Duplicate Thread Prevention Ideas

[Batbrony 16,051]

Looked up to see whether there was a topic on this already and didn't find one (and I would hope there wasn't or else, considering the subject of this thread, I'd have quite a big of egg on my face  ), but I figured why not start a thread where staff and members can share and exchange ideas on how to best prevent duplicate threads.  It's a minor nitpick, but I figure that, if we can come up with some ideas, we might be able to help the forums run just a little bit more efficiently than they already do, and maybe even save the mods some work.

 

Now, let me start off by saying that I completely understand that there is no silver bullet to preventing this. People are people, and, as big as MLP Forums is at this point, no matter how great the staff is or how well organized the forums are, duplicate threads will always pop up.  I'd also like to mention that the staff always does a great job at merging them with existing threads, or locking them.  My primary concern here is things that the forums might do to, in a passive way, prevent duplicate threads in the first place (especially in Show Discussion and Sugarcube Corner) by encouraging responsible member behavior.

 

The one suggestion that I myself have is to more explicitly recommend to members in certain areas of the forums that they look up duplicate threads before starting new topics.  While this is already mentioned in the "Rules and Etiquette" thread of the forums, and somewhat suggested in the description of certain areas of the forums when you click on them, I figure why not be even more explicit.  For example, between the "Subforums" section on Show Discussion and the regular topic list, there could be, in bold lettering, a short reminder to members to look up duplicate threads before posting a new topic.  That way, the reminder is directly adjacent to the "Start New Topic" button, and members are more likely to be reminded to look up a topic and see if it already exists before posting a new one, as their eyes will be directed to the reminder when they go to the "Start New Topic" button.  Certainly doesn't seem like it'd be that hard to do, and it could at least to a small extent encourage more efficient behavior from members, especially new members.

 

Well, that's my two bits anyway, make of it what you will.  If the mods don't think it's that big of a deal, that's up to them, but I just figured this thread could go at least a little ways to coming up with some good ways to prevent, in a measured manner, duplicate threads, and thereby save the staff some time, at least to a certain extent.  So share your suggestions below ya'll; who knows, maybe we can come up with some good ideas! 

 

 

Oh, and BTW, if this does indeed turn out to be a duplicate thread, then by all means, the first staff member to see this, please lock it and proceed to give me a virtual b**** slap, because that would be just too embarassing indeed! 

 

Edited March 5, 2013 by Batbrony

[NavelColt 22,879]

Duplicate threads are the most commonplace moderator actions done, alongside the character minimum violations, so it's nice to see members making things like this. As for reminders, those are always simple but easily tackable things to bring up, I wouldn't mind throwing some ideas around for how those could specifically be implemented. Dunno how much it would help in the long run, board-wide, but it can't hurt, certainly.

[Creamy Arty 6,252]

That announcement ticker carousel thing is at the top of every page. Would it be difficult to replace it on the thread creation page with a reminder to use our nifty search feature before posting? It could be very eye-catching depending on how it's formatted and because it's out of the ordinary.

 

And because it came to mind I'll go ahead and say that I think interstitial pages would be annoying and intrusive.

[Batbrony 16,051]

And because it came to mind I'll go ahead and say that I think interstitial pages would be annoying and intrusive.

 

Oh yeah, like I said in the OP, these should definitely be as passive and unintrusive ways to encourage members checking for duplicate threads as possible.  An interstitial page, although it probably would be effective, would definitely be going too far, and like you said, just be really annoying.

 

Another idea I just thought of would be posting a reminder to search for duplicate threads in the "New Topic" area itself that pops up when someone clicks on the "Start New Topic" button to create a new thread.  There's plenty of space in that area for a friendly reminder to be placed, and that could also be a nice and effective way to further prevent duplicate threads getting posted.