Feedback thread for PI, RI & Bereavement

Caranica

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120754308#Comment_120754308

I actually think people's posts being visible on their accounts is a positive. It really has helped to identify serial thread posters. Otherwise it was left up someone's memory.

People give time in PI to try to help someone in need but when people post thread after thread and ignore advice every time it's good to know not to waste your time. There's been a few lately

Princess Calla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120757008#Comment_120757008

I don't have an issue with the feature and as you say it has its uses.

However, I think the issue is more for the regular contributors. They maybe offering advice based on personal experience. While they are putting their experience"out there" it was still kept fairly hidden within the personal issues forum. Now it shows up if anyone looks at their posting history. So posters maybe more reluctant/guarded to reply to an OP.

Tork

You could always find people's past posts without using the boards search function. Its search was always janky and that was before the move to Vanilla... Let's say you wanted to find posts on boards about North Dakota. All you have to do is go to Google and type North Dakota site:www.boards.ie

The loss of anonymous posting option is a bigger issue in my opinion. You can always set up a throwaway account but that takes a bit of time. On the other hand, it put more responsibility back on the mods. They had to approve the anon posts under vBulletin and if they were busy living their own lives the posts could hang around for several hours in limbo. They've also had their wings clipped because the moderation tools now available to them are limited.

Boards.ie: Mike

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120754308#Comment_120754308

I understand that this has fundamentally changed the way that the forum works. These are fairly significant tech changes. I will see what can be done to make changes that will bring it more in line with the way it work on VBulletin. But this is not VBulletin and changes like this may not be on Vanillas radar. They may also be very costly tech fees involved if this is possible.

I'll update on this when new info becomes available to me. Thanks All.

Dial Hard

I've asked this before but I'll ask again: is there any way to auto-lock threads once they've been dormant for a certain amount of time? Someone posted in a thread yesterday that the OP hasn't been back to since they started it in July.

Also, any update on threads getting indexed on the front page???

Hannibal_Smith

As said before there's no way to auto lock threads. As long as posters are offering advice, I don't think there's too much harm in keeping them open?

No changes to having threads removed from the front page since my previous reply, as far as I know anyhow.

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364018#Comment_121364018

Well a bit of consistency would be nice - you're saying what's the harm in leaving them open while Hilda Ogdenx just closed one for this very reason.

Fwiw, I thought it was a Boards-wide general rule that zombie threads shouldn't be resurrected, and four months without a revisit from the OP is a zombie by PI/RI standards, imo.

Hannibal_Smith

You asked if there was a way to auto lock threads, I said there wasn't and asked what the harm was in keeping it open.

I don't see it as a 'zombie thread' but its a fairly subjective thing. The fact one mod closed it but another didnt see the harm probably shows that. But it isnt a great issue. There's no hard and fast rule about it. As long as the OP is receiving advice I don't see the harm. If keeping threads open is upsetting posters would you like us as a rule to draw a line and if so where?

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121368479#Comment_121368479

I've said it before - two months from the OP's last visit seems like a reasonable time frame to me. How long do you think threads should be left open, as a matter of interest?

Hannibal_Smith

I don't have a time limit in mind. Its very much a thread by thread situation. I wouldn't be a fan of automatically closing all threads after just 2 months. But that's just me. If others using the forum feel a change is warranted, sure that's what the feedback is for.

Big Bag of Chips

Personally I think locking threads automatically or otherwise makes the forum very unwelcoming. The forum isn't as busy as it used to be a few years ago. On the front page of the Personal Issues forum for example there are still threads visible from August. It is likely that someone navigating to the forum would scroll down through the list, see a title that catches their eye and post a reply.

For anyone who has had a personal issue in their life the reality is it is unlikely to be resolved, wrapped up and dealt with in the space of a few weeks. Issues, relationships issues, mental health issues, family conflicts etc can go on for years. So offering advice in November to someone who posted in August might actually be relevant and helpful. Also, it might help someone else reading even if it doesn't specifically help the OP. Someone with marriage problems and considering whether or not to end their marriage for example could live for years in a limbo before actually taking the steps needed.

As Hannibal_Smith above said, it is a case by case basis. Autolocking threads isn't a feature available at the moment. And I don't think it's something we would be interested in using if it was. If a poster posts in a very old thread and the issue is likely to be resolved, or no longer relevant then it will be locked. Sometimes we also delete the latest post, so that the thread drops back to where it originally was rather than sitting on top of the forum, locked. But sometimes advice coming in after 2-3 months, might actually be helpful.

Dial Hard

I think the charter could do with an update to frame some rules around what kind of advice is acceptable in marriage break-up scenarios. Since threads started being indexed to the front page we're seeing a lot more of a certain type of poster and the "advice" they give can often be incredibly problematic. There's someone in the "My wife is cheating" thread currently advising courses of action that are highly likely to be illegal. And yes, I've reported them, before anyone asks, but I really think this kind of stuff needs to be explicitly called out in the charter - no gendered nonsense, no advising people to act like a dick, etc.

Big Bag of Chips

Thanks Dial Hard. The charter could probably do with a look at and an update. It's been a while. Advising illegal activity is already covered in it, as is generalisations etc.

It might be worth looking at and tidying up. If it's too long nobody will read it (although I doubt too many read it anyway!) But if we shorten it and try streamline it you have posters chancing it asking where it says such-a-such in the charter.

Will see if we can do something with it.