For the 9th time - zombie threads

[BIWI]

There's obviously a reason why people don't realise threads are zombie threads - partly it's because the warning posted by MNHQ only applies to the first person who posts on a thread. Thereafter, it's down to posters replying to that first person.

But even if people then go on to post 'this is a zombie' thread, it gets ignored - highlighting just how many people don't bother to read anything other than the OP.

I know it's been asked about before on here, but nothing ever seems to get done - you say you'll pass it on to the tech team, or will raise it at your next meeting (or whatever), but still it carries on.

Is there a reason why nothing has changed?

(I know some posters don't care, but there are a lot of us for whom this is really irritating, so I'm asking for me and all of those )

I dont care if zombie threads are resurrected. Do people care?

Well why else would I have posted this?!

I think people do care when they take time to answer and it turns out the OP is long gone.

I care.

Sometimes on the TTC boards it's about someone having a miscarriage or worrying that they're miscarrying and someone resurrects the thread 4 years later to ask what happened (why?!) and then a load of people assume it's a current topic.

I really feel for people having historic trauma whipped up for no good reason.

I care too. Can’t MN just lock really old threads so they can be viewed but not replied to?

I care. I don’t see the point of resurrecting them.
They are always pages long (funny how nobody ever resurrects a short one) so then everyone replies to the long gone OP.

Plus a lot of them are resurrected by trolls.

I imagine BIWI cares in part because she’s the OP on hundreds of low carbing threads and people coming to it but starting on last years thread must get quite confusing and/or annoying!

Oh well, I hope I haven't made myself unwelcome on the low carb threads.

Of course you haven't @QueenDanu!

I care too. It's really irritating. It makes posters look ridiculous.

I also think there should be a point in which a thread could be closed. Carpet fitter anyone?

I've seen 2 recently where the poster resolved a situation but the pile on continues. It's horrible and reinforces the reputation of vipers on here.

Phew! I can't even blame my grumpy response in the lack of carbs as I feel full.

I've said this before (and been shouted down for saying it) but if there is a colum for the date and poster of the last post on a thread, why isn't there a column for the date and poster of the first post too? I've never been on any other forum where the first post isn't referenced on the home page of the topic.

Why can't @MNHQ add this in? It surely can't be that difficult. Forums such as DigitalSpy manage it! Then everyone can see when the thread was started before they reply to it several years after the event.

I agree @ItWaAgathaAllAlong

I agree and will respond to this thread in a couple of years to see how it went.

@shakingmytambourineatyou

I agree and will respond to this thread in a couple of years to see how it went.

I look forward to it.

Maybe Zombie threads could be a different colour, but all the responses instead of just the OP's?

That has been suggested before, @ChicCroissant, and I think it's a really good idea. But it's one of the myriad suggestions that @MNHQ seem to simply ignore.

There is no zombie thread warning on the iOS app, is there? And sometimes they're resurrected by spammers or people looking for opportunities to shitstir.
I don't know why after a certain point they can't be locked - with a final autogenerated message from MNHQ telling people they can report the thread and ask for it to be unlocked if there's a good reason (eg the OP with an update).

I think a lot of zombies are resurrected by people finding them from google, those people wouldn’t necessarily know that a different colour meant zombie, or even notice it was a different colour

I care. Though not as much as I care about posters who can’t be arsed to read the thread and post at page 20 with “someone may have already mentioned this facile suggestion “
Of course they have, it’s page 20! (a fact which is obvious as the number of pages appears above the OP). But they think they’re so special that only they can have thought of a blindingly obvious solution.

Sorry for the derail

I think it would be really useful if the OP could lock the thread themselves by clicking a "this thread has been resolved" button or similar. Obviously wouldn't work on those threads where the OP posts once then disappears, but might help a bit.

@MrsFezziwig

I care. Though not as much as I care about posters who can’t be arsed to read the thread and post at page 20 with “someone may have already mentioned this facile suggestion “ Of course they have, it’s page 20! (a fact which is obvious as the number of pages appears above the OP). But they think they’re so special that only they can have thought of a blindingly obvious solution.

Sorry for the derail

@MrsFezziwig

I've noticed a new trend now though - posters who start their post with 'sorry, I haven't read the thread but ... ' as if, somehow, that absolves them of their heinous crime!

@ItWaAgathaAllAlong

If you start in Active then the date shown is the start date. But people seem not to take any notice of that.

Even worse, IMVHO is on the app, where no dates are shown - either of the first or latest post.

Maybe the thread could be automatically locked if it hasn’t been posted on for say, 3 months, and only the OP could then post on it if they wanted to update.

There have been suggestions before that MNHQ will look at but don't. One suggestion I and others made was a traffic light system. The posts change to a green background up to 6 months old, orange 6 to 12 months and red for over 12 months.