Rule on reviving old threads?

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FeatherFool

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I'm not sure where to post this, so I thought I'd toss it here and hope it finds the right home.

If there is an older thread I'd like to say something on, how old is to old? There is a chit-chat thread where the last post was in mid April that I'm interested in participating in, but I don't want to break any "don't revive dead thread" rules (which I couldn't find in the posting guidelines, but maybe I missed it).

Thoughts?
 
Hi FeatherFool,

There is another thread on this topic, Resurrecting old threads. In it you can see how opinions are sharply divided. Some say do it, some say don't.

That said, you are talking about reviving a thread from mid-April; that's less than a month ago. I don't know if I even count that as an old thread, but that's me. I'd probably revive a thread seven years old if I felt I had good cause.

That's my 2¢,
Sincerely,
Kevin T.
 
I think it's a valid question.

I used to post on a forum that had the exact same format code as this one (totally different and unrelated site though and a much larger and more active forum, too...but full of nasty people unfortunately as well.) It had many topics, from regional to subject matter focused, and unlike this forum (I believe) it indexed to Google, so threads there would come up in google searches if the right keywords were entered. I posted there for years. Like 7 or 8 years, I would guess.

The policy at that site was that thread consolidation was encouraged. So it was encouraged to search for your topic and post to existing threads over starting new ones, and mods would even merge related topic threads into one.

I am not sure that such an absolute stance is sensible...but I'd advise the following as what I'd prefer to see, if I were writing the rules (which I'm totally not, because I'm not a mod...just sharing my $0.02.)

I'd suggest that posters can post to older threads if they add to the post, at the beginning of the post, a tagline like "NEW POST - OLD TOPIC" so that people are alerted to that, and if they are speaking to the subject as opposed to, say, giving input or advice to the original poster (who, even if they're still around, has likely found a solution to their issue by now.)

Alternately they might be encouraged to start a new thread and link the old thread as a reference.

I do hate it when I read a number of earlier posts only to realize it's years old...so I'd like that it at least be brought to my attention. But there is sometimes valuable content on a given subject in an older thread and it's nice to fish it back up....as long as the new poster isn't speaking as though the old events happened yesterday and giving advice that is no longer relevent, and THAT is the kind of necro-posting I'd discourage.
 
It is perfectly fine here to post to old threads, as long as it's on-topic. Have at it! In fact, it's best if people do a search first before posting, because there is such a goldmine of info here. And if you find a thread relevant to what you want to say - go ahead and revive it! A few months old isn't old at all, anyway. I do think it is better than having a gazillion new, short threads on the same topic when what one is looking for can be found more easily in one place.

Because of that, every now and then we consolidate several older threads on the same or similar topics and create Master Threads as reference, and then provide a link to them in the Golden Nuggets forum.
 
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Thanks for the link to the thread, kdt26417! That was really helpful. I must not have been hitting the right keywords on my search.

I don't really have much to add at the moment but I thought I'd ask since I've been doing a lot of searches, and keep finding really neat older discussions I wished I could have been a part of, back when they were relevant.

I also didn't want to risk posting on a on older thread and have someone jump on me for it. This forum seems really supportive, but I've been on others (non-poly related) that were a bit hard on newbies. Better to ask, I thought!
 
If you find an old thread and get something out of it, it's still relevant! ;)

Agreed. For the OP, as a general rule, this forum encourages using older threads as a starting point to carry on conversations... so if there's something relevant to build upon, please feel welcome to do so.

The only time there's problems is if new posters perhaps forget that the threads they are building on may involve posters who are no longer active and expecting replies which may never come.
The other time when it's a big issue, is if someone revives an old thread just to be hostile and admonish participants for discussions that were concluded years ago. But that's against the forum guidelines anyways.... so, no surprise there.

Be fair, keep it in the guidelines, and add to the discussion and the wealth of knowledge here (and questions are part of that) and you shouldn't run into any issues.
 
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