Flagging old threads for new members

[newbury]

Would there be some way to easily flag threads that have not had a response in, say five years?

It seems very often a new member will get on board and revive a thread that has died a long time ago.

Many old threads are valuable but when they are requesting assistance or advice and are 8 years old since the last post there is a high chance the OP either has a solution or left.

 

[Midniteoyl]

There is a way to do this.. Lotta forums will warn that the last post is over, say 180 days, and verify if you want to post there or start a new thread. One forum even says it takes a mod to open the thread back up if really needed.

Of course, then the 'do a search first!' people will get mad..

 

[newbury]

180 days is one thing, I was thinking of over 10 times as long.

And sometimes the newbie seems to put a significant effort into their response to solve a problem 8 years gone.

 

[MikeInEburg]

In some circumstances, reviving an old thread is appropriate. Say, if a member has a problem exactly like what was described in the old thread. They could say " I found this old thread, tried all of the solutions offered here, but no joy. Does anyone have any updated information?" It negates the need for the entire scenario to be rehashed. Just imagine if there was only one "what kind of hydraulic fluid/engine oil/tire chains/tractor/rotary mower?" thread.

 

[/pine]

In most cases the old posts/threads are brought to the surface because someone was searching (Google etc.,etc...) for something...and that information may be as valuable to them today as it was to the OP and subsequent readers/contributors...when it was first posted...

...as often as not these threads get rejuvenated...as for solving or offering advice to an old thread...that usually comes from a noob does not bother reading or scanning through the whole thread...

JMO...

 

[newbury]

That's why I was specifically stating flagging old threads and the instances with newbies reviving them and trying to solve the OP's problem when the last post in the thread was over 5 years ago.

And often the OP has not been around for years. Obviously there is no harm to it. Just more wasted bandwidth and time. But often when I or someone else brings up that it's a zombi thread the newbie goes "whoops".

It is amusing at times, recently a newbie revived an old thread about the discussion of the price of a certain tractor. He got about the same model/yr tractor for a just little less than it sold for about 5 years ago and he was bragging about his bargain.

 

[murphy1244]

I find it entertaining as it never happens to be.

 

[Xfaxman]

Look what happened to this old thread that I revived, more posts now than thirteen years ago! :laughing:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/148-carryalls.html#post3528512

And good info for carryall builders.

 

[J F]

I find it entertaining as it never happens to be.

as it never happens to be...

 

[murphy1244]

as it never happens to be...

Whats wrong Jay? Need me to esplain?