Repetitive Threads

[Mave]

I noticed some of us getting annoyed (especially the old-timers hehe) seeing certain topics getting bumped up again and again and again in new threads. I think their frustration is justified.

Is it possible to make it "highly recommended" for those who want to make a new thread to at least attempt a search first within the old archives before making a new one? That would save a lot of repeated discussions...

Just a thought....

[Straylight]

Maybe we could have "mega" threads -- if someone starts a new topic about something covered before, it could be merged into the "mega thread" allowing us to keep all the discussion in the same place.

[shooraijin]

Or ... you could expand the default time limit on the thread display. Right now, when you go to a forum, it shows threads active only for the last day. I submit it should be at least a week.

[ShiroiHikari]

Can't you make your own settings for the expiration thing? Err, what I mean is, isn't there an option in the user cp to set it to something other than the forum default? Then again...eh, never mind. o_O

The "mega" thread thing sounds like a good idea to me...I do get tired of the same threads popping up o_O

[madphilb]

The thing is, do we have a problem with Grave Digging? (Grave Digging is bringing up old threads and posting to them).

The mergeing thing sounds like a good idea though.

[Straylight]

Or ... you could expand the default time limit on the thread display. Right now, when you go to a forum, it shows threads active only for the last day. I submit it should be at least a week.

Not for me -- when I go to a forum it shows all threads within the last 30 days, and displays a maximum of 30 threads on the page before splitting off into pages.

Go here - http://www.christiananime.net/forums/profile.php?do=editoptions - and make sure that "default thread age cutoff" is set to "use forum default". The default is 30 days.

And yeah, grave digging is a pain. I'm considering a hack that prevents people posting in threads once the last post in the thread reaches a certain age. This would be disabled in some forums though -- such as the reviews area.

[shooraijin]

No, no, what I mean is, perhaps the "default default" (I guess it is ) should be lengthened for *everyone* and then they can alter that at their choice.

[Ashley]

Hmm, a tough argument.

On the one hand, the old timers get tired of hearing the same posts over and over, but it's not fair to expect newbies to do research before posting. And at what point does a thread become a new insight into a topic verses beating an old horse?

For the moment, I was satisfied with leaving it up to the staffer's discretion whether to direct the newbie to an old thread or allow it to go on. But I guess if it's really a problem...

[shooraijin]

At the moment I'm finding the old thread, bumping it, putting a link to it in the new one, and locking the new one. I've done this on a number of threads to try and unify them.

If people object to this, let me know.

[Straylight]

I think the course of action can quite often depend on how many replies the new thread has revieved before a staff member finds it.

[Michael]

I'd suggest that the members do a little research before posting a thread like say, Metal Gear Solid. It's not too hard to do. Just hit search and type in yer keyword.

[Mave]

hey, you know Haibane gave a pretty good suggestion in the latest EVA thread..

[have a sticky thread under the Anime section that's titled something like "Newbies, pls read. Popular and controversial topics" or whatever someone can think of which is more appropriate/accurate. The admins can list down topics that get beaten over and over again and recommend searches while explaining topics that we tend to avoid and why.]

[JediSonic]

Over at gamefaqs.com, they make a big, highlighted, bold sign at the top of every "new thread" page that says stuff like "Discussion of further developments in Iraq or any other news stories does not belong in the gaming message boards."

And that's annoying. So, uh, don't do something like that XD

As to shooby locking threads... if you are concerned aobut them taking up space, why don't you just delete it, and move all pertenent posts into the old thread, or PM a link to the users in the conversation? Probably because it would take too long

[Mave]

Over at gamefaqs.com, they make a big, highlighted, bold sign at the top of every "new thread" page that says stuff like "Discussion of further developments in Iraq or any other news stories does not belong in the gaming message boards."

And that's annoying. So, uh, don't do something like that XD

As to shooby locking threads... if you are concerned aobut them taking up space, why don't you just delete it, and move all pertenent posts into the old thread, or PM a link to the users in the conversation? Probably because it would take too long

And I thought I went OT too often. The sticky thread should only be in the anime section so I don't think you'll see a whole bunch of annoying signs. ^^

[shooraijin]

> Probably because it would take too long

That, and PMing people in the thread would probably take up more space than just locking the thread and leaving a redirect.

[madphilb]

I think the lock/redirect method works good to hilight in a subtle way that thre are lots of existing threads and it just takes a tiny bit of time to look.... though as I hinted before (here or elsewhere, can't remember) that the search engine doesn't support less than 4 characters, so some common things aren't searchable (such as "NGE," "Sig," etc.)

An idea occured to me last night..... how about a sub-forum under the Anime... "Specific Titles" and each one would have a Mega-Thread for those titles (using the full title of the show/movie) and then someone could just search the titles of that one forum area rather than the whole site if they're looking for a title (maybe even have a "quick-title search" setup somewhere that all you need to do is enter in a word in the title and the search would automatically be carried out on that forum only, titles only)..... a thought, don't know how practical is it.

[Kisa]

Grrrrr . . . repetitive threads . . . I look back at mine and its like it was posted a month ago like a few hours after I post anything!

[DrNic]

I noticed some of us getting annoyed (especially the old-timers hehe) seeing certain topics getting bumped up again and again and again in new threads. I think their frustration is justified.

Is it possible to make it "highly recommended" for those who want to make a new thread to at least attempt a search first within the old archives before making a new one? That would save a lot of repeated discussions...

Just a thought....

I dont think thats really justified, things are always going to come up again now and then, but you cant blame people (especially new people like myself), they might not have known about the old thread or they may not remember the other thread. If you dont want to post then dont post but people should be free to start up new discusions if they want (as long as its not breaking any forum rules)

[uc pseudonym]

As has been previously suggested, there is a search feature, that can look up previous topics. Obviously you wouldn't have to do this for every single topic, there's still a good chance that a new topic about a certain anime or game would already have been done.

[Azier the Swordsman]

I think that certain recurring threads should be 'stickied'... such as Anime Collections... game collections... ect.

[DrNic]

Nah, takes the fun out of 'trying' to think up an original thread

[Omega Amen]

I think the "sticky" ideas addressing common thread topics here are reasonable. While I personally use the search tool quite often, I am wondering of the consequences if we grow REALLY big and everyone is using the search tool to search the same common topic over and over again. In that case, wouldn't the "sticky" ideas be more efficient and practical?

EDIT: "Efficient and practical" meaning how well the server is running. Will it become burdensome for the server or not?

[Fsiphskilm]

LOL...LOL...ROFL...uld

[shooraijin]

I *do* do this when I see such threads, although I'm not always able to remember if there was an old one or not.

The sticky idea particularly appeals to me, although the staff is discussing the issue.

[uc pseudonym]

Yes, at the very least check the recent pages of a forum. I believe we had a thread about Naruto started by myself one day, and less than a day later there was another one. Incredible.

As shooraijin stated, the idea is under discussion. I myself am ambivalent.

[Fsiphskilm]

[quote="Cephas"]Ouch, I'm gu

[Ashley]

Well, usually it's with the intent. If you're digging it up to say ":)"...that's spamming for post count and just irksome. But if you just got into a series and want to talk about it or just heard something new, or even just want to say "hey I saw blah blah"...that's ok. It's just a matter of forum courtesy is all--and hey, obviously we haven't made a huge deal out of it so we're not too uptight about it.

[Fsiphskilm]

*smiles* hey you're

[Fsiphskilm]

This isn't a reped

[Mave]

I have a question....let's say, I've done a search and I found a thread pertaining to my interest. Am I allowed to post there and kick up the thread from the old achives or am I grave digging and will receive frowns from members? I'm hoping it's still OK since we have a lot of new members who have never seen the thread...either ways, i'm waiting for a reply from mods or admins first.

Just in case you're wondering, I was looking for a thread regarding the left-handed, right-handed and ambidextrous topic. ^^