Yes it would be better to not resurrect any old thread, but completely discarding a post with an otherwise valid question or reply by instantly freezing the thread to all but other mods IMO doesn’t make for having a lot of fun. One shouldn’t be forced to choose either to send a private message that amounts to a forum post reply, which like any other thread reply, belongs in public for the usual public scrutiny; or to do nothing but wait and hope same poster creates a readily recognizable and seen new thread before the potential reply fades into oblivion.
3 Likes
Sorry, but I completely disagree with you. Things change. A seemingly similar problem in a decades old version is, of course, NOT the same problem. It is rare that the solution would be the same.
It is not difficult to start a new thread with the new issue in the new version.
3 Likes
Sorry, but I agree with @mrmazda .
That’s definitely true. However some things take quite a while to change.
It all comes down to the question what specific value will be assigned to “decades”.
In general I believe forcing any measures on forum users should be carefully considered.
2 Likes
I too agree with @mrmazda and @susejunky .
The main problem with locking a thread is that it reduces new potential solutions or workarounds from being added.
This is why for example StackOverflow keeps old threads open, a popular Python question would have everything from Python 2 to different versions of Python 3 in the same thread and the reader can choose any solution based on their requirement/restrictions.
It also makes searching much easier, often when using a search engine the top result for a problem would be an old thread.
As an example, consider these scenarios:
- User A who has an existing OpenSuse account finds a solution from an old thread that doesn’t quite work for him in newer versions, he has found out the solution on his own but can’t add it to the old thread because it’s locked. Is he likely to create a new thread simply for sharing this knowledge, probably not unless the solution is very convoluted and requires many steps and he doesn’t want anyone else to go through the same troubleshooting hell.
- User B who does not have an existing OpenSuse account finds a solution… forget it, 90% of those people aren’t creating an OpenSuse account just to share a solution. But you can make it 99.9% if they have to create a new thread on top of that and reference all the old threads just to contextualize things.
The downside is having to deal with spam from older threads, I think brand new users who submit posts to threads older than X days can have their first few posts added to the mod queue before being published. This should deter any spammers while not deterring participation and possible new solutions!
1 Like
I assume you are volunteering to implement (and maintain) this?
I would be surprised if it doesn’t already exist, it’s a feature even Wordpress comments/plugins have. A dedicated forum software not having the feature baked in or as a plugin would be very surprising.
You forgot to add link to this solution.
Here you go:
How is spam protection related to your requirements?
Uh, it works exactly as I hoped it would:
This plugin helps keep your site free of spam by automatically scanning all posts from new users. Scanned posts that Akismet flags as spam are immediately removed from the site and added to a queue for review.
Site staff can then review the posts to confirm spam, or restore if the posts are not spam. Akismet learns as staff confirm or restore spam posts, improving its spam detection and decreasing false positives.
As a close follower of this forum, i can tell you that this never happens. All cases here in the forum when some new guy posted some stuff to an old thread (>5 years) where a completely different story. Different hardware, different software, different OS…
Most technical forums auto-close a topic after a defined period of time (30 days).
I like how the forum stuff deals with the situation here in the forum. Necroposting is a bad behaviour and helps nobody. If you are a necroposter and recommend necroposting, you should reconsider what you are doing and how technical help forums work.
2 Likes
It is impossible to post because topic is locked. There is nothing to scan.
Nice article about spam battling in general, but as the idea is also to prevent the so called “necro-posting” (which will go into old threads that nobody is following anymore instead of the new question being advertised as new with a good title) and what your statement covers:
I am still missing what in your opinion should be done by the administrators to implement what you suggest, including the extra tasks that should be given to the mods to execute.
2 Likes
Users can always flag posts or ping a moderator to request opening a closed thread.
4 Likes
The same mods who apparently have little better to do than find threads to lock and make new and infrequent posters feel unwelcome could do it.
The OP isn’t about what mere mortals should or shouldn’t do. It’s about mods using lousy judgement, and in particular, a 2018 thread from yesterday only 3 posts long after mod locked it. Locking, among several other things, is not apparent when reading in an unsupported web browser.
I do my thread reading that way, in no small part because the content isn’t confined to discord’s annoying narrow width that can’t be changed, and bloat-browser functions replicated by usurping navigation controls mixed into forum content. I only put up with it by opening an overbloated RAM wasting IE/Chrome wannabe after deciding a poster is worth the bother of being replied to.
You chose really strong words…
But you did read and understand why this topic was closed? The necroposter had a completely different hardware setup and his problems are not nearly the same like from the OP.
Only venting…
If you really pay attention and are interested in this topic (and not only want to vent), you may count how many threads where closed due to necroposting. A small hint: one hand will be enough to count…it where only 2 threads in March (with a massive amount of freshly created threads on the other side).
So this thread is about a marginal amount of topics, closed due to necroposting. Admins here do a great job to keep this forum clean…
2 Likes
A warning can be added when replying to old threads reminding users to start a new topic if their reply is intended to help troubleshoot their problem and not solve or add additional context to the existing question.
If someone still posts a question to an old thread (necroposting), their reply can be folded into a new thread. by the mods. This happens all the time on other forums btw. Don’t know why it’s such a big deal here 
- Prevent locking old threads
- Enable the Akismet anti-spam plugin
- Add more mods for clearing the mod queue if existing mods are not interested in dealing with it, which is completely understandable I might add. I work at an email service provider (ESP) and dealing with spam is not an enjoyable task, so might as well get some extra help!
- Add the aforementioned warning message when users post to old threads, i.e., the submission must be an additional solution not soliciting answers to your own problem which is better suited in a new thread.
It seems you don’t have that much experience with forum topics and administration. Necroposters don’t care about warning messages and procede with their nonsense…
This is a red herring.
I don’t have much experience hanging around distro forums, but I do have experience hanging around other forums. Like I said, creating a new topic from a reply happens all the time on other forums and discourse supports it natively without any plugins:
It works by scanning post content. Post content is valid, it is not a spam. Show where this plugin can be configured to flag posts based on topic.