Locking old threads

[Mr T]

There has been a trend latley of people posting on threads that have been done for 1-4 years.
Is there such a thing on here to have a thread close for new postings automatically after a set time (like 9-12 months)? The info after that is sometimes out of date and the origional poster may not even be here any more (like MD or XK...anybody remember those people?)

IF they are locked the post could still be read by everybody, and if that person does have a question about it they can always post a new thread. Ive noticed that a few of our resident spmmers tend to target old postings. If it cant auto-lock maybe it could be a responsibility for our moderators (like they do anything anyways... oops did i say that outloud?:flute:) To lock old posts every so often.

Just a idea...

:sheep:

[sloooo]

That's a great idea Mr T. If not, can someone manually lock the post after a few months or so?

[Mr T]

its called the moderators.... :vroam:

[Mr Fixit eh]

I actually like to see people resurrect the old posts. I think it is really neat that people value the information available in those posts enough to read through the old posts. It feels somehow rewarding. If the old posts were disabled, I'd never get that little tingle...

[sloooo]

The only problem I have with an old post Mr It...lol, is that if you come on an old post that someone says the same thing is happening to their unit and it's 3 pages long, now your reading 3 pages to try to figure out what's going on. If it's a new post, you start fresh and can help the person withoput them trying to troubleshoot things that the "read" in an old post.

[Mr Fixit eh]

True. I do understand that it can get cumbersome. On the otherhand, posters often hijack a current thread, and the same problems arise:fisheye:

[dkerr]

I think there are arguments on both sides of this issue.

Even though the original poster is likely long gone when the thread has not been actively posted to for a long period of time, however even if the original poster is gone, added comments may help further visitors with a similiar problem or spur further discusion on the subject.

Yes it would be sometimes desirable to have a new poster's question even if a similiar problem in nature but yet still a new person with a question to have a new thread created.

It is possible to close a thread from further posting but not sure in my view if that is a plus or a minus.

[junkcollector]

Can we vote on it?:smile2::viking:

[Mr T]

Done :birthday:

[Ohm1]

I was going to post this suggestion today.

I guess I'm too late!

Oh well!

[joed]

People with similar questions should ask in a new thread. That way the original poster doesn't get all the new post email, the new questioner does. It's called thread hijacking and most other forums do not tolerate it. They will usually split the thread into two. It can get confusing as to which poster is being responded to.
As for locking I voted 12 months but I don't see that many old posts getting resurrected, so I don't think it is really an issue.

[Bismarck Jack]

I admit, i have resurected some old posts in my short time with the forum. But as long as someone could read the old posts still, then there shouldn't be a need to resurect them. When i was doing this, i was searching by category, and didn't even look at the dates. So, I didn't even realize the thread was old. I am guessing that this is part of the issue. or, maybe it is just difficult to get your point across if you are a rookie and a certain thread has almost all the aspects of your situation with the exception of a couple of details. In that instance, i think it would be a viable reason to pull up an old thread from the dead. But out of fairness to all, i voted 12 months after last post.