Necroposting - Should there be a limit?

[SBaby 660]

Let's face it. As the fanbase gets bigger, the forums are getting bigger. There are alot of topics. And I'm seeing more and more topics being locked or referred to/merged with topics that are months and months old with the users being asked to search for duplicate topics.

 

I guess my question is this. With the site inevitably approaching the next membership threshhold (and by extention, more topics being added every day), should a five month old topic be bumped to the front of a forum if it's several pages back due to inactivity, or should there be a cutoff period for really old topics (like say, two months or so)?

 

What does everyone think?

Edited June 4, 2012 by SBaby

[NavelColt 22,881]

I've never been a fan of telling people they can't bump old topics, because it's just telling people how to post, and limiting discussion, basically. I never really pay attention to the dates of topics, because I go by titles and if it interests me or not. That's my personal view.

Edited June 4, 2012 by ~Chaotic Discord~

[Shankveld 4,949]

The search engine is crap for finding topics o.o

I will search a common key word (trying to find a certain thread)

and get all these unrelated thread.

 

I think improving the search engine would help.

~

[ScottishUnicorn 284]

I don't think it should be much of an issue unless you bring up a topic that is irrelevant now.

[NavelColt 22,881]

I don't think it should be much of an issue unless you bring up a topic that is irrelevant now.

 

Yes. This. I forgot to mention anything along those lines.

 

In my opinion, general discussion topics, i.e 'your favorite pony' types of topics that are more or less ageless because of it being a broad question, should never be cut off because of age, IMO, unless it get's to a point where dozens of new characters in the show are introduced, and a new topic would be needed. Specific topics like news however, or things that aren't ageless, don't need to be kept around, waiting to be bumped.

 

So in my mind going by date is ineffective and just causes good topics to be locked in the end. Go by type of a topic, not date.

[Apple Bloom 2,933]

This question has already been resolved by Feld0 here.

 

There is no reason not to revive an old thread. It is almost always preferable to creating a new, duplicate thread, because the thread's older content will then become a bit more prominent and likely be seen again, whereas creating a duplicate thread just creates clutter.

 

Just make sure that if you're reviving it, you have something to say. We had a ton of new members, for instance, posting useless nonsense on Canterlot Castle threads from months ago, which resulted in our locking all of the older ones.

[Killian Jones 2,655]

Well, you can necropost all you like, as long as it adds to the discussion and the topic at hand is still relevant. The idea is to preserve old discussions as they may still bring up valid points. It really truly depends on the topic. There are many general threads which you can bring up again and again. It is in fact encouraged to do so instead of making a new topic.

 

 

The search engine is crap for finding topics o.o

I will search a common key word (trying to find a certain thread)

and get all these unrelated thread.

 

I think improving the search engine would help.

~

 

The search engine is a collaborative effort. People should tag topics well and give them good titles. Secondly, it's a search engine not a wizard, sometimes using the wrong keywords or phrases may cause it to go loopy. If there are specific problems with it, where it is neglecting search result or favouring weird ones, feel free make a feedback topic on it, any input can help improve it at any rate.

[Shankveld 4,949]

The search engine is a collaborative effort. People should tag topics well and give them good titles. Secondly, it's a search engine not a wizard, sometimes using the wrong keywords or phrases may cause it to go loopy. If there are specific problems with it, where it is neglecting search result or favouring weird ones, feel free make a feedback topic on it, any input can help improve it at any rate.

 

I've run into this issue a lot, allow my to attach an image of me looking for my own thread announcing my engagement. Which is properly titled etc.

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,527]

The search engine is crap for finding topics o.o

I will search a common key word (trying to find a certain thread)

and get all these unrelated thread.

 

I think improving the search engine would help.

~

 

I installed a brand new search engine a few weeks ago. I've never had any trouble finding things since I got that set up, and a lot of members have reported that it works great. The key is to search using keywords, not natural language phrases. It isn't as smart as Google, you know.

[Shankveld 4,949]

extra note, my engagement thread was nowhere on the first page ~

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,527]

I've run into this issue a lot, allow my to attach an image of me looking for my own thread announcing my engagement. Which is properly titled etc.

 

The search engine will search topic titles and content by default (to modify this behaviour, use the advanced search by clicking the gear beside the search bar). The word "engaged" alone is extremely generic and is mentioned all over the place. I'm not surprised that you got 4 pages of results you weren't looking for. Give the engine a little more to chew on.

 

For instance, I had no trouble finding your topic by adding your name to my query:

 

[Shankveld 4,949]

The search engine will search topic titles and content by default (to modify this behaviour, use the advanced search by clicking the gear beside the search bar). The word "engaged" alone is extremely generic and is mentioned all over the place. Give the engine a little more to chew on.

 

For instance, I had no trouble finding your topic by adding your name to my query:

 

 

True enough

sometimes I don't remember the name of the poster ~

[Twilight Sparkle ✨ 8,527]

True enough

sometimes I don't remember the name of the poster ~

 

Other keywords can work, too. The name of the poster isn't the only hint you can give it. I actually got even better results by searching "engaged boyfriend".

 

My point is, the search engine works (and it works even better if you use the advanced search form); and if it's effective for our moderating needs, it should be effective for your content seekout needs as well. Really, we'd be looking for the same thing - an existing topic about something. Just don't expect magical results from a one-word query, and keep in mind that the results are not personalized.

 

To answer the OP's question, it is preferable for both organization and SEO to limit a discussion topic to a single forum thread, no matter what length of time passes between two posts in it. It wouldn't be very helpful to anyone if we had 10 separate "Who's best pony?" threads running. Not only does it keep all of the content for a topic in one place, but it also gives the older content a chance to shine again when it is bumped back to the front page. The search engine isn't biased towards dates, so it won't be any more difficult to find an old topic than a relatively new one if you try looking for it.

[OhMyGodPancakes 32]

People should check if similar topics exist before crating one.

[Nah 3,182]

If you want to start a new thread similar to an older one, use tags. People will find it easier, actually use it for starting new threads period, put appropriate tagwords in it (no unrelated words, like YouTube, and most other websites)

 

Now months later, somebody wants to bring up a topic that was brought up months back, when you search, you'll find better results with tags.

[Ezynell 2,037]

The search engine is crap for finding topics o.o

I will search a common key word (trying to find a certain thread)

and get all these unrelated thread.

 

I think improving the search engine would help.

~

 

Also, google helps

[FedoraMemes 582]

extra note, my engagement thread was nowhere on the first page ~

 

It's on the first post on 'most brohoofed content' (can't remember how far down mine is but it's there).

 

I have no problem with necro posting, as long as it continues the discussion, and is relevant to the topic.

[Tom 891]

Necroposting is fine in my opinion, as long as the post is relevant to the topic.

And in terms of the search engine, tags would be very helpful. I just checked Sugercube Corner, and more than half of the topics on the first page don't have any tags.

So it maybe we should try and encourage people to tag their topics.