I’m going to assume that you said this in respectful deference to my significant level of diligence and efficiency.

OK, maybe not, lol.

This comment is so particularly right and wrong, I need to address it specifically, particularly the accusation against moderation.

It isn’t a written policy at this time. Many older members would remember that the last written policy on this sanctioned members for resurrecting threads after 45 DAYS. I’m quite sure people don’t want to go back to that. But yes, as in many cases, keeping threads open is a matter of moderator discretion, as many edits and decisions that require a judgement call are.

It is also true that a thread might run for years. The factors that play into this are not just date, as I will discuss later.

They are not, however, a choice made by a “poster being on the list.” This accusation about moderators applying rules differently for different people based on being a member of some imaginary list is a clear example of public moderator bashing and is a poor decision. Please don’t make unfounded accusations about staff. If you have a specific beef about something, take it to PM.

 

Many of the questions here are similar, but this post sort of addresses the main concerns regarding old posts.

One of the points people seem to miss is that old, useful information doesnt disappear when the thread is closed. If someone looks up a tech topic in a search, then the old posts will in fact be found and old information can be used. Conversely, when someone addresses a poster, sometimes directly, and that point must have been solved by now or that member hasnt logged on since the Bush administration, then not only will those points be moot, but many members who do look at the date wont click on it anyway.

Another major issue is many of the “tacked on” questions are in fact new questions or something off topic from the OP. Yes, sometimes a general discussion takes different turns, but this is not effective in a post from 10 years ago. Again, members dont know what the “new question” is thats added on or what twist and turn the new post is taking the thread, so they wont open it and find out.

 

And like old Corvette Fever Magazines, if you search and find an old thread you want to read, you can do so whether its closed or not.

Personally, I think a closed, shorter, old thread that still has valuable information is more valuable to members, as opposed to old threads with all sorts of twists and turns and new directions and junk posts, often not helpful.

Any new thread can link a post to an old thread thats useful. They dont go anywhere.

 

No one here is trying to say old threads do not have value. In every case, a moderator tries to determine whether an old thread is worth keeping open.

This is one very valid point about old threads that have been inactive. They really do attract the spammers.

Another issue is the deterioration of photos. All of you that remember the Photobucket mess know what happened to SO many photos on the site. When you look at a thread with not only old information and irrelevant posts, there’s also the graveyard of “Ooops that picture is gone” messages for pics that have dropped or been removed. Some of those threads are a picture mess.

It’s simply not worth any staff members time to clean up and freshen old threads of junk posts. A new thread is always a better idea.

It should also be noted that some old threads go on and on for years because there’s been thousand of hits, recent postings and consistent action. Others, do not.

I recently closed a thread with zero useful contributions since 2015 and when there was an addition to it I chose to tell the member to start a new thread. The upset response I got was that there “was another just like it” where it was of similar age… but that thread had 17 posts from 2023 contributed to it. I think people miss this point sometimes.

 

I’m going to agree that we need a clearer written policy posted to address guidelines on old threads. If people want to debate the particulars of what we come up with, they can very easily address it by PM and we can consider and modify if necessary. But I think this “old thread” argument has become a “team” to take and just argue in general. I know I answer a lot of questions on it.

Until we add and develop a better written policy, I’m going to ask members to please address their comments and concerns to any Moderator or Administrator and I guarantee we will do our best to answer those concerns. Feel free to contact me on anything I’ve posted here.

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