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What you say is true. Keep in mind that once a post is responded to, it automatically moves to the top of the list, regardless of how long ago it originated, giving it the appearance of being a new post. As crankiebabie mentioned, if you don't check the date when the first post was written, you may be tempted to reply in the belief that it's a recent thread. I've responded to several old posts myself because of that reason. In fact, I've even seen threads that were created over a year ago, then eventually responses stopped, then one person posts a reply unaware that it's an old thread, then a whole string of new responses follows ; it's actually somewhat comical. You might see the first post dated Jan. 2004, then a string of responses ending Feb. 2004, then the next response is dated Nov. 2005 and several others follow on up to the present date. It's pretty funny once you see it.
Actually it appears that a certain poster by the name of 'mallardmaniac' was bumping old threads for a while for no good reason. It appears that the posts have been removed and the user has been removed as well.
That id was probably up to no good, but I don't mind answering old posts as I find them. I think that there are so many questions on here that not only help the person asking it, but many other readers as well. It's nice if the original poster happens to read it, but not necessary .... because good advice, anyone can benefit from!
Also some people on the internet are very nervous about starting new threads, especially 'newbies'.
Hi,
This same subject has been brought up before, to the Administration. Maybe sometime, they will limit replies to posts older than 2 months maybe, with a pop-up saying something like "Post too old; cannot answer".
Most of us have done the same thing; answering posts from a yr ago, not looking at the original posted date by the ID name......been there, done that, too!
It's really a waste of time, and when one clicks on New Posts near the top, there are now 6 or 7 pages of stuff that include stuff from a yr ago!!
Hey, Administration; help us out. Change something to make it impossible in answering old posts!
y r there a lot of old posts being replied to?
most likely the ppl who originally posted them arent looking at them....
I have brought this subject up a couple of times. I believe that posts should be closed (not deleted) after a period of time (3-6 months). Post with no answers should be deleted after a period of time (6 months or more).
It wastes time when someone inadvertantly revives an old thread because they didn't check the dates.
We can look at it from 2 perspectives. What are the goals of the forum?
Is it to answer an individual's needs? We would think so by the title of the forum "ask me help desk". Or do we also address concerns that are universal that many can relate to?
How do most of us find this site? When we go into google search on a topic and find the question/answer to the topic we are trying to find out about. Is there such a thing as an answer too old? Maybe in technology or some other advancements like medical issues - but for the most part, we can learn A LOT from HISTORY, and expand upon it. That is what the world has been doing for centuries.
Maybe a good compromise is to leave historical posts like Fred said, but not be able to add to it with a pop up stating start a new thread. However, my personal preference has always been information in one place, and not having to read 6 different threads about the same thing whilst doing a search.
Yes, I think we will implement a pop up warning based upon the date of the initial post. Perhaps have a pop up if the originating post is older than 4 months - how does that sound?
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