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Original poster

Zombies...again.

106 replies

EwanWhosearmy · 11/01/2017 18:31

I know this has been asked many many times. PLEASE can zombies be locked, and only reanimated by the OP, once they are over 6 months or so since the last post?

I've read 3 long threads this week, only to realise that the OP was from 2011 or 2012. There seems to be a thing that new users immediately start searching for old threads to reanimate, and with the growth in the site it's becoming all too regular. I don't understand why they do it, but it's really annoying.

OP posts:
BlueKarou · 11/01/2017 20:20

I'm sure the zombie warning used to be much bigger and much more obvious.

Maybe putting some sort of statement at the end of every thread just saying 'this thread was started on dd mmm yyyy' because that's the point where someone will be considering whether to post or not, not at the very top.

OvariesBeforeBrovaries · 11/01/2017 20:06

I think having the zombie warning at the top of the thread as well as the bottom might help?

Goingtobeawesome · 11/01/2017 19:42

Just get into the habit of looking at the date of the OP..

MNHQ
IonaMumsnet · 11/01/2017 19:40

Hi there EwanWhoseArmy. There have been a lot of these this week haven't there? It is most odd the way they seem to arrive in clutches.

As you say, this is something that comes up again and again, and we do understand that it's irritating.

However, when we've polled opinions and thought about it ourselves in the past, the conclusion has always been that, irritating though it is, the site as a whole and our users would lose more by not being able to post on old threads that they would gain. We've had some fabulous updates over the years - not just from OPs but invested others, and then there are lots of threads that are more 'advice-led' where it's actually quite interesting not just to have updates but to see how opinion has changed in a year or more.

The general feeling is that it would be a shame to not have the option. But what does everyone else think now though? We are always interested to hear opinions. Do you think the problem is that the people reanimating aren't spotting the zombies at the point of posting? Or just that they aren't bothered and post anyway, so it's more for people posting later in the thread that it's a problem?

We'd very much like to hear any bright ideas about another solution if anyone has any. We'll keep reading. Thanks for starting the thread.

TrustySnail · 11/01/2017 18:39

I don't understand why they do it

I think it's because they come up on Google searches. That's how I discovered this site - a zombie thread came up when I was searching for some random info. I didn't immediately join up to the site and start posting on it, but I can see how others might.

HelenDenver · 11/01/2017 18:34

I've been on sites where this is the right thing to do, so newbies aren't necessarily being a pain.

Moving existing zombie warning to the top would also work and keeping live for many more posts or indefinitely. Not sure about locking it.