Locking Older Threads That Come Up

Beezer

Beezer

Well-known Member
On my other forum, old ghost threads that resurface are locked by the moderators. In many cases the participants in the thread are no longer around. I think it's kind of a good idea as many of our thoughts change over time...don't want to be pigeon holed for something you said years ago.

The topic can arise again, with a different take from different members.
 

One now defunct site I was a member of would periodically delete threads that were years old. Not sure how old, though maybe 4 years old.
This had the advantage of speeding up the site as well.
Sometimes when I am on a music thread site here, loading a page ca take up to a minute.
Let's face it, some threads have been around for years, with many thousands of posts.
Must take a lot of storage to accommodate all those posts.
 

On the Just repeating what I said earlier thread, Holly said:
"I've been here almost 13 years.. and I still don't mind giving help or advice to newbies... What I do mind is the same questions being asked over and over again..I wish people would do a search first to see if there's an existing thread on the topic before starting a new one.. and see if it's still relevant."
How does that sit with the sentiment of this thread? For what it's worth I agree with Holly, why start a new thread when the topic has not only been covered but still exists?
 
Bretrick said:
One now defunct site I was a member of would periodically delete threads that were years old. Not sure how old, though maybe 4 years old.
This had the advantage of speeding up the site as well.
Sometimes when I am on a music thread site here, loading a page ca take up to a minute.
Let's face it, some threads have been around for years, with many thousands of posts.
Must take a lot of storage to accommodate all those posts.
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That one .Mentioning no Bees.
I have loads of old threads here and on that other non-seniors place.
if someone wants to revive an old thread of mine please do so.
I rarely start one these days.
 
The Mods tend to do this on the horse forum I belong to, but they sometimes lock them too soon, especially those that have pertinent health information.

There was one the other day that was only 11 months old. A forum member (not even a mod) pointed that out, doubting its relevance. I commented it did have relevance, because I happened to have my own update.

Some older threads need saved but if toothbrushes are the topic, it’s delete-worthy.
 
Beezer said:
I'm usually disappointed when I see a thread arise from years ago...but that's just me.
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It's not just you, Beez. A few from 12-13 years ago have been coming up. I don't know know most of the posters in those, and that's fine, but a week or so ago, a very old one came up and both Gaer and Ken had posted in it. Brought some tears.

When it comes to searching for the topic... well, if I search and the same question was asked a decade ago, I hope I'd be okay asking it again. Sure hope I wouldn't be scolded for something like that. What's annoying is the same question being asked soon after everyone's already answered it. And that's been happening lately, too... don't like that, but I've kept quiet about it. 'Nuff said.
 
Beezer said:
On my other forum, old ghost threads that resurface are locked by the moderators. In many cases the participants in the thread are no longer around. I think it's kind of a good idea as many of our thoughts change over time...don't want to be pigeon holed for something you said years ago.

The topic can arise again, with a different take from different members.
Click to expand...

Depends. I am active on one other forum, on it we discuss music. It can be a real pain to find out a thread has occurred on a given release, but has now been locked due to age. You're faced with duplicating the thread, or getting it unlocked.

Which leads me to moderation. From what I gather, the forum owner is very hands off. They don't want to have a constant need to interject with editing posts or other admin duties. Locking threads takes time. Unlocking them does too. So I think the current hands-off is a feature, not a fault. :)
 
Beezer said:
On my other forum, old ghost threads that resurface are locked by the moderators. In many cases the participants in the thread are no longer around. I think it's kind of a good idea as many of our thoughts change over time...don't want to be pigeon holed for something you said years ago.

The topic can arise again, with a different take from different members.
Click to expand...
I've addressed what I had said in very old threads that I now have a different point of view on. I think it's a good thing, shows we're all human and where we were coming from at the time. Lots of people obviously like to participate in thread which were created long before they joined, good to hear their views and opinions or experiences.
 
If I see a topic pop up that I’m interested in, I usually check the OP for the date it was posted. Sometimes the thread was time sensitive when it was posted , asking for advice about a current personal issue or the like.

Then someone revives it without realizing that their answer is no longer relevant.
 
I don't understand rules enforcement. Some members experience delays in their first post and other limitations on full use of the site, while I have seen posts from other members who joined only minutes before, and some of their posts clearly indicated they were under the age requirement, or were promoting something.
 
MACKTEXAS said:
I don't understand rules enforcement. Some members experience delays in their first post and other limitations on full use of the site, while I have seen posts from other members who joined only minutes before, and some of their posts clearly indicated they were under the age requirement, or were promoting something.
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That has me puzzled also because when I joined, I had my first several post held to be approved before they were posted. Perhaps hackers have figured out a way to join and circumvent the required approval. I have a feeling this forum has several underage members that joined for the sole purpose of pushing their politics and schooling us old folks with their expertise and amazing insight.
 
Deya said:
Perhaps hackers have figured out a way to join and circumvent the required approval.
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That may be, since we've seen times when several bots got access all within a few hours - then rules have to be tightened.
Deya said:
members that joined for the sole purpose of pushing their politics and schooling us old folks with their expertise and amazing insight.
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. . . or promote their book - take a "survey," etc. - all of which is against the rules.
 
If I start to read an old thread and then notice it’s old, usually I skip to the last page. If things are relevant, I keep reading; it’s sad to see the words of members who are no longer with us.
 
It is sort of confusing at times for new members. I would open up Gen Discussion and it begins at the newest date.
Open up some other one and it opens up when it began and I begin reading them, react or comment and find I am on page 1 or 10 or something, then I grunt backout and click the last page highlighted below the topic.
 
Beezer said:
Locking Older Threads That Come Up
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It's a thing on some forums, particularly computer enthusiast forums like the ones I belong to. Called necro-threads, or bumping necro=threads, usually done by brand new forum members. Some forums have a feature that warns that a thread is old:

Screenshot at 2025-09-11 08-31-31.jpg
This particular forum runs on the same software as SF, so theoretically the "old thread" warning could be enabled, if matrix chose to.

I personally like a good necro thread bump, a lot of times I find discussion of interest and still relevant.
 
The really old threads seem to cause confusion … especially ‘breaking news’ type of information from 10 years ago.
 

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