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Original poster

Please consider locking old threads.

80 replies

PriamFarrl · 03/11/2022 22:46

Twice tonight I’ve opened up a thread to find they are ancient. One was 15 years old.
I know it gets asked all the time but please think about locking threads over a year old.

OP posts:
Kite22 · 03/11/2022 23:18

Good idea.

FlutterbButterfly · 03/11/2022 23:24

PriamFarrl · 03/11/2022 22:46

Twice tonight I’ve opened up a thread to find they are ancient. One was 15 years old.
I know it gets asked all the time but please think about locking threads over a year old.

The hotel bathroom items one? Thankfully spotted that was an old/ zombie thrrad straight off but annoyingly have fallen for them before, good idea op.

ShaunaTheSheep · 03/11/2022 23:32

But the soap thief one was deliberately revived for a reason by an established poster. That's very different to spammers posting all over the place on random threads.

ShaunaTheSheep · 03/11/2022 23:33

Oh and if you read the opening post it's obvious from the date.

BagOfBollocks · 03/11/2022 23:34

ShaunaTheSheep · 03/11/2022 23:32

But the soap thief one was deliberately revived for a reason by an established poster. That's very different to spammers posting all over the place on random threads.

There's never a good reason to bump a 15 year old thread no matter how 'established' 🙄 you are.

Cuppasoupmonster · 03/11/2022 23:37

I know it’s a bit weird but I enjoy it when that happens! It feels a bit like thread time travelling, it always makes me wonder how the poster is now!

TooHotToRamble · 04/11/2022 01:28

I enjoy an old revived thread. That hotel one this evening was particularly good!

CuteCillian · 04/11/2022 01:32

I also enjoy the resurrection of a thread, and the constant zombie warning messages unnecessary. Why do posters get so upset if the subject matter makes for an interesting read?

Bellagio40 · 04/11/2022 01:59

CuteCillian · 04/11/2022 01:32

I also enjoy the resurrection of a thread, and the constant zombie warning messages unnecessary. Why do posters get so upset if the subject matter makes for an interesting read?

Totally agree

Topseyt123 · 04/11/2022 02:03

CuteCillian · 04/11/2022 01:32

I also enjoy the resurrection of a thread, and the constant zombie warning messages unnecessary. Why do posters get so upset if the subject matter makes for an interesting read?

I agree with this. I really don't get some people's issues with the so called zombie threads.

MyRiverThee · 04/11/2022 02:09

It’s unnecessary to lock threads. Occasionally people comment on an old thread and then others do to. So what?

lowgreyclouds · 04/11/2022 03:01

A good solution might just be to have a header on the comment box that says "warning: this thread has not been posted in for 12 months..."

Then the user has been warned, and can continue to post if they feel it is relevant to do so.

BagpussBagpussOldFatFurryCatpuss · 04/11/2022 03:05

lowgreyclouds · 04/11/2022 03:01

A good solution might just be to have a header on the comment box that says "warning: this thread has not been posted in for 12 months..."

Then the user has been warned, and can continue to post if they feel it is relevant to do so.

I agree!
Many other sites have this!

Topseyt123 · 04/11/2022 03:06

lowgreyclouds · 04/11/2022 03:01

A good solution might just be to have a header on the comment box that says "warning: this thread has not been posted in for 12 months..."

Then the user has been warned, and can continue to post if they feel it is relevant to do so.

There already is a warning.

Zombie threads still worry me although I wouldn't bother seeking one out and resurrecting it.

Sparklingbrook · 04/11/2022 03:37

I think the zombie warning should stay up longer after the thread’s bumped.. Then at least there’s a chance people will notice and not start replying to the OP as they CBA to RTFT and realise it’s ancient.

Sparklingbrook · 04/11/2022 07:00

Seems today's the day we are being transported back to 2007...

nomistake · 04/11/2022 07:06

Lol at a thread being resurrected by an 'established user'. Mumsnet is so weird sometimes...

Sparklingbrook · 04/11/2022 07:10

It may have been better to start a new thread with whatever the new info was with links to the zombie ones in the case of the hotel soap debacle.

TroysMammy · 04/11/2022 07:10

I have seen threads which MN have put on "we are no longer accepting comments on this thread" so they can do it if they choose.

however I would like to know if the soap thief and her husband are still together 15 years down the line.

euff · 04/11/2022 07:15

There was recently an update on a 1 year old relationship thread. I do like an update especially if OP now in a better place.

Sparklingbrook · 04/11/2022 07:17

I think a one year old thread in Relationships if bumped by the original OP is fair enough, if they think people would remember and appreciate an update.
These latest ones are 15 years old about hotel soap.

ChessieFL · 04/11/2022 07:19

The problem is that the ‘old thread’ message only appears to the first
poster that reanimates the thread (possibly the first few posters) and then disappears. And many people just read the opening post and then add their comment so don’t see all the posts saying it’s a zombie thread and don’t then get a warning when they
post.

Perhaps a better solution would be that once any thread gets to a certain age (say a year old) a message then permanently appears immediately above the opening post saying ‘This thread is from 2007, please consider whether it is appropriate to
post or whether starting a new thread would be better’. Or something like that. Won’t stop threads being reanimated but at least then everyone seeing the thread will know that it originally started a while ago.

Sometimes it’s nice when threads get reanimated (there was a lovely one in classics where a little girl lost her toy mouse and MN helped find a new one, and the OP gave an update on her DD years later which did add to the original story) as it brings a good thread to a new audience. Some reanimations are just pointless though.

Hanswurst · 04/11/2022 07:19

I don’t agree with locking threads.
I will never forget the poster whose DH had sadly passed away. IIRC they had teenage children, and with their blessing if I remember rightly, OP had just started dating again and was really torn about her feelings. I never forget her describing having a breakdown and leaving the restaurant sobbing during the first date because her DH that had passed away had always let her order a desert and, knowing she might fancy something else ordered a different desert and offered her a swap when they food arrived. It was so heartbreaking, you could feel her anguish. Anyway, new man was very lovely and understanding, and very respectful about OPs feelings for her DH. She revived her thread years later to say they were now married and she had their new baby sleeping next to her. Her previous DH would always have a place in her heart but she had found peace and happiness again. It still brings a tear to my eye!
Likewise, I read another thread just yesterday where the OP had had a positive pregnancy test after decades of infertility, and had revived the thread to say yes, it really had been true and she now had a healthy baby boy.
I don’t see the problem with zombie threads at all and it doesn’t bother me to trawl through a few pointless ones by accident if it means I can continue coming across posts like the above ones.

Beees · 04/11/2022 07:20

I agree if they won't lock them then the warning should remain in the comment box for more than the first post. Once it's been resurrected the warning disappears and leaving it there would be helpful to those clicking on it after it's been ressurected.

I still don't see why after a period of 6 months or even a year that it cannot be the option that only the original poster can revive the thread. Then if they want to post an update they can but equally the thread cannot be ressurected by trolls or other posters. Sometimes the threads are quite upsetting and it seems cruel to allow them to be posted on after so long when the OP might not want their past issues brought back to the forefront.

CaptainMyCaptain · 04/11/2022 07:24

The old thread about the OP who thought she was unable to conceive and had older adopted children was lovely. She updated with a photo of her baby although I suppose it was less than a year though.

Maybe limit really old threads so that the OP can update but other posters don't just tag on with out of date advice.