zombie threads

Spiritoftheseventies

Just curious. what is the official boards policy on this. I clicked on a very old thread a while back and it was then closed. If a thread is old but still open have I not the right to post on it.

Kiera

I think if its still relevant to today it will be kept open.

Tom Dunne

I don't know of an official policy, but the general consensus is that if it is more than 5 or 6 months old, then don't dig it up.

I think it is especially important in the more technologically slanted forums, not so sure about the others, though.

tbh

nobody has any rights to anything on boards.

OldGoat

It's really down to the context of the thread /response posted and to the mod of the forum.

I've never really seen the point in locking zombie threads unless the information contained in it is hopelessly out of date or the thread is being Spammed. The majority of Zombie threads pulled up in F&A tend to be from spammers responding to threads created in years in the past with links to their own businesses. These I sacrifice to the Mighty FSM or whatever deity I'm supporting this week.

But if someone comes in with a query and has the decency to search the forum before posting then I think the thread should be allowed to live.
As mods we tend to roll our eyes when someone doesn’t bother using the Search function and then we roll our eyes again and lock the zombie thread when they have used the Search.

pickarooney

There is no rule that can be applied as each thread is different. As a rule of thumb, I would say that if you are posting in an old thread, ask yourself if someone who opens that thread for the first time will appreciate that your post is a direct follow-on from the previous ones and not some tenuously linked post that should have been in a new thread.

For example, if a TV series goes on hiatus for 4 months and the thread does not specifically refer to a particular season of that show, it should be OK to get the ball rolling on it again, but if not, start a new thread for the upcoming season.

If a footballer is injured in January and a thread discusses that injury, then it would make sense to resurrect the thread when he's back and ready to play again (or retired), but not if you're going to post about another player with a similar injury or the same player getting arrested.

The Recliner

We lock them in PI because usually the thread had specific advice that was relevant to a person at a point of time

Resurecting a thread a couple of years later to give an opinion on a problem that doesn't exist anymore is a bit pointless

If someone does this and they are looking for similar advice we would suggest to them that they open a new thread or we do it for them

it makes sense for PI but wouldn't apply to every forum

LoLth

My view on this would be that the posting to an old thread has to be taken in contect of the latest addition to it.

If you find , say, a thread on a legal issue that was being discussed and you want to add a question relating to it that wasnt previously discussed or if you want to add some personal insight or knowledge that helps support or debunk a claim then thats ok. If however an old thread is bumped with a "i agree" or "i never knew that" or other semi-trollish nonsense then the poster is wrong and should be let know not to do it again.

Same for techy forums. someone posts up "XP SP3 is killing my application" there is an error that is discussed. 6 months later someone else has the same issue but sees that there was no resolution at the time hten yes, they should be allowed post in the thread addign to the evidence or posting their solution or findings rather than starting a new thread and having the discussion start from scratch again, it also shows that they at least attempted to use their search-fu before posting a question.

Spiritoftheseventies

LoLth wrote: »

My view on this would be that the posting to an old thread has to be taken in contect of the latest addition to it.

If you find , say, a thread on a legal issue that was being discussed and you want to add a question relating to it that wasnt previously discussed or if you want to add some personal insight or knowledge that helps support or debunk a claim then thats ok. If however an old thread is bumped with a "i agree" or "i never knew that" or other semi-trollish nonsense then the poster is wrong and should be let know not to do it again.

Same for techy forums. someone posts up "XP SP3 is killing my application" there is an error that is discussed. 6 months later someone else has the same issue but sees that there was no resolution at the time hten yes, they should be allowed post in the thread addign to the evidence or posting their solution or findings rather than starting a new thread and having the discussion start from scratch again, it also shows that they at least attempted to use their search-fu before posting a question.

Surely they should be locked after a certain amount of time.

Mr. Presentable

On mature reflection, it must be done on an ad hoc basis OP.