Closed Threads

Millie

Can I ask why it is such a terrible thing on here to resurrect old threads.

The Thread "Letter from Social Welfare" for example.
Yes, it's a year old and someone updated it yesterday but so what.
The last person to write in that thread was only helping and explaining what the social welfare meetings were about.
And then the thread is closed...why??

Jambo221

Necro-bumping is frowned upon in general on forums, basically because any information already posted is probably out of date and will most likely end up being quoted causing unnecessary confusion.

It is somewhat irritating to see threads get closed over that, but then it is in the rules of the forum.

Hope that clears a bit up before this is closed for being unrelated to the Limerick board :P

Stab*City

ya the limerick city homepage is starting to resemble the limerick city centre everything is closed!!

phill106

It does seem a tad excessive sometimes, but it is odd that so many zombie threads were resurrected yesterday!

Itsdacraic

A bit more discretion could be used to determine if a so-called zombie thread has merit in being kept open or not. The idea of a blanket ban is just a bit lazy. Thread gets bumped, lock it, instead of talking a minute or two to see the way the thread is heading or if bumping the thread was releveant. Bumping something like the John Dundon thread was worthwhile because the latest news story brought closure to a few of the issues raised in the earlier thread. Why open a new thread where the same points that had already been discussed the previous thread will have to be rehashed again.

Bumping an old thread also allows newer posters to follow what has gone previously.

talkingclock

ah come on! we all know where we are posting and who is watching. what do you expect??

xsiborg

talkingclock wrote: »

ah come on! we all know where we are posting and who is watching. what do you expect??

dey tuk closed ur our jawbs threads...

Millie

Itsdacraic wrote: »

A bit more discretion could be used to determine if a so-called zombie thread has merit in being kept open or not. The idea of a blanket ban is just a bit lazy. Thread gets bumped, lock it, instead of talking a minute or two to see the way the thread is heading or if bumping the thread was releveant. Bumping something like the John Dundon thread was worthwhile because the latest news story brought closure to a few of the issues raised in the earlier thread. Why open a new thread where the same points that had already been discussed the previous thread will have to be rehashed again.

Bumping an old thread also allows newer posters to follow what has gone previously.

Agree with this.

Captain Average

I was guilty of bumping the Guinness thread, but I thought I was doing the right thing as a noob and that was a better thing to do rather than start a new thread on something already discussed. I wanted a fresher opinion on the subject.

Raiser

Not all threads date badly.

Certain elements by their nature remain constants.

- Sometimes its not the best option to create a new thread.

Discretion is most certainly required in my opinion.

RonMexico

Are ye unhappy with the modding here so lads? If so I believe it should be raised in feedback.

dermothickey

I'd say there's probably an element of fear, plus people don't want to offend any mods by complaining, yet I agree with the posters here in regard to certain threads just being locked while people are starting to discuss again.

Insect Overlord

Itsdacraic wrote: »

The idea of a blanket ban is just a bit lazy.

Nail on head. The mods of this forum appear to have little or no interest in it. They do a good job over-seeing the whole of the Mid-West category, but appear to have no particular grá for the Limerick City Forum. A more enthusiastic forum care-taker could dramatically improve this discussion-board, rather than a strict disciplinarian.

Itsdacraic

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Nail on head. The mods of this forum appear to have little or no interest in it. They do a good job over-seeing the whole of the Mid-West category, but appear to have no particular grá for the Limerick City Forum. A more enthusiastic forum care-taker could dramatically improve this discussion-board, rather than a strict disciplinarian.

Thanks for the recommendation I_O but unfortunately I have no interest in becoming chief moderator of the Limerick forum.

Insect Overlord

Itsdacraic wrote: »

Thanks for the recommendation I_O but unfortunately I have no interest in becoming chief moderator of the Limerick forum.

I'd never make a recommendation like that!

Millie

I didn't start the thread as a finger pointing exercise and fair play to anyone who takes on the role of Mod.
However like the thread of this morning I didn't see the harm with it being added to and the reasoning behind locking it.

Aidric

RonMexico wrote: »

I believe it should be raised in feedback.

I raised the issue of closing old threads on Feedback. My gripe was that there was no real need to close this and this for example. No response was given from the mod and the practice seems to have continued.

talkingclock

Oh wait until our favourite mod wakes up! Questioning decisions of god a mod here results in a ban.

Humbly awaiting my infraction...

Insect Overlord

Aidric wrote: »

I raised the issue of closing old threads on Feedback. My gripe was that there was no real need to close this and this for example. No response was given from the mod and the practice seems to have continued.

Just to let you know, the best way to query something is to send a friendly PM to the moderator in question. The Feedback Forum is a bit messy. There's no guarantee the mod will look at it, and the responses given by other posters can drag it way off-topic.

talkingclock wrote: »

Oh wait until our favourite mod wakes up! Questioning decisions of god a mod here results in a ban.

Humbly awaiting my infraction...

As far as I am aware, you should only be given a red/yellow card for questioning a mod's decision if you do it in the same thread. It drags the thread even further off its topic (and increases the chances of the topic being locked ) Offering genuine, constructive feedback is much more effective than making sarcastic, personalised comments about a moderator...

Raiser

talkingclock wrote: »

Oh wait until our favourite mod wakes up! Questioning decisions of god a mod here results in a ban.

Humbly awaiting my infraction...

Where did you go to when you left Limerick/Ireland anyhow TalkingClock?

Mods before you infract him please let us know where his IP Address has him located, the curiosity is killing me......

- I just rang your number but all I got was a recorded message?

At the signal, it will be 17:30 and 50 Seconds.......

Aidric

Insect Overlord wrote: »

Just to let you know, the best way to query something is to send a friendly PM to the moderator in question. The Feedback Forum is a bit messy. There's no guarantee the mod will look at it, and the responses given by other posters can drag it way off-topic.

Insect, I'm well aware of how thing's work thanks. My posts were very much in context as the title of that feedback thread was 'closing old threads'.

billy the squid

you treat all threads the same you are accused of excess, you treat some threads differently you are accused of double standards.

damned if you do, damned if you don't

by the way, the life expectency of this thread is going to be quite short. so get your post in while the thread is still warm.

closing at 1840 hrs.

Insect Overlord

billy the squid wrote: »

you treat all threads the same you are accused of excess, you treat some threads differently you are accused of double standards.

...so get your post in while the thread is still warm.

My final comment on this:

In my opinion, there are times when common sense should prevail. If there are elements of an existing thread that are still relevant, then using it for continued discussion shouldn't be a problem.

I'd never use the term "zombie thread" for anything less than a year old. Threads from January to March of this year have been closed for being "zombie threads" when they were no such thing.

If a thread is being locked for legal reasons/trolling/going off-topic then say so. Same applies if the OP requests that it's closed. Don't just throw down "Zombie-thread" as a catch-all excuse for closing threads, especially when there is another valid reason.

Another issue: threads with less than 30-40 posts and are closed for trolling or going off-topic. These can usually be fixed up with a little bit of pruning. It's not exactly a huge task to delete bad posts. Another option is to split posts off to a new thread. That way both topics can be discussed and nobody cries about the whole discussion being killed off. It also shows that the mods have a genuine interest in the forum, in more than an enforcer role.

zuroph

The books thread for example, they were asking for local information about where would take books in bulk, they werent trying to sell them on boards. The lock and repoint to adverts.ie was wrong as its info they're looking for.

Icky Thump

the "best place for a pint of guiness" thread was needlessly closed. i somehow think common sense is a bit rare these days(not talking about the mods btw)

billy maybe a little more thought before shutting some old threads. just think would it be wise to keep an old thread or let someone start a new thread on the exact same thing..........................

Raiser

zuroph wrote: »

The books thread for example, they were asking for local information about where would take books in bulk, they werent trying to sell them on boards. The lock and repoint to adverts.ie was wrong as its info they're looking for.

I was surprised to see the Books thread being closed too?

Itsdacraic

billy the squid wrote: »

you treat all threads the same you are accused of excess, you treat some threads differently you are accused of double standards.

damned if you do, damned if you don't

by the way, the life expectency of this thread is going to be quite short. so get your post in while the thread is still warm.

closing at 1840 hrs.

:rolleyes:


:cool:

billy the squid

zuroph wrote: »

The books thread for example, they were asking for local information about where would take books in bulk, they werent trying to sell them on boards. The lock and repoint to adverts.ie was wrong as its info they're looking for.

I will revisit the books thread in that case.

Kess73

Raiser wrote: »

I was surprised to see the Books thread being closed too?

I think that was in error, as the poster was trying to give the books to a charity not sell them, but could have been seen as selling if read quickly





EDIT: Just saw that there was a reply on the book thread at the same time I made my post

talkingclock

Raiser wrote: »

Where did you go to when you left Limerick/Ireland anyhow TalkingClock?

Take a guess! 1191 - The number you haveve dialed is not in service.

bullets

Have seen cases where old threads have been updated with new information
on the same topic and have been closed because they are Zombie threads
with comments along the lines of Start a new Thread.

That did not make sense to me, Fair enough if its old information
thats not relevant, but if its still on topic and people are still interested in
discussing the subject I dont see what the problem is.

Starting a new separate thread means the old thread with new information gets locked and bumped to the front as someone replied to it, either with good intention or due to lack of awareness that it was old and frowned upon.
And then theres brand spanking new thread thats just ahead of the old one.

I dont understand how starting an additional separate thread on the same subject helps things.

~B

krudler

Case in point, how many dentist threads have been opened and closed on here now? I posted in once ages back where the last post before mine was less than 2 months old, it was locked, I opened another thread that was directly above it. Yes if i opened another thread on something thats already been discussed it'd be closed as well. "zombie thread" is something thats been finished and someone randomly posts something in it months and months later. a topic that has new info or merit and being discussed in the original thread shouldnt need a new one, it just screams of overzealous modding.

AnCapaillMor

Ok what the hell 2 more again today, i was actually interested to hear that there was an arsenal supporters club in limk, never seen it before, renewed to let people know there is one. If the thread was 40+ posts i'd understand a closing. Same with the apple shop one.

Jofspring

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Ok what the hell 2 more again today, i was actually interested to hear that there was an arsenal supporters club in limk, never seen it before, renewed to let people know there is one. If the thread was 40+ posts i'd understand a closing. Same with the apple shop one.

I don't understand it either. Surely using old threads that are still on topic is better than having loads of opened threads on the same thing. The topic was Apple Shop in Limerick and my query was to do with the Apple shop/Apple seller in Limerick. No reason to be closing genuine threads.

vkid

Its a joke really. Use a LOT of message boards and this is the only one that does this.

This place and the Limerickblogger seem to have dumb moderation imo.

campo

glad this thread was open was thinking of starting it myself but was afraid of the ban hammer but I think the conversation should be kept constructive very easy to gang up on a mod

Jambo221

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

Ok what the hell 2 more again today, i was actually interested to hear that there was an arsenal supporters club in limk, never seen it before, renewed to let people know there is one. If the thread was 40+ posts i'd understand a closing. Same with the apple shop one.

To be fair, the Arsenal thread had 3 posts, all by the OP, it wasn't a necro-bump issue and the closing was justified IMO. I know he was only letting people know there is one, but it belongs in the Sports forum and you can hardly have notices like that clogging the board.

vkid wrote: »

Its a joke really. Use a LOT of message boards and this is the only one that does this.

This place and the Limerickblogger seem to have dumb moderation imo.

I haven't been on a forum that hasn't enforced this rule, in a way it's kind of a brown M&M thing, if you ignore such a simple rule, you probably haven't even read them and you're probably going to end up breaking a bigger one down the line.

Not having the rule there would cause more problems than benefits, so while it may seem unfair to some, I doubt it's going to change.

Limerick_Lass

How come this one hasnt been closed

RonMexico

Limerick_Lass wrote: »

How come this one hasnt been closed

He's making a list, he's checking it twice, Billy The Squid is going to find out who's naughty or nice...:D

grenache

With regard to the Limerick City forum in particular, thread closures are merely another way for mods to throw their weight around. Just like a bouncer who gives you the ''sorry not tonight'' line for no good reason, the mods give us the ''thread locked'' post.

vkid

Jambo221 wrote: »

To be fair, the Arsenal thread had 3 posts, all by the OP, it wasn't a necro-bump issue and the closing was justified IMO. I know he was only letting people know there is one, but it belongs in the Sports forum and you can hardly have notices like that clogging the board.

I haven't been on a forum that hasn't enforced this rule, in a way it's kind of a brown M&M thing, if you ignore such a simple rule, you probably haven't even read them and you're probably going to end up breaking a bigger one down the line.

Not having the rule there would cause more problems than benefits, so while it may seem unfair to some, I doubt it's going to change.

Personally havent seen that in any other forum. Kind of makes the search function a slightly stupid option.Search for something, ask a question/make a comment on a resulting thread, gets shut down.

Jofspring

vkid wrote: »

Personally havent seen that in any other forum. Kind of makes the search function a slightly stupid option.Search for something, ask a question/make a comment on a resulting thread, gets shut down.

Ya i have never seen this on any other Forums either. If this is the case then all threads unactive for a certain length of time should automatically be locked so no one can comment on them if thats what Boards.ie wants.

Raiser

Jofspring wrote: »

Ya i have never seen this on any other Forums either. If this is the case then all threads unactive for a certain length of time should automatically be locked so no one can comment on them if thats what Boards.ie wants.

I honestly don't think this is the norm across Boards.ie.

- I also honestly and truly believe that the best and most judiciously moderated Fora on Boards are moderated by Mods who take an active interest in and regularly post their own personal contributions, thoughts, feeling, opinions or additions to that particular Forum.

I'd also mention that usually new Mods are introduced to a chorus of welcomes, introductions and lets get settled - Didn't see that this time around either - was incidentally pointed out a little bit down the line.......

Insect Overlord

vkid wrote: »

Personally havent seen that in any other forum. Kind of makes the search function a slightly stupid option.Search for something, ask a question/make a comment on a resulting thread, gets shut down.

Jofspring wrote: »

Ya i have never seen this on any other Forums either.

It's pretty commonplace in most good forums. Maybe you just haven't been using the right ones!

Seriously though, the search function can be useful. It's great for finding out if your question has already been asked before. Common sense should be used when it comes to deciding between bumping an old thread or starting a new one.

If a thread has no new posts for 9 months or a year, it's a safe enough bet that the conversation is dead and a new one should be started instead.

Jofspring

Insect Overlord wrote: »

It's pretty commonplace in most good forums. Maybe you just haven't been using the right ones!

Seriously though, the search function can be useful. It's great for finding out if your question has already been asked before. Common sense should be used when it comes to deciding between bumping an old thread or starting a new one.

If a thread has no new posts for 9 months or a year, it's a safe enough bet that the conversation is dead and a new one should be started instead.

Then i think all threads that are not active for a certain length of time should just be closed so people cannot comment on them and bump it up.

vkid

Insect Overlord wrote: »

It's pretty commonplace in most good forums. Maybe you just haven't been using the right ones!

Seriously though, the search function can be useful. It's great for finding out if your question has already been asked before. Common sense should be used when it comes to deciding between bumping an old thread or starting a new one.

If a thread has no new posts for 9 months or a year, it's a safe enough bet that the conversation is dead and a new one should be started instead.

Not trying to be difficult but if a thread is relevant to your question, its relevant regardless of timespan. Its a ridiculous rule imo. Just because the thread has no posts for a year, 2 years does not mean a new post on that thread is any less valid if its related to the topic in question. The Apple Store one for example.

Jambo221

vkid wrote: »

Not trying to be difficult but if a thread is relevant to your question, its relevant regardless of timespan. Its a ridiculous rule imo. Just because the thread has no posts for a year, 2 years does not mean a new post on that thread is any less valid if its related to the topic in question. The Apple Store one for example.

The Apple Store thread was resurrected to ask a question which was unrelated to the actual thread topic, I suppose it's nitpicking, but the Apple store thread was started to ask if there was an Apple store in Limerick and the question was if a specific store was stocking a product. In my view, it would've made more sense to start a new thread.

Insect Overlord

vkid wrote: »

Not trying to be difficult but if a thread is relevant to your question, its relevant regardless of timespan. Its a ridiculous rule imo. Just because the thread has no posts for a year, 2 years does not mean a new post on that thread is any less valid if its related to the topic in question. The Apple Store one for example.

A fair point. You've pretty much answered Jofspring's question there, actually.

Jofspring wrote: »

Then i think all threads that are not active for a certain length of time should just be closed so people cannot comment on them and bump it up.

If all threads were auto-locked, it would lead to some really useful stuff being lost.

The problem is so bad right now because there is a blanket-ban on all old threads, and it's being applied too strictly.

Bumping old threads is usually banned because, most often, the people who posted in that thread before are no longer around to reply when they're quoted. Also, there's a very good chance the information in old threads is out of date.

Ideally, each thread should be judged on its own merits. Locking should be a last resort, in my opinion. Different mods have different styles though.

I think the snide remarks and jokes at billy at the squid's expense are unfair though. Questioning a mod's decisions is usually grounds for a ban. So is bullying. I think it's a shame some people are forgetting that.

billy the squid

If more people read the charter before posting then moderator intervention wouldn't be required so often.

this thread has run long enough.

closed.