Bumping old threads - would this help? (xenforo add-on)

[Altairsky]

Here is a good example of a zombie thread where someone is responding to an OP that hasn’t been online in almost a decade. There is likely useful stuff in the thread but the bump is not relevant. I think people don’t always check the date and some kind of heads-up might be helpful in cases like this:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-jobs-do-roosters-do.569493/

Yeah, I was about to answer that op too! It's so annoying. I just want to be warned before I start typing.

 

[DuckLady]

Here is a good example of a zombie thread where someone is responding to an OP that hasn’t been online in almost a decade. There is likely useful stuff in the thread but the bump is not relevant. I think people don’t always check the date and some kind of heads-up might be helpful in cases like this:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/what-jobs-do-roosters-do.569493/

Disagree. There is good info there that might help someone in the same situation. One person’s irrelevancy or annoyance is another person’s information goldmine. If you don’t find it valuable to you, just scroll by.
And calling them out here is an example of the unkindness I was talking about.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Disagree. There is good info there that might help someone in the same situation. One person’s irrelevancy or annoyance is another person’s information goldmine. If you don’t find it valuable to you, just scroll by.
And calling them out here is an example of the unkindness I was talking about.

I didn’t “call anyone out” I just pointed out that the bump probably wouldn’t have happened if the poster realized the OP wouldn’t be online to see it. There is nothing wrong with reading old threads and nothing wrong with the thread. It was just a timely example of the issue being discussed.

 

[RoyalChick]

Yeah, I was about to answer that op too! It's so annoying. I just want to be warned before I start typing.

If it bothers you so much why don’t you just look at the date of the thread before writing a reply?

 

[redinator]

I don't know that I like the idea of having to check a box acknowledging that you realize the thread is old (i have so many acknowledgement buttons i have to press daily at work, most of them entirely unnecessary). But I do think some sort of visual that a thread is not current or active might be helpful to let people know they may not get answers if they ask someone a specific question. Just my two cents.

I read through the old threads often for information, but occasionally I forget I'm reading and old thread and I'll make a comment on it.

Some sort of visual sounds like a good idea. It could be something simple like making the 'Post Reply' button inactive, with a popup or alt text that states "This thread is inactive, please start a new thread. . ."

Edit: Another option is to "Archive" threads older than (x days, weeks, months, years) that can be read for informational purposes, but not allow new comments/posts.

 

[Altairsky]

If it bothers you so much why don’t you just look at the date of the thread before writing a reply?

Why a simple pop-up warning bothers you so much? It will help those like me, prevent people asking questions to an op that disappeared literally decades ago, and if someone just wants to add something constructive to an old thread and bump it, they perfectly can.

 

[FrostRanger]

I think a warning would be a good idea. Perhaps also state in said warning that it is OK to reply but they may not get a response and they might be better served starting a new thread. It would both make it clear that further discussion is OK but it would prevent people from mistaking an old thread as a new issue and responding to an op that may not be around anymore. Should one look at the date if they don't want to revive an old thread? Sure, but sometimes you just plain don't notice until too late. It's one thing to knowingly revive an old thread and another do so as a mistake and ask questions to someone who hasn't been on in many years. Old threads are indeed good and useful and absolutely nothing wrong with adding information for future browsers of the thread. The warning would just be so people can adjust their expectations when replying

 

[kattabelly]

I'm going to post the description and screenshots from the add-on page I linked in the OP, because it seems like some people are arguing against something totally different.

This addon will show a warning to users if a thread has not received a reply in a certain amount of days which is defined in the addon settings. You can also exclude the warning from showing on threads in certain forums. There is also usergroup permissions so you can disable the warning for certain usergroups.

You can also choose to disable the "Post reply" button until the user checks a checkbox acknowledging that they know the thread is old and want to reply anyway. This is on by default.

There are five different type of warning block styles to choose from. The five types are, highlight, important. success, warning and error.

 

[kattabelly]

There must be hundreds of threads on certain topics like chick crumb vs grower/all flock vs layer feed. The information in those threads might be useful but having someone bump a thread from a decade ago to tell someone they can feed all flock with oyster shell on the side, to birds that have probably died of old age by now, isn't especially helpful or necessary when people start new threads on that question every week and it's easy to find previous answers by doing a search.

Maybe it's because I haven't been here that long but I don't remember ever seeing someone "scolded" for bumping an old thread. You could just as easily argue that people might feel more embarrassed after having it kindly explained that the issue they're replying about is already sorted now and they might not get a reply from someone who hasn't been online since 2012, than they would if that was highlighted in a line of text before they even hit 'reply' - especially if by the time it's pointed out, they've already resurrected multiple old threads.

 

[RoyalChick]

Why a simple pop-up warning bothers you so much? It will help those like me, prevent people asking questions to an op that disappeared literally decades ago, and if someone just wants to add something constructive to an old thread and bump it, they perfectly can.

Doesn’t bother me at all. In fact in my first post in this topic I said I thought it was a fine idea to have a warning.
I replied to you as you seemed from your posts to be emotionally engaged, angry and frustrated at being trapped into replying to old posts, and I was curious why, if they upset you so much, you didn’t protect yourself from that frustration by glancing at the date.