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Do dead topics really need to be locked?

Team GPSaxophone

By Team GPSaxophone
in General geocaching topics

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Team GPSaxophone

+Team GPSaxophone

Posted
Posted

This thread was obviously finished. I asked a question and Snoogans answered it. Yet, Keystone Approver decided to lock it without comment.

 

What is the deal? There are 190 PAGES in the General Forum. Only the ones on the first page or two are replied to. This thread would have been moved down the list soon enough without help from the admins. Do we really need to lock threads to get them off of the first two pages?

 

texasgeocaching_sm.gif Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness bandbass.gif

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Keystone

Keystone

Posted
Posted

I didn't view it as "dead" at all. I fully expected that a rash of people would post meaningless nothings into the thread, the way that happens every time someone posts a thread that says "don't read this, posted in error." I therefore closed it, without regard as to who else had posted, or what the original content was (because I never saw the post before it was edited). As for threads falling off the page, one was just revived which ought to have been closed, but wasn't. It's an art, not a science.

 

I closed the thread with a note which consisted of a single period (.) in keeping with the edited first post in the thread. I thought that was humorous but it is late at night and I suppose I could have explained myself better.

124791_700.jpg Don't make me stop this car!

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Team GPSaxophone

+Team GPSaxophone

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When I see a 'locked' thread, I get the idea that something bad happened for it to get that way.

 

Yes, sometimes old topics are brought up again, but that means someone is actually reading some of the other 188 pages on the list. If it's so bad to bring up an old topic, why keep so many of them around? Maybe deleting the oldest 150 pages would clear up some room on the server and allow the site to run better.

 

texasgeocaching_sm.gif Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness bandbass.gif

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woodsters

+woodsters

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by BrianSnat:

Is there such a thing as a dead topic? I've seen 2 year old topics raise their ugly heads once again.

 

_"You can't make a man by standing a sheep on his hind legs. But by standing a flock of sheep in that position, you can make a crowd of men" - Max Beerbohm_

 

Yes, those throw me for a loop. Just when I thought it was a new thread, someone found one from a year or so ago and replied to it. After reading all the replies, I finally realized the thread was from a long time ago.

 

I agree with GPSaxophone about the deleting or the pruning of threads. They can do that. It's an automatic process. Or I should say I assume that they can with the infopop software. I know on software I use that I can. You can set time limits on them and let them die. Would save on some things.

 

I remember back in June there was a lot of "search the forums" thing being pushed. But that shouldn't have to be the case. If one wants to do it, then it's there. As I've stated in previous posts, people are going to continously bring up topics and discussions that's been discussed before. It's inevitable as there are new people that come aboard every day as well ones that come here every so often that might of missed the discussion. Sooner or later, there will be nothing to talk about at all.

 

To close a thread or make statements that it's been discussed before, doesn't make sense on the purpose and function of having a forum where people can discuss and ask questions. Then on this case to close a thread because you expect something to come out of it?

 

Brian

www.woodsters.com

 

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Doc-Dean

+Doc-Dean

Posted
Posted

The thread in question was obviously meaningless and KA was justified in closing it IMHO...

 

There are many threads that are revived from time to time, ie... the recent 9-11 memorial posts. Those appropriately are allowed to fall down the list but remain open.

 

I have looked at many of the posts that KA has made comments on or closed and I think he is doing a very good job.

 

As a matter of fact, I have not really seen a problem with the 'moderators' overstepping or micromanaging thus so far...

 

---------------------------------------------------

Free your mind and the rest will follow action-smiley-076.gif

And may no Admin bricks 19490_2600.gif fly your way

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Team GeoCan

+Team GeoCan

Posted
Posted

quote:
Originally posted by Doc-Dean:

 

As a matter of fact, I have not really seen a problem with the 'moderators' overstepping or micromanaging thus so far...

And may no Admin bricks 19490_2600.gif fly your way

 

My 10 Year old autistic son wanted to express himself on the Geocaching Logo, I posted the results, it lasted less than 5 minutes.

 

Was that "unreasonable"?, It was a judgment calll, there isa policy that the logo i sacred, and even though I was quite impressed with my son's work, it was deleted...and locked.

 

Although the creation wasn't meant to be used, nor to "get out" of the forum, was NOT commercial and just in fun, I imagine it got CO ADMIN's dander up.

 

The post was closed as fast as it appeared.

 

BAAAD! BAAAAD!!!!

 

A BAAAD Ancestor is Good to Find!!!!

The International Blacksheep Society of Genealogists [/url

 

[This message was edited by Bo Peep & The Sheep on September 21, 2003 at 08:08 AM.]

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Keystone

Keystone

Posted
Posted

cache cadaver -

If I was "too quick to lock" I would've locked this thread or deleted it. But I am secure enough in my AdminHood that I can listen and learn from what others have to say. Unlike the empty thread about nothing, this is a productive discussion.

 

If I was "too quick to lock" I would lock this thread for references to the "police" and that the "admins are know it alls." The guidelines remind you to respect admins, too, just as I am respecting the views of others in this thread. Please remember that I'm a volunteer, a geocacher just like you. I have no special claim to the divine knowledge of the frog; I merely quest for it.

 

Bo Peep -

Your post violated the terms of use for the Groundspeak logo. If you have further questions please read the Geocaching Logo Usage Guidelines. You could also write to Groundspeak to obtain permission for the altered version of its logo. But, you may wish to consider having some fun with one of the public domain logos that are freely modifiable. That's exactly why they were created.

 

124791_700.jpg Don't make me stop this car!

 

[This message was edited by Keystone Approver on September 21, 2003 at 08:10 AM.]

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Doc-Dean

+Doc-Dean

Posted
Posted

Bo Peep - I assume you are talking about thread ?

 

I am not looking to debate you on this but I did want to point out one thing...

You even mentioned that you knew that it is not acceptible to mess with their logo... which was just an invitation for a moderator to do something about it...

quote:
I know Jeremy and the PTB do not want unauthorized use of the logo, nor variatiions in use, but I and my 10 year oldautistic son DID play a bit with it.

 

Although, looking at that thread, I do not think its unreasonable to request the moderator to make a note of why he/she is locking or deleting a post.

 

---------------------------------------------------

Free your mind and the rest will follow action-smiley-076.gif

And may no Admin bricks 19490_2600.gif fly your way

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Team GPSaxophone

+Team GPSaxophone

Posted
  • Author
Posted

It's not often that I read what Woodsters has to say, but in this case I actually agree with him!

quote:
Originally posted by Woodsters Outdoors:

I remember back in June there was a lot of "search the forums" thing being pushed. But that shouldn't have to be the case. If one wants to do it, then it's there. As I've stated in previous posts, people are going to continously bring up topics and discussions that's been discussed before. It's inevitable as there are new people that come aboard every day as well ones that come here every so often that might of missed the discussion. Sooner or later, there will be nothing to talk about at all.

Out of the 190 pages of topics on the General Forum, the first couple of pages contain the current discussions. Once a topic drops past page 2 or 3, the chance of someone replying to it drops considerably. Sometimes it happens, but usually someone will just post the question again instead of searching for the 'old' thread. Occasionally someone will even bring up a topic that hasn't been replied to in over a year (myself included) and the vast majority of the time the resurrected thread will die quicker the second time.

 

Does Groundspeak want us to search for old topics and revive them or post questions as we have them?

As Woodsters noted about the search feature, most people (especially the new ones) don't use it. They either don't know about it, don't know how use it, or just don't want to use it.

 

If the policy of Groundspeak is to lock threads in order to keep the chatter at a minimum, why not just delete the oldest 150 pages or so of topics because people will talk anyway. From what Keystone Approver said:

quote:
Originally posted by Keystone Approver:

I fully expected that a rash of people would post meaningless nothings into the thread, the way that happens every time someone posts a thread that says "don't read this, posted in error."

What is the harm in allowing a meaningless thread to remain?

Locking it to keep it from cluttering the current discussions has little effect. When someone wants to ask a question, they make a new thread instead of searching. We're always posting new threads, so the list is constantly changing. The best discussions only last longer on the first page of topics. The useless discussions might appear at the top of the list from time to time, but are ignored when they are truly useless.

 

texasgeocaching_sm.gif Took sun from sky, left world in eternal darkness bandbass.gif

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Team GeoCan

+Team GeoCan

Posted
Posted

I said "unauthorized use of the logo, nor variatiions in use," The key words are "in Use", although I did research the FAQS after tyhe deletion of the graphic and found where "you are free to use it, upon approval- but it must be unaltered in any fashion" (Paraphrased)

 

So I have this question, has every poster in these forums who has some form, altered in anyway of any copyrighted image been censored and deleted?

 

I can point out hundreds of examples.

 

Incidentally Changing the image means it is no longer the SAME image, as per Trademark rules.

 

Although it may be UNETHICAL to alter and use someone else's logo, it isn't illegal. If there is a registered trademark, it is only within the specified industry or limits of the trade.

 

(A Oil Company uses "Geocan" for their name, that doesn't preclude my use of GeoCan for geocaching, since I am not implying I am them, nor interfering in the Oil Business.)

 

There was no commercial use intended or implied by altering the logo. It was an educational exercise for a hard to reach autistic child.

 

(You get through when you can, and he is fixated on geocaching).

 

 

I did say it was a judgment call.

 

BAAAD! BAAAAD!!!!

 

A BAAAD Ancestor is Good to Find!!!!

http://blacksheep.rootsweb.com/

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Renegade Knight

+Renegade Knight

Posted
Posted

You should lock threads that should be dead, and you should have a topic to decide if a dead thread should stay dead.

 

You should lock old threads before they are dead because once one answer has been posted the topic is used up and nobody at all would ever post something usefull.

 

Any new thread that has a topic matched by an old thread should be locked and markwelled to the old locked thread because we don't need to hash this all out again.

 

Any new original thread should be locked because the only way it could be new and original is to be off topic.

 

All off topic threads should be locked because thats the rules. A thread listing valid topics should be started but it should be locked after the first answer as already was discussed.

 

Any thread under suspicion of having a sock puppet post in it should be locked because the entire thread has now been tainted and might spin out of control.

 

You should lock all meaningless threads because they mean nothing. Post a new thread for what meaningless is so we know, but be sure to lock it because the topic is meaningless.

 

Sometimes I think that some of the people with thread locking abilities are jaded on forums. Most of my comments were based (even if loosly) on thread locking comments & warnings gleaned over the past couple of months.

 

To answer the original question. No old threads should not be locked.

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