Necro threads

[Tj Shredder]

From time to time we get threads necroed which are years old. Sometimes it makes sense, but often new users reply with their first post and it does not add anything. I would not lock old threads, but would it be possible to add a warning if someone wants to reactivate a years old thread?
I can imagine that that mechanism automatically jumps in after a year of the last post.
Maybe exclude the classics…

[Hink]

yes, please report them (we cant read every post on KvR and still have friends, family and a life )

[Tj Shredder]

With such a warning a lot of them would simply not appear in the first place…

[Hink]

well it isnt up to me, I have nothing to do with that and you'll have to talk to Ben..in the meantime I would appreciate a report

[BertKoor]

If you ask me, it's annoying, but no rules are broken.
One specific rule (5 posts required before you can do x) provokes this behaviour.

[Teksonik]

I would advocate locking old threads. Often times they contain outdated information or arguments that have long since died. Best to let them fade into history.

If newbies have a question or want to discuss a particular bit of software then a fresh new thread is better than digging one up from five or ten years ago.

I've long wished that KVR (or any forum for that matter) had an "auto lock after X time" feature. I'd lock it at every thread over a year old but that might be a bit extreme, eighteen months or two years might be better.

When I see a new member making their first post in a thread that is years old I'll try to tell them that it's not a good idea to necro such a thread. We can all do that if we see it happening.

This thread being a perfect example.....

viewtopic.php?p=8470655#p8470655

[Hink]

I tell yah what, I am going to take this post to the mod forum...that thread you linked to is a perfect example of a thread we might miss and why, please hit the report button

[cryophonik]

If you ask me, it's annoying, but no rules are broken.
One specific rule (5 posts required before you can do x) provokes this behaviour.

I agree that necro threads can be annoying, but sometimes it's relevant and the person doing it often caveats the reason for the necro. It's the person with just one or two posts who necro threads and add nothing relevant just to get their post count to 5 so they can sell something that are annoying. The 5-post rule is there for the right intentions, but I don't think it's very effective at making software sellers seem more trustworthy. Dishonest people aren't going to swayed by it - they just necro old threads, start stupid threads (e.g., what is your favorite synth?), or just simply reply to 5 random threads, none of which gives us any sense of how honest they are. Not that I have any better suggestions, though. Cheaters gonna cheat, right?

[Teksonik]

That's a whole other can of worms but I've long advocated for something like 50 or 100 posts in order to gain the privilege of the marketplace and perhaps at least 6 months membership.

Scammers are not likely to have the patience to make that many posts and it will be pretty obvious if they did make 50, four word posts.

But with the marketplace we just need to exercise extreme caution when dealing with very new members.

[Teksonik]

I tell yah what, I am going to take this post to the mod forum...that thread you linked to is a perfect example of a thread we might miss and why, please hit the report button

Ok will do. I didn't think it was worthy of reporting him. I just look at it as an opportunity to counsel a new member and at the same time let older members know the thread was necroed.

[Hink]

I tell yah what, I am going to take this post to the mod forum...that thread you linked to is a perfect example of a thread we might miss and why, please hit the report button

Ok will do. I didn't think it was worthy of reporting him. I just look at it as an opportunity to counsel a new member and at the same time let older members know the thread was necroed.

I might ask them to start a new thread on the subject after explaining, all they need do is copy/paste or just put ... in the body and I'll do it. I am rather concerned of having a rule about it or a note about it in the forum rules. First sadly I would say less than 5% of all new members see the rules and second in might be intimidating to some as if we are too heavy handed.

I sent you a PM and I will say it here, if Ben wishes I will lock older threads like that but contray to popular belief I just dont go and do these things...but it's not a bad idea and naturally I would always send PMs explaining why to the poster or if I moved the post to a more recent and relevant thread I would indeed just make a post about it with the link as I locked the Nekro thread.

[cryophonik]

I think the problem with having an automatic lock on necro threads is that no one necro period applies equally to all topics. Hardware discussions, for example, can be relevant for many years or decades, whereas your typical "what is your fav [VST/DAW/whatever]?" are irrelevant within a few weeks or months until the next person starts a new version. Not to mention that there are many popular threads that have a long history at KVR (e.g., studio pics thread) and pretty much stay continuously active. It would be a shame to see those threads die at some arbitrary frequency just to keep some people from necro'ing old threads. I guess the alternative could be to have them auto-locked after some period of inactivity/replies, but it seems like it could do more harm than good IMO.

[0degree]

I for one actually love the old threads because it's a lot of history and even tough I joined quite recently I like to recall the old days and old discussions about the software "back then". Too bad I didn't know about KVR before

[Teksonik]

I think the problem with having an automatic lock on necro threads is that no one necro period applies equally to all topics.

Threads like "This Plugin is Amazing" could die and not be missed. If an old thread like the studio pics auto locks then it would be simple to start a new one. Old threads would still remain visible for anyone interested in "history".

But I don't know if an auto lock feature even exists in the phpBB code. If it does it may be possible to just apply the auto lock to certain forums like Instruments and leave forums like Everything Else unchanged.

As you say Auto Lock after a period of inactivity might be the best solution but again it's not known if that feature exists or can be added to the phpBB code.

Again my main complaints about digging up old threads is they can contain outdated information. New versions of software have been released that fix bugs, add features etc. And of course the rekindling of old arguments that should have been left to die.

I've lost count of the times I've seen people dig up an old thread in an attempt to answer a years old question when the person asking is has either long since found an answer or long since stopped caring. Several times the OP is no longer active at KVR and hence won't even see the message. That just makes replying to such threads a waste of time.

[Tj Shredder]

All that is an argument for a warning instead of an auto lock. The double posts got less after a warning was introduced for certain conditions… Some necroed threads turned into valuable discussions afterwards etc…
I just don’t know how much effort it would be to implement it…