Some kind of thread shutdown timer.

[pauldbk99]

As of recently I have noticed three year old threads that are still open. So my idea is: what if we just made a tool that would close old threads but not threads which are still popular to this day? Example: Every thread older than 6 months will be closed except if the thread gets at least one post every 2 days. And if you don't agree with it you can always go to the moderators to ask, with a good reason, if the thread can be revived again.

Edited November 14, 2014 by pauldbk99

[montyben101]

I don't see any problem with old threads? why bother closing them. If someone posts in them then you can close them

[John FX]

Sometime old threads become relevant again. I would prefer the current situation.

[KasperVld]

Old threads are not necessarily bad threads and it'd be a shame to close them without any consideration. Think of [thread=24858]this thread[/thread] for example, or [thread=8995]this thread[/thread]; not to mention the threads of many many add-ons. If a thread is bumped after a long time and we spot it or are alerted to it we look at whether or not the content is still valuable and whether or not the new posts add something to the discussion. Based on that assessment we may or may not close such a thread.

Or, as described in the rules:

Posting in a thread that has not received a new message in a defined span of three months is known as “necroposting”. Necroposting is often frowned upon but not forbidden provided that your post does not break the other rules in this post, most notably rule 2.3a. These threads may be closed at the discretion of the staff.

[Vaporo]

I would rather it auto-close six months after the last post, not on a post-per day basis. (For example, what if a company in the rocket builders forums was posting new crafts, but only every week? If almost nobody but the makers of the company post, they would have an average of below two posts per day and would be closed after six months.)

Old threads are not necessarily bad threads and it'd be a shame to close them without any consideration. Think of [thread=24858]this thread[/thread] for example, or [thread=8995]this thread[/thread]; not to mention the threads of many many add-ons. If a thread is bumped after a long time and we spot it or are alerted to it we look at whether or not the content is still valuable and whether or not the new posts add something to the discussion. Based on that assessment we may or may not close such a thread.

Or, as described in the rules:

But I agree with this more.

[pauldbk99]

Sometime old threads become relevant again. I would prefer the current situation.

Yes, but I dont think that certain idiots should be able to revive three year old threads an be able to waste everybody's time with it.

[KasperVld]

Yes, but I dont think that certain idiots should be able to revive three year old threads an be able to waste everybody's time with it.

With great power comes great responsibility. I think people are smart enough to make such decisions. That said, bumping a thread on purpose for the sake of addressing bumping old threads breaks the community rules (rule 2.3d).

[John FX]

Yes, but I dont think that certain idiots should be able to revive three year old threads an be able to waste everybody's time with it.

Time is only wasted if people post in the thread, at which point (as long as the posting is ON TOPIC *serious stare*) the thread is alive again and the mods will act accordingly.

Posting in old threads just to complain that you are able to post in old threads is against the forum rules already.

We don`t need to write automatic code to cover that, people should just follow the forum rules...

EDIT : Ninja`d by the right person to be saying it

[pauldbk99]

With great power comes great responsibility. I think people are smart enough to make such decisions. That said, bumping a thread on purpose for the sake of addressing bumping old threads breaks the community rules (rule 2.3d).

Well... ehm... but... Okay you guys win.

[pauldbk99]

Thanks for shutting down that thread by the way.

[Tex_NL]

Instead of calling certain people idiots or auto-locking threads there is a much better solution: A big bold pop-up warning the poster he or she is about to revive an old, probably irrelevant thread. If you've got something relevant to add then you can of course ignore the pop-up. If you ignore the pop-up just to say something like 'LOL, that's funny' or 'I agree'. THEN you're an idiot!

... people should just follow the forum rules ...

But they don't. New members don't read the rules before they post. No body does.

[John FX]

Thanks for shutting down that thread by the way.

It isn`t shut down, they just removed posts against the forum rules.

it is true a lot of new members do not read the forum rules (I didn`t) but most of them are reticent when they are told they have broken them and try to not do so in future. Most of them don`t break the rules even when they don`t know what they are...

The rules here are hardly draconian, be nice, stay on topic, that sort of thing.

[Red Iron Crown]

In my experience here the number of good bumps to old threads is far, far outnumbered by bad bumps. Posts to threads older than a few months should go to the moderation queue IMO (not sure if that is possible with the forum software though).

[Elthy]

How about a big, red notification you have to click away when you try to post in a dead thread?

[John FX]

How about a big, red notification you have to click away when you try to post in a dead thread?

I`d support this, I recently went to a forum where they did this and being new there it was good to know that thread was not current any more.

I think it was set to simply post that nobody had posted for 6 months and to get the poster to think about whether their post would contribute to the conversation or whether starting a new thread would be better

Theirs was grey though. Looked nice..

[Tex_NL]

Color does not really matter of course. But this is (like I already stated in this very same thread) the best solution. And since this is a vBulletin forum it is also the easiest. Especially since people have already written free plugins to do exactly this: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=266246 All the admins need to do it download, install and configure it.

There is absolutely no excuse NOT to do this.

[OrbitusII]

But they don't. New members don't read the rules before they post. No body does.

Indeed. The only rules I know by heart are licensing for mods and anti-necro. I'll read the rules from time to time but I don't pay attention to them. It would definitely be a good idea to get some sort of anti-necro system though. Until something like that is implemented, however (assuming it is indeed implemented) I'll keep my eyes out for necros and I'll report them straightaway, as I have been doing.

[KasperVld]

Color does not really matter of course. But this is (like I already stated in this very same thread) the best solution. And since this is a vBulletin forum it is also the easiest. Especially since people have already written free plugins to do exactly this: http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=266246 All the admins need to do it download, install and configure it.

There is absolutely no excuse NOT to do this.

How about the fact that that mod has not seen an update in over three years?

Seriously though, we're willing to make all sorts of adjustments but there are many reasons that we may chose not to do it.

[Tex_NL]

OK, this was the first example I found. And I admit I did not check the date.

But my point is there ARE tools out there. And if it was possible with a vBulletin version three years ago I guarantee you it is possible with the current version. It wouldn't even surprise me if it was a build-in, standard option.