Responding to old posts

[Angst]

Reference

Moderator Notice
Please do not respond to 5-year-old threads. It is vanishingly unlikely that the original poster has any interest in your answer.

I have also managed to reopen a few years-old threads not realizing they were ancient history.

It would be immensely helpful if the devs could tweak the code for "Similar Threads", at the bottom of the current page, to only show current threads. This would make it vanishingly unlikely that someone would accidentally reopen a geriatric post.

Thanks

[BetterRed]

And/Or make the "This is an old thread message" more obvious, first by moving it to the TOP of the page rather than the BOTTOM where it may not even be visible, and second by making it blink or something.

Search is another way of stumbling into old threads.

BR

[PeterT]

NOOOOOOO BLINKING

[eschwartz]

If it's an old thread, it might deserve blinking.

At least by the Quick Reply box.


Just add some CSS to the alert that is already there...

[FizzyWater]

So, why not create a script to automatically close a thread if the last post was greater than xx days/months/years old?

I have to admit, having seen this come up before, I always thought that quoted comment linked to by the OP was rather abrupt. I would think it's the newer members most likely to post on older threads, and that nasty little green block of chastising text seems....unfriendly at the least.

[BetterRed]

I've also seen forums where an Are You Sure msg pops up when you Submit a post to an old thread - bit like the You Have a PM msg.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

So, why not create a script to automatically close a thread if the last post was greater than xx days/months/years old?

Because there are instances where responding to an old thread is entirely appropriate. It's a matter of judging the situation. If someone is asking for help with a problem, they probably aren't going to be interested in getting an answer years later, but if (for example) there was a post commenting that a particular book wasn't available in ebook form, a subsequent update that the book is now available may well be of interest. All we ask is that people use their judgement as to when posting to an old thread will be beneficial to our community.

[murg]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Because there are instances where responding to an old thread is entirely appropriate. It's a matter of judging the situation. If someone is asking for help with a problem, they probably aren't going to be interested in getting an answer years later, but if (for example) there was a post commenting that a particular book wasn't available in ebook form, a subsequent update that the book is now available may well be of interest. All we ask is that people use their judgement as to when posting to an old thread will be beneficial to our community.

While an answer years later may not help the original questioner, it may help anyone searching for a similar question/answer.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by murg

While an answer years later may not help the original questioner, it may help anyone searching for a similar question/answer.

You must use your judgement and decide if that is the case. We have no hard and fast rule on the matter.

[crich70]

Originally Posted by murg

While an answer years later may not help the original questioner, it may help anyone searching for a similar question/answer.

That's just what I was thinking. I may come across the answer to a current problem while looking at an old thread where that very problem was discussed.