Solved Can people stop responding to 10 year old threads?

[black_cat]

I have some old threads that sometimes are inactive for many months, maybe years. Should those locked?

Because it would, in theory, be an automatic process, I would assume yes. Maybe there could also be a feature to ask a staff member to unlock a thread if needed?

 

[seminolewind]

I have some old threads that sometimes are inactive for many months, maybe years. Should those locked?

NO! There's a bunch of precious information in older posts.
The internet is worse.
Look at dates or skip to the last page.
I prefer older information to inaccurate information.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

We appreciate all the feedback, and we've made some adjustments, like excluding BST threads from the "similar threads".

We've heard the arguments for and against this new system, and based on our findings, the pros far outweigh the cons. That being the case, for now we're not planning on making any other changes to the threads shown in this section.

Regarding auto-locking old (or any) threads: This is something I personally feel very strongly against, and it will probably never happen on any of the forums I own / manage.

Thanks again for all the feedback!

 

[black_cat]

NO! There's a bunch of precious information in older posts.

That would be the point of having the threads locked, instead of being removed entirely. Someone could still read through and access that precious information, without a newbie asking questions to a poster that hasn't been online for 8 years without knowing any better.

 

[casportpony]

That would be the point of having the threads locked, instead of being removed entirely. Someone could still read through and access that precious information, without a newbie asking questions to a poster that hasn't been online for 8 years without knowing any better.

What if someone wants to ask a question but the thread is locked?

 

[RosemaryDuck]

What if someone wants to ask a question but the thread is locked?

They start a new thread.

 

[black_cat]

What if someone wants to ask a question but the thread is locked?

I am under the impression that it is unlikely that that person would get an answer. If none of the original posters are still active, nobody will get the notification that there has been a reply. Many more experienced members that can offer sound advice on a topic have explicitly stated that they skip a thread if they see that the time stamp is old. At that point, the thread will have moved out of the 'new posts' bar, and nothing will happen.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

I'm just retraining myself to check the date first. Now that I'm aware of the change to the way related posts are suggested, I can alter my behaviors in response.

That said, maybe some mention in the "welcome" for new posters is worth consideration?

 

[AngBantamLuv]

Guys... it is a discussion board.. not EMAIL.. it has no relevance if the original poster is alive or not... the discussion is chickens.. if it was meant exclusively for only that OP and no one else, it should never have been posted to a discussion board... if it is about chickens, it is relevant. Oh wait. I think i posted this on another thread... so now we have multiple threads discussing the exact same issue..

 

[casportpony]

They start a new thread.

Let's pretend that I have an old locked thread about something like blackhead (histomoniasis), which is a topic I know a lot about. Are you saying that person should shart a new thread? Chances are I will never see that thread, and if someone tags me, I probably won't see the tag either.