Bumping "dead" threads.

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Chrissie777
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Chrissie777 »

walter raleigh wrote:Besides most of us here are so senile we probably won't even notice they're years old, and just treat them as new ones anyway. :roll:
:wink:
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Jack400 »

I have just answered a question (about garden waste composting) on "Yahoo Answers"- only to realise that it was asked 6 years ago! Strange to think that it was brought to the fore by Yahoo. I also agree with previous posts that it is interesting to hear new views and information about "old" topics.
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Courtenay »

Jack400 wrote:I have just answered a question (about garden waste composting) on "Yahoo Answers"- only to realise that it was asked 6 years ago!
It should be well composted by now, then! :wink:

There are other kinds of forums that are far more prone to bringing old threads to the fore than our forum software here does. On another forum I used to be part of (which has since closed down), when viewing a thread, there was always a sidebar to the right of the page with a list of "More Like This" suggestions - links to other threads that (at least according to the software's judgment) were on similar topics. These could be currently active threads or ones that hadn't seen any posts for years. Sometimes newcomers (or even not-so-new ones) would click their way into an old and inactive thread that way, and, without noticing the dates on the posts, would address an reply to whoever started the thread - not realising that that contributor, in some cases, hadn't been heard from for years! :roll: :lol:

But on this forum, I don't think there's any way of getting to old threads unless you go back through the chronological listing or do a search for particular words or topics, so there's less chance of someone unknowingly bringing up an old thread and assuming it's a current one.

I agree it's good to revive inactive threads if you have something new to say on the subject - better than having several threads on much the same topic, which just gets confusing! :D It's only really a faux pas if you expect the conversation to continue from exactly where it last was, when the people who started it may no longer be there.
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Fiona1986 »

It is strange but some forums really do have incredibly strict "dead thread" rules. I used to post regularly on the Farmville Forums and their mods would get you into trouble if you posted on anything that hadn't had a post in two weeks. Instead you had to post a new thread for it which made their forums hell to navigate as there were a million and one duplicated threads.
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Jack400 »

Courtenay wrote:It should be well composted by now, then! :wink:

I imagine so, somehow I doubt I'll get "best answer" from someone who probably is no longer a novice.


I've tidied up the "quote" for you, Jack.

If you click on the "quote" button at the top of any post which contains a quotation, you can see how quotes work. You need:

(quote="username of person you're quoting")Words you want to quote(/quote)

But square brackets [ ] should be used - not curved ones. I've used curved ones because otherwise my explanation would come out as a quotation.

Hope that helps! It took me a long time to work out how to quote posts when I joined the forums. Anita
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Jack400 »

Ah, Anita- many thanks this may (with some thought, explain how ) sometimes the "quote" works and sometimes it doesn't...
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Last edited by Jack400 on 28 Dec 2014, 00:19, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

:lol: It takes me ages to work out how to do something, and then the next time I come to do it I often find I've forgotten again! :oops:
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Jack400 »

I feel relieved - not just me then. But when I learn something here it actually helps at work not just online as well.
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Chrissie777 »

Courtenay wrote: Sometimes newcomers (or even not-so-new ones) would click their way into an old and inactive thread that way, and, without noticing the dates on the posts, would address an reply to whoever started the thread - not realising that that contributor, in some cases, hadn't been heard from for years! :roll: :lol:
I think as long as the old poster has not changed her/his e-mail address, she/he will still get notified about the new reply.
Often I receive answers to 5 or 8 years old questions that I had on the http://www.imdb.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; message board about movies. I always thank those new posters for answering even though I often found out the answer in the meantime.
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Chrissie777 »

MJE wrote: I entirely agree with the idea that, if you have something to add to a topic an old thread exists about, you should be free to resurrect it.
I have often wondered why this is disapproved of in some places - never understood it. As a matter of curiosity, does anyone know what the reasoning is behind this stance, and might there be good reasons for such a policy?
Well, I found a few old threads soon after I had joined EBS in 2012 and couldn't resist posting. Some EBS members made me aware that some of the member hadn't posted in more than a year, but I didn't care. Chances are that another thread forumite reads my post and has something to contribute to that long forgotten thread, too.
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Jack400 »

Sounds like a well intensioned reply to a well intensioned answer to me.Quote how old it is. If it is well intended I frankly don't care.
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Last edited by Jack400 on 28 Dec 2014, 00:41, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Jack400 wrote:I feel relieved - not just me then. But when I learn something here it actually helps at work not just online as well.
Coming on these forums has given me an education in technology (though I'm very slow at taking in information on that!), Agatha Christie, music, films, tea, herbs and all kinds of things! :lol: Oh - and the life and works of Enid Blyton, of course! :wink:

Like others, I wonder why some forums discourage or even forbid the revival of old threads. As long as the person reviving the thread has something to add to the previous discussion, you'd think their interest in the topic would be welcomed.
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Chrissie777 »

Anita Bensoussane wrote::lol: It takes me ages to work out how to do something, and then the next time I come to do it I often find I've forgotten again! :oops:
Sooo glad I'm not the only one :). :oops:
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by Jack400 »

So am I , Chrissie- but, after a bunch of 12 Hour days I'm rather reluctant to post-- unless I'm lacking (more than usual) to join in.
Fortunately this site is pretty tolerant of tiredness errors...
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Re: Bumping "dead" threads.

Post by MJE »

Jack400 wrote:I have just answered a question (about garden waste composting) on "Yahoo Answers"- only to realise that it was asked 6 years ago!
     I once answered a question which was on an old thread here, and the post itself one of the very oldest posts, because I mistakenly believed (without really checking the details) that it had just been asked.

Regards, Michael.
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