Locking of unwanted topics

[TheMan]

I think I know what TheMan was saying and the intent and it was certainly not malicious in any way. (OMG I am agreeing with him (lol,wink, smile, roflmao insert others her to show intent)).

Hahahaha ;D

Steady on there Badgy, don't cross to the dark side!! In truth though, I'm not quite what some people think I am in here, but it is amusing this is the only place I am viewed in this way ;D - it's rather fun!

Aaaaaaand back on topic before I get lynched: :twirly:

A sub-forum with locked topics sounds a cracking idea actually.

Call it "OBLIVION" or something as a sub forum in the Tavern - inject a bit of humour into it. The place where fail topics are cast into!!

 

[James]

Are there really that may locked topics to warrant such a forum being created though? Also, do many people actually go back to old topics to read through everything?

While it would be an easy thing to maintain once set up, initially setting up such a forum will leave the team with a big job of looking through forums to collect these important locked topics into a new forum. A work load that would take a good bit of time.

Just seems to me like something that at the moment isn't that much of a big issue. I can only count 2-4 locked topics that have a good heap of well thought out posts, but I'll never read them again, and the ones that have my own comments in are still on the forums anyway, so it remains in my posts if I ever want to skip back through what I've written.

 

[Scott]

Let's be honest here, how often do people actually go back and read whole threads through again after they have already done so? The only time when we all seem to be bothered about being unable to is if a thread is locked and deleted. If it wasn't deleted it would just fall to the back of the forum in time and nobody would look it up again anyway...

It seems like a case of moaning about something being taken away which people do not tend to utilise?

 

[Islander]

I dunno, I sometime look back at lengthy posts I've written, or those from other people. For instance, I put a lot of effort into that large post in the teaching thread, so for that to be deleted would be a shame (at the threat of deletion I've saved a copy on my computer, but that's a strange action to have to take).

I suppose I just find it odd that most other forums (all that I have experience of at any rate) use the lock feature as-is, and lock a thread without subsequently deleting it. As Sam points out, being locked it will quickly sink, so it's not messy, and if we take the argument that it is, then surely all old threads are messy, and should be deleted/hidden after X days of inactivity.

 

[TheMan]

It seems like a case of moaning about something being taken away which people do not tend to utilise?

Just been enjoying a chat with a few people here about it, talking about ways it can possibly be improved/made easier, to express opinions, yesterday an old topic from the place which shall not be mentioned, was bought up from months and months ago, and actually helped settle down a few gripes people had.

That went back to before this site was even created, so besides that point about people not ever visiting the old threads being moot, I haven't read anybody moaning.

I don't proclaim to know the technical side, ins and outs etc, but I can say I think at times conclusions as to where the discussions are going is reached too quickly.

That's happened twice, in the last few posts here. And again, if people didn't actually care, they wouldn't be bothered to post their opinions - there are many topics that fly past with only a couple of posts.

 

[Scott]

I can appreciate what you are both saying - but I was just pointing out that the amount of times people feel the need to look through old threads is a small amount, and of locked ones is actually even smaller

TheMan, maybe moaning was the wrong choice of word for me to use. I was implying that people are suddenly seeming to think that deleting a thread is a terrible thing, despite possibly not really looking through old (or locked) threads all that often - if at all.

I'll let you all into a little secret anyway, if a thread or post is deleted we can still recover it - so it doesn't totally go forever.

 

[Meat Pie]

Can this topic please reach it's natural ironic conclusion of getting locked?

 

[Dave]

SCOTT stop letting out the mystical secrets of the TowersStreet team...... Tut

At the end of the day if people want a topic to stay that is locked and there isn't a huge reason for deletion then just let the team know. Though if we have good reason for deletion we will delete, but on the list of things we are worried about a slowly decaying locked topic isn't high on the list and has never been a worry of people previously.

Recently people seem to be getting very stressed about locked topics and banning.... We rarely lock topics and only spam accounts have been banned in the 8 months we have been running.... It wasn't that regular an occurrence on TT either.

 

[TheMan]

I'll let you all into a little secret anyway, if a thread or post is deleted we can still recover it - so it doesn't totally go forever.

Oooooh!

Scott let some TS Voodoo out!! ;D

Can this topic please reach it's natural ironic conclusion of getting locked?

I think that maybe we can all ban ourselves!

Recently people seem to be getting very stressed about locked topics and banning.... We rarely lock topics and only spam accounts have been banned in the 8 months we have been running.... It wasn't that regular an occurrence on TT either.

To be serious a mo, I don't recall any members being banned and I do believe it's difficult to balance what is good discussion, what should just be locked/deleted etc. Especially a forum building so fast, and prone to embrace the occasionally divisive subject... :-X

;D

:twirly:

 

[Rupert]

despite possibly not really looking through old (or locked) threads all that often - if at all.

But how could you possibly know?

I don't tend to look through old threads to find a post I'm interested in or want to re-use elements from - it's generally easier to look through my own posts, or the posts of another member if necessary. If the topic is locked, that's not a problem as the posts will still exist and I can find them, without having to find the locked topic first. But if it is locked and then deleted then there's no hope of finding it.

It's all well and good being able to recover a post if you know exactly what you're looking for, but if the request is something like, "Team, I wrote a message about X Sector's theming narrative that I'd like to see again, but can't remember the thread", then chances of finding it again are pretty slim.

Topics get locked so infrequently that this idea of the forums becoming 'cluttered' with locked topics just seems like a ludicrous made-up excuse. And as said by others, topics are created and posted in so regularly that a locked topic will quickly be worked down the forums onto later pages. The only need to delete a topic is if it's a duplicate, genuinely offensive to the majority of people or completely superfluous to needs. It's a shame to lose posts that people have put genuine effort into, or are simply interesting to read (Islander's lesson planning post a case in point) for no discernible reason.

 

[Dave]

I think Scott's point was if people felt a topic had been deleted and they felt it was wrong at the time then topics can be recovered. But only if we feel it won't reflect badly on the forum or upset more members than it pleases.