get, be it a day from now or 25 years from now! I love comments in my threads! Which is also why I don't care if they go off topic. Going off topic gets more comments! More comments put the thread at the top of the thread list. So you can imagine my dislike for the way reddit does things satukoro, garwin, DConnell and 1 other 4 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted March 27, 2018 Author Moderator Share Posted March 27, 2018 Everyone knows you're crazy @warwagon... DConnell 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted March 27, 2018 MVC Share Posted March 27, 2018 So I finally read your post slow and understand what you are asking for. Not a fan. Though if they did implement it I would hope they wouldn't go by age but age with no responses. So if set to 12 months, and at 11 months a reply would reset the counter. I guess I'm always entertained when someone replies to a really old thread. I've never really understood the hate for an old thread being bumped. Sometimes the question was asked years ago so that I get. But sometimes someone responds to the actual topic of the thread. I hate it when someone replies to one of my old threads, bumps it and it gets locked... I'm like SOB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunknMunky Veteran Posted March 27, 2018 Veteran Share Posted March 27, 2018 Archiving is enabled already but it has quite a long period before it is triggered. I'm not sure how much stress it would put on the servers to work through the forum database, but I imagine it would be similar slowdown to when we update. The problem with archiving is topics are not discoverable via search once they've moved to the second database. So users searching for help / advice would not find relevant topics and we'd probably see duplicate topics as a result. Ultimately it would need to be decided on by Admins / Founders and Devs to change this though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firey Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Andrew said: Archiving is enabled already but it has quite a long period before it is triggered. I'm not sure how much stress it would put on the servers to work through the forum database, but I imagine it would be similar slowdown to when we update. The problem with archiving is topics are not discoverable via search once they've moved to the second database. So users searching for help / advice would not find relevant topics and we'd probably see duplicate topics as a result. Ultimately it would need to be decided on by Admins / Founders and Devs to change this though. If done correctly and properly indexed.. it should just be a matter of looking for threads last modified > now minus 1 year still flagged as active and setting a flag on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason S. Global Moderator Posted March 27, 2018 Global Moderator Share Posted March 27, 2018 i think an easier solution would be to have threads auto-lock after a certain amount of months past the initial post date. That way the threads wont have to be archived right away, and the timer wont be reset if someone posts just before the lock hits. Typically, we allow resurrecting up to 6mo from original post date. If someone posts at 5mo, then the thread will still auto-lock after 6mo. then again, there would also have to be some logic to say that the thread wont auto-lock if it's still an active, popular thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Warwagon MVC Posted March 27, 2018 MVC Share Posted March 27, 2018 9 minutes ago, Jason S. said: If someone posts at 5mo, then the thread will still auto-lock after 6mo. Booo!!!!! Alright, so lets say someone replies at 5 months, jump starts the thread and people are replying right and left. What happens when 6 months hits and the thread is still going strong? Does it still autolock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason S. Global Moderator Posted March 27, 2018 Global Moderator Share Posted March 27, 2018 2 minutes ago, warwagon said: Booo!!!!! Alright, so lets say someone replies at 5 months, jump starts the thread and people are replying right and left. What happens when 6 months hits and the thread is still going strong? Does it still autolock? yeah, idk. im not a Dev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buttus Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 i think it's kind of funny to see replies to posts that are years old. i like looking back through all of the previous posts to see what was going on back then. you can always move on to the next thread if that one bothers you. or do you mean get rid of them for server space and/or speed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted March 27, 2018 Author Moderator Share Posted March 27, 2018 52 minutes ago, Buttus said: i think it's kind of funny to see replies to posts that are years old. i like looking back through all of the previous posts to see what was going on back then. you can always move on to the next thread if that one bothers you. or do you mean get rid of them for server space and/or speed? Not saying delete them, I am saying close them. So peoplew cannot open a thread from October 2012... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draconian Guppy Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 3 hours ago, Andrew said: The problem with archiving is topics are not discoverable via search once they've moved to the second database. So users searching for help / advice would not find relevant topics and we'd probably see duplicate topics as a result. Then if not discoverable, that defeats the purpose. I think Warcrazywagon is on point! 11 hours ago, warwagon said: I'll take any replies I can get, be it a day from now or 25 years from now! I love comments in my threads! Which is also why I don't care if they go off topic. Going off topic gets more comments! More comments put the thread at the top of the thread list. So you can imagine my dislike for the way reddit does things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunknMunky Veteran Posted March 27, 2018 Veteran Share Posted March 27, 2018 1 hour ago, Jason S. said: i think an easier solution would be to have threads auto-lock after a certain amount of months past the initial post date. That way the threads wont have to be archived right away, and the timer wont be reset if someone posts just before the lock hits. Typically, we allow resurrecting up to 6mo from original post date. If someone posts at 5mo, then the thread will still auto-lock after 6mo. then again, there would also have to be some logic to say that the thread wont auto-lock if it's still an active, popular thread. 1 hour ago, warwagon said: Booo!!!!! Alright, so lets say someone replies at 5 months, jump starts the thread and people are replying right and left. What happens when 6 months hits and the thread is still going strong? Does it still autolock? Well all the rule needs to be set to is Last post > XYZ date to keep it alive, otherwise lock it. This is how the current archive feature works, but as I mentioned before, it removes the topics from search results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick H. Supervisor Posted March 27, 2018 Supervisor Share Posted March 27, 2018 Honestly I think there are too many variables for automation to be an advantage. It isn't difficult for a member of staff to use their judgement on a case-by-case basis and know whether to lock the thread or leave it as it is. It also helps us pick up the more obvious spammers, and as has already been mentioned it allows any relevant thread to be searched. Brandon H and Barney T. 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneNutter MVC Posted March 27, 2018 MVC Share Posted March 27, 2018 Is it really that bad if someone replies to an old thread from several years ago if the reply is relevant? Sometimes Neowin is the first result on Google when searching for an obscure issue. So if you can contribute something of value to that post, its going to help others who find it via Google. Likewise if you are having the same issue at some point in the future, is it not a benefit the discussion is allowed to continue in that thread? Sure spammers do randomly bump some old threads, just report the post and let the staff delete it like you would do any other spam post. +Zlip792 and Brandon H 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PsYcHoKiLLa Posted March 27, 2018 Share Posted March 27, 2018 I'm not replying to this thread! It's 21 hours old....oh wait...I just di... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brandon H Supervisor Posted March 27, 2018 Supervisor Share Posted March 27, 2018 17 minutes ago, Nick H. said: Honestly I think there are too many variables for automation to be an advantage. It isn't difficult for a member of staff to use their judgement on a case-by-case basis and know whether to lock the thread or leave it as it is. It also helps us pick up the more obvious spammers, and as has already been mentioned it allows any relevant thread to be searched. 11 minutes ago, InsaneNutter said: Is it really that bad if someone replies to an old thread from several years ago if the reply is relevant? Sometimes Neowin is the first result on Google when searching for an obscure issue. So if you can contribute something of value to that post, its going to help others who find it via Google. Likewise if you are having the same issue at some point in the future, is it not a benefit the discussion is allowed to continue in that thread? Sure spammers do randomly bump some old threads, just report the post and let the staff delete it like you would do any other spam post. +1 to these 2 points. sure an automated system would work but it feels like it's taking the easy way out in this case. it feels like saying just because something is old makes it no longer relevant .. period. common sense is becoming less and less .... well .. common, especially on the internet. and the more we start automating moderator duties the more we're going to lose what little common sense we have left IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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