Site Management Do you allow waking up old threads in your forum?

[Heatman]

A forums that's got a lot of contents usually have some pushed down the page to a point where it's dead. Then comes a new member who's good at looking up anything and ever thread. For a topic that's been over 3 years it was commented on, do you allow for it to be waken up again or locked forever?

 

[Arantor]

If the content in that thread is still relevant, why not? Some things don't change that fast.

But if the content is really not relevant (e.g. old support topics for old versions of the software being supported), a polite message and a lock is usually enough - though in that case I'd assume you'd just lock all super old topics and be *done* with it. No point tempting fate.

 

[an0nym0us]

the forums are not only made up of members but also visitors, so it would be good if they were open so can read it..

 

[Kale]

Yes, I've bumped old threads with actual content in it. If it's just to spam or so I delete the post.

 

[Cory]

I've always thought it was better to bump old threads with relevant information than to create a whole new thread on the exact same subject. Duplicate discussion topics are unnecessary in my opinion, let's keep it streamlined by trying to have one topic for each subject.

 

[Kale]

I've always thought it was better to bump old threads with relevant information than to create a whole new thread on the exact same subject. Duplicate discussion topics are unnecessary in my opinion, let's keep it streamlined by trying to have one topic for each subject.

I have seen some forums be like this, and some not care if the old topic died off and no responses for months. It really does depend on the forum staff though.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I don't mind people bumping threads on my forum. Though I am a member on one forum that prefer you to start a new thread, since they don't want people bumping old threads. (Honestly though recently they've gotten more relax with this rule.)

 

[Arantor]

exact same subject

Generally that's true, but it's complicated if the bump is in fact *not* relevant when it can appear that way at first.

Consider, for example, getting a generic 500 error message from a web application, chances are the causes of it from a 10 year old topic are not the same as the current version giving you that error...

 

[Cory]

Generally that's true, but it's complicated if the bump is in fact *not* relevant when it can appear that way at first.

Understandable. Since I have a small number of topics in our general discussion areas, I guess this is mostly why I don't see the need for duplicate topics. I guess if you're a larger community, it could be a different situation.

 

[Shortie]

If the content in the thread that is bumped is still relevant and it's still a topic that would bring the discussion to the forum then I will allow it by all means. If it's something that isn't relevant anymore and they just bumped it for that extra post count then I would say something. I am pretty lenient though with bumping threads and I don't mind it if it increases activity.

 

[Heatman]

I have been in a forum where a particular insane mod have a very serious issue with it, even when the forum owner doesn't care about it, he will keep picking at it like a dog with a bone. I wouldn't be mentioning the forum's name out of respect.

 

[Moonface]

I never have any issue with members posting in old threads so long as they're contributing something to it that adds to or re-ignites the discussion. I'd rather avoid having duplicate threads.

 

[Cedric]

I never have any issue with members posting in old threads so long as they're contributing something to it that adds to or re-ignites the discussion. I'd rather avoid having duplicate threads.

Agreed. I would much rather have people use the search feature than duplicate posts. It’s better to add to an old thread in a valuable way. Hence why we have a similar threads feature when posting a new thread.

 

[Aaron]

I don't mind it if it's a topic that doesn't have newer topics.

 

[Dilip]

If I do not want, I will add a plugin that locks the topic after 15 days from the last reply. This can be changed through ACP.

In some niche, it is ok to allow bumping of old threads.

 

[Anachiwo]

If I do not want, I will add a plugin that locks the topic after 15 days from the last reply. This can be changed through ACP.

In some niche, it is ok to allow bumping of old threads.

I have no idea that such plugin exist. It looks good in my opinion but I hope the days for it to automatically lock threads can be adjusted to whenever you want, otherwise I would say that 15 days to lock a thread after last reply is too soon.

 

[Heatman]

Agreed. I would much rather have people use the search feature than duplicate posts. It’s better to add to an old thread in a valuable way. Hence why we have a similar threads feature when posting a new thread.

Whenever I want to create a new thread, I always use the search feature to make sure there's no already existing similar thread. Sometimes it doesn't work 100% because of difference in keywords used in the search but it's better than not using it.

 

[Debashis]

It's always a great idea to bump the old topics with valuable thoughts to the existing discussion. This way, the newer members will get to discuss and share their thoughts and insights on those topics as well.

 

[Ken]

I find nothing wrong with it at all.

 

[joelr]

There are some interesting behavioral nudges that community design can do better at.

If a user arrived at the old topic from 3 years ago from a search engine, he may not know (or know where to look!) that the topic is old. The software should probably give a gentle reminder that the topic might be out of date and ask if she is sure she wants to post.

I also think there's some pruning that admins or moderators tend to forget about. We talk about relevancy, but why do we trust our users to assess if it's relevant and timely? Admins should be archiving or classifying outdated information in an annual cleanup, so topics are clearly archived or moved to a board that clearly explain why the topics are no longer relevant.