Replying to old posts

I notice a few threads have been replied to of late that are well out of date.

Usually the poster is chastised for doing so, and it possibly is not their fault.
I suspect they may be responding to a "similar thread" suggestion at the bottom of each thread.

I noticed this morning on the thread about galvanised nuts and bolts started by Sir Stinky that there were 5 suggested similar posts, most were dated around the 2001 mark!

So in reality, don't jump on the person who responded to these threads when they are thrown up by the Bulletin Board software as seemingly "useful" links....

Sheesh, I didn't realise there was a protocol about this! :eek: Not having been involved in a forum before, I sort of thought that any old postings that were of interest were fair game. For a start it may open up info for fellow new comers...but I guess its more polite to do a search yourself:confused:
If they are really 'well out of date' why aren't they simply deleted?

My 2c worth.

Good Point Zathras and Andy.
You can find some interesting stuff in the old threads so maybe not deleting the thread but converting to a read only format without the option of posting a reply. Something for the IT types to ponder.
Cheers
Tom :D

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Originally Posted by Andy Mac

.......I sort of thought that any old postings that were of interest were fair game.........

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Andy, i agree with you, and some resurrections have been justified. some you just have to wonder about, like resurrecting the capital punishment thread when it had been dormant for a month and everyone was sick of it. or yet another way to overcome a specific situation with a router when the job was probably finished 2 years ago.

If its good info with some current relevance i dont mind seeing an old thread come up but the majority of them imho should remain buried if dormant for over a month or two.

vBulletin forums are essentially non-real-time communications. A legitimate role is as a knowledge archive.

If you've got something to new to contribute, who cares how old the thread is. (Unless it's just one more "me too" or "i like that" post. -Even then, what the heck? Life's too short.

Actually I have benefitted from old threads being renewed. Maybe an old WIP or pics post showing a technique, an idea. That's what it's all all about: benefitting from the community.

who cares either way?
If I stumble into a 2 year old post that has been re-opened for good or bad reasons, it only takes a flick of the mouse and 0.005% of my bandwidth and time to get out of it.

Far be it from me to critisise anyone for their lack of social skills.... guilty of that myself :rolleyes:

How old is old??

I've got a couple of what I consider to be current threads running, that I kicked off years ago:

There's one about dust connection to machinery that I'll add to when I :o :o :o :o (oh forget it!)

My Eureka Canoe thread is going on for two....

and as for Midge's Playroom......

Maybe it's just me...

P
:o :o :o

It does pay to keep an eye on the dates though. I've had a couple of experiences where people have given me advice about a problem ... that I solved a couple of years before (literally). The intent is nice but ... :rolleyes:

Ahh, it's like the old 'do a search' routine. If some galah does the wrong or lazy thing, one of the resident grumps will have a say. If the grump is out of line, the rest of us will jump on him. If you start making rules to cover the innocent newchum, you'll make life harder for the vetrans. Run the site for the vetrans and the new bloke will be dog paddling so hard to survive that he might just lose interest. Rather than expecting Neil, et al to sort out the problem, just keep working as a community, a community with the blessed advantage that you lot don't have to look at my ugly mug :D

Richard

Amen ;)

I was certainly not saying that replying to old posts is bad, it just seems that way when you see some replies from others when somebody does dredge up an oldie.

Nor was I suggesting old posts should be purged - that would be a huge loss.

I was just commenting upon how easy it is for an old thread to be resurrected by the "indirect" search brought up front by the similar posts feature. :rolleyes:

Perhaps if there was a solution to the original question then maybe a follow up post saying "thank you, I have solved the problem, this is how I did it", would save later posts, there again, maybe not :D :D

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Originally Posted by Sprog

Perhaps if there was a solution to the original question then maybe a follow up post saying "thank you, I have solved the problem, this is how I did it", would save later posts, there again, maybe not :D :D

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Would more likely start another round of "why didnt you do it like this?" http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gif

Neil and I had decided to close off the old posts HOWEVER vBulletin doesn't allow you to do it.

We can delete all old posts but at the moment we think that would desrroy an accumulated amount of knowledge that would be irreplaceable.

Sooooooooooo the bottom line is it stays.:)

Deleting the old posts would upset Google's search engines too!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

and we can't have that happening...

P
:D

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Originally Posted by

Neil and I had decided to close off the old posts HOWEVER vBulletin doesn't allow you to do it.

We can delete all old posts but at the moment we think that would desrroy an accumulated amount of knowledge that would be irreplaceable.

Sooooooooooo the bottom line is it stays.:)

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Come on , just go through the threads and lock the old ones.
Shouldnt take too long.

Al :rolleyes: :D

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Originally Posted by ozwinner

Come on , just go through the threads and lock the old ones.
Shouldnt take too long.

Al :rolleyes: :D

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Hey , I think Al just volunteered to do that:D

Youse bloody wankers are never flamin' happy!! One minute you are abusing some poor bugger because he didn't use the "Search" facility to solve his problem and the next you are trying to delete or lock that very resource.... Ferchrissakesmakeupyertinyminds!!!!:rolleyes:

Im sure if you lock it, they can still research it but cant post.
So nothing is lost.

Al :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by

Neil and I had decided to close off the old posts HOWEVER vBulletin doesn't allow you to do it.

We can delete all old posts but at the moment we think that would desrroy an accumulated amount of knowledge that would be irreplaceable.

Sooooooooooo the bottom line is it stays.:)

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Fair enough. Perhaps it will be fixed in the next release.

It makes sense that you should be able to set a "sunset" time for threads.

Same as you should be able to determine how many rep points equal a green light. :p :D

Do vBulletin have a feedback facility?

Have a look.

Al :)

Personally I like to have access to all the old posts ...there's more in there that I'll ever admit to knowin' and who know's a real craftsman may have left the BB either because he has other pursuits or he has passed away and hence good insights are there for all to use/employ in what ever means they deem necessary to their own ends...lets not let the BB be dictated by a few for thousands of us that want full access given largely due to the tireless efforts of Neil & his team of moderators.

This being the case it's good manna I reckon to leave those valuable insights for all and sundry to either re-post to enhance an idea or drive home a point relative to contempory ideas.

To not being able to function with re-surfacing of old post is like closing your mind off... and that thank heavens I'm not about to do.

My thoughts of where I like the BB


Cheers:)

I don't mind the occasional reply to an old thread, even if it is only to say "nice" or something equally banal. After all, it's usually on-topic and 'cos the thread now comes up in "new posts" gets my attention. Sure, 'tis usually something I don't need or particularly want to know (else I'd have seached it) but I enjoy the odd mental detour. Especially for threads from before my own join date... I don't have time to read 'em all!

What pisses me off are the half dozen consequent posts, totally off-topic and usually variations of the same thing: "can't you read the date?" or similar. :rolleyes:

:D :D

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Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

I don't mind the occasional reply to an old thread, even if it is only to say "nice" or something equally banal. After all, it's usually on-topic and 'cos the thread now comes up in "new posts" gets my attention. Sure, 'tis usually something I don't need or particularly want to know (else I'd have seached it) but I enjoy the odd mental detour. Especially for threads from before my own join date... I don't have time to read 'em all!

What pisses me off are the half dozen consequent posts, totally off-topic and usually variations of the same thing: "can't you read the date?" or similar. :rolleyes:

:D :D

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I agree with Skew keep them open ,please.:D
Regards ,Bela

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Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

.....What pisses me off are the half dozen consequent posts, totally off-topic and usually variations of the same thing: "can't you read the date?".....

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Skew, im sorry if i have you off on occasions , BUT i only do that to posts that i feel should never have been resurrected and probably wouldnt have been IF the poster had have looked at the datehttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon14.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon14.gif If i can perceive that members would get something out of the post resurrection im just as likely to join in and probably hijack ithttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gifhttp://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ons/icon10.gif

One "look at the date" I can handle. Several in a row, dispersed by "you tell him!"'s, well... :p