Why do old threads get closed?


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Why is it that if someone posts something in an old thread (like over a year) then it gets closed?

I could maybe see where your coming from if it was about an event that was happening in the past, but not, for example this. Surely if theres someones still contributing, and people are still interested then there would be no reason to close them?

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I always thought if they are pretty old like 2 years plus that they were left back on page 90 odd for a reason because the interest dwindled in the topic so why resurrect it.

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Think of it as a race for mods to be the first to close a dead thread... and then they make a chalk mark on their little board and at the end of a quarter, they get to hold the coveted "Uber Nerd" trophy till the next quarter... maybe?

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Generally speaking, and this is only how I do it: If the resurrecting post is relevant and contributes to the discussion, I leave it open. If the post is something along the lines of "Yeah" or "lol" then I just close the thread.

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Generally speaking, and this is only how I do it: If the resurrecting post is relevant and contributes to the discussion, I leave it open. If the post is something along the lines of "Yeah" or "lol" then I just close the thread.

Yes, this is the standard that we follow as bangbang stated.

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Generally speaking, and this is only how I do it: If the resurrecting post is relevant and contributes to the discussion, I leave it open. If the post is something along the lines of "Yeah" or "lol" then I just close the thread.

Yeah, lol :rofl:

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Generally speaking, and this is only how I do it: If the resurrecting post is relevant and contributes to the discussion, I leave it open. If the post is something along the lines of "Yeah" or "lol" then I just close the thread.

But if the thread is interesting, even if someone did ressurect it with a 'Yeah' or 'Lol', then it would still be on the first page of whatever section it was in, and other people would see it and could comment with decent contributions? I can't seem to find your rules anymore, but I don't remember this actually being a rule... correct me if I'm wrong.

I dunno, I just find this weird, and normally pointless.. even sometimes annoying! I haven't seen this 'rule' on any other forum before.

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If someone had a technical question about their Windows XP installation from a year or two ago then they aren't likely to need an answer after all of this time. Some threads are date sensitive, some are not. I do not see the harm in resurrecting some threads (for example, I merged two Laser Eye Surgery threads that had both been revived today).

Generally, it is best if you do not attempt to resurrect threads but we are prepared to tolerate it under certain conditions. Resurrecting a thread to post "lol" or an emoticon is just silly.

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Surely if theres someones still contributing, and people are still interested then there would be no reason to close them?

Generally there's an aversion towards this, dunno why all the fuss :s Personally I couldn't agree with your more - reusing (recycling?..:)) old threads is useful IMO. But, you know..

ps.

If someone had a technical question about their Windows XP installation from a year or two ago then they aren't likely to need an answer after all of this time. Some threads are date sensitive, some are not.

Great way to put it: "Some threads are date sensitive, some are not."!.. Someone else may possibly benefit from the answer, depending; However, more often then not, threads that ARE useful GET closed :( But, ah well..:) It's a pain :D

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Great way to put it: "Some threads are date sensitive, some are not."!.. Someone else may possibly benefit from the answer, depending; However, more often then not, threads that ARE useful GET closed :( But, ah well..:) It's a pain :D

The only problem with that being our policy is that it requires a judgement call from our members as to whether or not they should post in an old thread and it requires a judgement call from our staffers as to whether they should leave it open or not. For simplicity sake, it's best not to resurrect threads but if you are extremely confident in your judgement then we may accept it and leave it open.

Policies that leave less room for judgement calls are easier to moderate. But alas, not everything can be easy.

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If someone had a technical question about their Windows XP installation from a year or two ago then they aren't likely to need an answer after all of this time.

Most members discovered Neowin and registered after finding the answer to one of their problems after a Google search. If a member is forced to open a new thread to discuss the same topic as an old thread, he/she risks being told that their post is "old, dupe, already posted, use search", etc.

I don't see what benefit there is to the community by locking resurrected threads. By the time a mod locks it, the "damage" is already done because the post has already been bumped. And if someone posts another reply after the resurrector, then obviously members are still interested in the thread...

But locking threads is a good way of keeping the topic counts up.

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If you are resurrecting a two year old thread to discuss a situation with Windows XP that clearly has been resolved for the original poster then you are doing nothing other than thread hijacking. If you have your own issue then start you own thread. Leave other people's threads for other people's issues. While your problem may seem similar at first, it could cause the thread to go off on another direction.

With resurrected threads this confuses some members who will post answers to the original problem (not realizing that it has long since been resolved) while others will post about your problem. It creates a confusing mess and encourages new members to go elsewhere.

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