Please check post dates and resist replying to old threads!

Post Reply New Topic

It gets confusing for the parents reading here and trying to give timely advice when old threads reappear. Sometimes there are important reasons to bring back a topic but, please, unless there is a new related situation to add to a thread, please try to leave the older ones buried. Posters can waste a lot of time giving advice to someone who has long ago either resolved the issue they posted or left this forum.

Thanks!

+1

I think it is happening with greater frequency because of the "related threads" feature that comes up with posts. It drags the past right into the present.

I don't see why it matters if an old thread is resurrected. From what I can tell old threads are for the most part still relevant. It's better to reply to an existing topic than create a new thread and rehash information that is already available.

But if it's someone asking for advice or for help or they no longer come to this forum, it is useless and a waste of time. Better to keep that thread dead. Those I find annoying when they are bumped.

I don't know; I try to check thread dates but if I'm tired or distracted I forget. Yes, I'm aware that I'm one of our necromancers in residence Sometimes it DOES seem like old threads are equally relevant to someone today. Having never run a website, I don't know what's easier on the people doing the actual work...

...but a lot of the same questions and issues do crop up over and over and over and over and over and over again.

I have seen people post something and people say there are already posts about this. How old does a post have to be before it is considered dead?

On this board, Parenting, it becomes a huge time killer. I can easily spend 30-60 minutes studying a parent's situation and deciding how to respond. And I only get to a fraction of the questions I feel I could contribute to. Since every situation is unique, each response is tailored to the family and child with the issue. If that issue is old, then it either will have already resolved or the parent will no longer be visiting to see the response. That means my time on the post was wasted and should have been spent trying to help someone else.

I have learned to check dates and scan threads for possible earlier responses by me before investing, but that still takes time, too.

I am not concerned about threads that are resurrected with meaningful new posts, it is the ones where someone is pretty much posting just to post and bringing the thread back without adding anything important to the conversation, and I saw 3 of those today. This is about respecting people's time and keeping the board meaningful. Just a personal request on my part for this particular board; nothing more.

There isn't anything official, but here are some samples:

Answering a thread titled, "helped, emergency!" - after a month the specific issue is likely to be dead; emergencies are in the moment, not weeks later. Certainly after a year you have to realize that everything with that child and family is likely to have changed and evolved.

Any thread related to a particular child and situation is best left alone after a month or two, unless the original poster has been coming back with updates, in which case you should respond only after finding all the updates.

General, open threads, like "share your best ideas for XXX" - those are probably going to always be relevant, and if you have a new idea to add, that would be considered a meaningful resurrection.

Some threads are continual and get new stories and visitors every few months, becoming almost their own mini-forums; "Raised by an Asperger Parent" would be one of those and, thus, it simply never goes dead.

One way to tell would be to read the full thread and note the dates. If a thread has evolved and wandered, and gets interesting new posts every few months, then add to the discussion as you feel inclined to. If a thread was about a specific issue and all posts were condensed into a short time frame that is over a month ago, then read it but don't post on it.

JHMO, at least.

On the dyslexia forum I started, the board software offers a feature the admin can set that prevents old threads from being resurrected. It can be configured to lock old threads after an admin-specified time period, or to warn the user that the thread is very old and ask "are you sure you want to post?" It would be worth asking the admins here if that is an option they can turn on.

What you view as nothing important to add, may have been intended as a meaningful new post on the part of the person who has resurrected the old thread. It
may not have been "posting just to post" at all.
Also, people wondering how to approach a situation, maybe especially new people, may think it is less of a waste of other's time if they search the archives for threads that have already covered their particular concern. In that case, I also don't think they would view it as "not meaningful" by replying that they found it helpful. People often have been living in an environment where their child and their parenting and parenting concerns are not understood and judged before they come here, and acknowledging that they connect, is I'm sure, very meaningful to them. In turn, I find it meaningful, as I instantly connect to that feeling.

I think that you, particularly, are very thoughtful with your responses. And, I certainly notice that you do really study a situation before you respond. So, I can see why rehashing old threads would be frustrating for you. You also seem to be in a better position to give out meaningful advice, as you have a level of wisdom that, I think, many of us don't possess as much of. But, I also wouldn't want people to feel bad or shy away from posting when it can be so important just to relate and connect sometimes.

^^ I agree with this. I also think that a prompt asking the person if they are sure they want to post on an older thread would be helpful.

Don't you think that's kind of a rude thing to say? Who are you to tell people they have nothing important to add to a conversation?

If the issue is that you don't want to respond to old threads then why don't you check the date before starting to post? I feel like it's not really your place to judge whose posts are meaningful and whose aren't- the person who wrote it probably thought it was meaningful (of course you are free to do so regardless of my opinion though)... and I also feel like the information added while perhaps not helpful to the original poster, could be helpful to someone else who is browsing through and has a similar problem.

Ya beat me to the punch

I have accidentally resurrected really old threads because of the related topics feature that now appears below current posts. Threads that are 5+ years old. This is a user experience issue in terms of the software.

if someone deliberately searches and digs up an old thread for a reason, fair enough. But I have accidentally drug up stuff because of the new way that threads are being prevented. I've got no problem with having a related threads feature, but they should probably be time limited to at most 12 months.

The similar topics feature has the date to the right of each thread. You don't even have to click on the thread to see the date.