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-   -   Automatically lock threads after 30 days (https://www.wowinterface.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42702)

Phanx 02-26-12 12:45 AM

Automatically lock threads after 30 days
 
I'm pretty tired of having threads popping up on my New Posts list, replying to said threads, and then having someone point out that the thread is actually years old, and was just randomly bumped by some random guy who has about 5 posts to his name.

Okay, it's only happened twice in the last month or so, but it's still annoying. I see something in my New Posts list, and I assume it's new. Also, the post dates are really small, so I can't see them very well on my phone unless I zoom in to nearly infinity, even if I happen to be looking at them.

It seems like threads that aren't posted to in some length of time (eg. 30 days, which is also the default cutoff for displaying threads) should automatically be locked. There's no reason for anyone to post in a thread that's two years old. Nobody who participated in the thread is going to see the new post, and WoW addon/programming information from two years ago is usually inaccurate today.

Alternatively, the search function should not return threads that are more than a certain age by default; if users really want to see ancient threads, they should have to check a box on the advanced search page.

Talyrius 02-26-12 02:04 AM

That would be nice. They can simply link to an old thread if they think it is relevant to a new one. We shouldn't have to wade through old posts.

Cairenn 02-26-12 04:31 AM

I'll discuss it with the rest of the staff. Thanks for the suggestion. :)

p3lim 02-26-12 07:43 AM

30 days might be a little skim though, 3 months or something would fit better.

Dridzt 02-27-12 01:03 PM

I don't think there's a universal cut-off point that makes sense.

There's subjects obviously becoming obsolete rather fast but for example I can point out at least a couple threads (in part because I'm subscribed to them) that are very much relevant after years.

(eg. threads related to the combatlog api changes and uidropdown taint).

Necro-ing irrelevant threads is at worst a minor inconvenience.

Petrah 02-27-12 02:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dridzt (Post 253145)
I don't think there's a universal cut-off point that makes sense.
Necro-ing irrelevant threads is at worst a minor inconvenience.

^ Agreed.




msgtooshort

Phanx 02-27-12 02:33 PM

A post about the combat log changes made a year ago is not relevant today, because Blizzard has made other changes since then that require corresponding changes in all addons using the combat log. If someone is writing an addon that uses the combat log, they should not be starting with documentation about the original combat log API, and then sifting through forum threads about every time Blizzard changed something, adjusting their code differentially as they go. They should just go find current documentation and start with the current API.

A post about something that caused taint a year ago may or may not be relevant today, but the thread doesn't need to be open for posting after a year. If someone needs help coding around the problem, they should start a new thread for their specific code. If someone comes up with a solution to the problem, it's better for them to post a new thread anyway, so the thread can be entitled "Workaround for taint in X" with the solution right at the top, instead of being entitled "X taints Y?!?!?!" with the solution 5 pages in. If Blizzard actually fixes the underlying problem (lol) that's better off as a new thread, too.

The problem with posting new information in really old threads is that the people who were talking about the issue in the old thread are probably not still around anyway, so they won't benefit from the new information, and people coming along after the fact probably don't need all of the old information in the old posts in the thread.


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