Author Topic: Firehazard for a cleaner forum  (Read 1793 times)

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Offline Firehazard

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Firehazard for a cleaner forum
« on: October 13, 2006, 09:57:28 pm »
This is a suggestion for the mods here, particularly the ones who are active at editing, moving, and generally fiddling around with threads.

I've seen quite a few instances where a new thread has been started on a topic that recently had another thread.  Sometimes two threads have been started on the same topic in a very short time of each other, and both end up with quite a few posts.  Rather than just lock one, why not just merge them! '<img'> I'm on another forum where the main mod ends up merging threads every so often for that same reason, and for the sake of not having a bunch of locked threads lying around all over the place, and keeping the useful comments from ending up in the garbage bin, it works.

I don't know if I also recommend this for topics like CSI that have been done to death — partly because, who'd be to say which older thread to tack it onto and partly because we'd really rather the topic not be brought up anymore at all.  Or so I gather.
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Offline Savaaha

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« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2006, 11:44:38 pm »
we do link and close such topics but sometimes the topics are far enough from each other to allow them to go in different directions.

Offline Mazz

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« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2006, 11:51:25 pm »
I'm not sure if we can merge topics with this forum, or if it takes to much time..

I'll pass this along to WS for a more "expert" opinion.
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Offline WhiteShepherd

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« Reply #3 on: October 17, 2006, 07:51:19 am »
IB does not support merging to my knowldge.  Right now we can leave both open or close the extra thread while linking to the current thread.

My other wory would be if merging would make who's talking and who's being talked to confusing?
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Offline Firehazard

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« Reply #4 on: October 25, 2006, 07:12:01 pm »
I dunno, usually what happens is that the posts from the removed thread get shifted into the other one, a mod note is placed on the first of them that those ones were merged in, and sometimes the mod makes a new post mentioning the merge.  So the whole conversation is preserved, the first post's odd way of starting out is explained, and everyone's happy.

But I'm kinda surprised IB doesn't have merging capabilities.  I'm pretty sure even phpBB has them.  I'm betting there's some kind of mod you can download and install that would add that ability, which I would recommend since it is rather useful.
Quote from: Savaaha
We have a 27in westinghouse hd flat widescreen TV, Tak has it connected up so its our TV and his comp monitor. We had it since 2009 and its going great.

Art by me.

Firehazard for a cleaner forum
« Reply #5 on: October 25, 2006, 07:26:49 pm »
Yeah, the whole merging thing sounds good, especially since I was just in the same position earlier today. ^v^ It's also got some downsides, like the topics may me very similar, but still have differences that would conflict in the same thread, or an ongoing conversation would be cut off by sudden off-topic posts.

Really, this should be a poll, so that we can vote if it's a good IDEA, and after that, it's still up to the admins.

Offline Benjamin

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Firehazard for a cleaner forum
« Reply #6 on: October 25, 2006, 09:46:40 pm »
iB can indeed do merging. It's in the moderator control panel.
 
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Offline Firehazard

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« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2006, 07:28:53 pm »
Ah, coolness.  I went to their site and it wasn't in the feature list anywhere, so I wasn't sure.  But yes, I reiterate that this is a good idea now that we're getting duplicate threads out the wazoo.
Quote from: Savaaha
We have a 27in westinghouse hd flat widescreen TV, Tak has it connected up so its our TV and his comp monitor. We had it since 2009 and its going great.

Art by me.

Offline Mazz

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« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2006, 09:16:49 am »
I'll give it a try next time I find double threads though any previously locked threads would be a pain to go through and merge.
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