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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

Zombie Threads

22 replies

RedDiamond · 23/11/2023 14:41

Have you considered whether or not to put a "click here to confirm you DO want to post on a Zombie thread"?

I have just come across one that was started in January 2022 and a poster has resurrected it in November 2023 and it's total twaddle too.

OP posts:
LilyMumsnet · 23/11/2023 14:51

Hi OP

Thanks for the suggestion - we're happy to have a chat about this in the office but there are no immediate plans to change how we restrict zombie threads.

Can you report the above poster using the report button? We'd like to check that everything is above board.

In the meantime, we do have a standard warning on older threads that looks a little something like this:

Zombie Threads
RedDiamond · 23/11/2023 15:37

Hi Lily, I have reported the post for you.

OP posts:
BIWI · 23/11/2023 17:06

But @LilyMumsnet how many times do we have to point out to you (MNHQ, not you personally!) that posters just don't read that?

I think @RedDiamond's idea is a really good one - it makes a poster realise they're posting on a zombie thread.

sushiburger · 23/11/2023 17:12

BIWI · 23/11/2023 17:06

But @LilyMumsnet how many times do we have to point out to you (MNHQ, not you personally!) that posters just don't read that?

I think @RedDiamond's idea is a really good one - it makes a poster realise they're posting on a zombie thread.

How do you know they haven't read it and decided to post anyway?

BIWI · 23/11/2023 17:16

Well they may have done - sometimes it's not an issue posting on a zombie thread, as the question or situation raised in the thread might one that is timeless (IYSIM), but it's very obvious when someone has posted without reading that warning. e.g. when someone asks how the OP got on (with whatever the problem or question was) when their OP was written many months, sometimes even years, ago.

junbean · 23/11/2023 17:19

I've done it accidentally- MN suggests "similar posts" and I assumed they were recent so made a comment, only to get a very rude reply I was resurrecting. Now I check the date every time with high anxiety. I think rudeness needs to be addressed more than an unknowing comment. Or the site engineers coding to keep old threads where they belong.

sushiburger · 23/11/2023 17:21

BIWI · 23/11/2023 17:16

Well they may have done - sometimes it's not an issue posting on a zombie thread, as the question or situation raised in the thread might one that is timeless (IYSIM), but it's very obvious when someone has posted without reading that warning. e.g. when someone asks how the OP got on (with whatever the problem or question was) when their OP was written many months, sometimes even years, ago.

Ah right I see

idontlikealdi · 23/11/2023 17:21

It's really annoying when they pull through to active, the 'suggested posts' doesn't help.

User8743 · 29/11/2023 20:52

Some MNetters are overly obsessed with the zombie threads. We get it, you don't like them, and you keep going on and on and on about them.
However, several of us, not only like them, but we purposely post on them because the gift of hindsight is precious. Take this discussion at the top of the weaning section https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weaning/349343-12-month-old-and-changing-eating-habits-anyone-else-had , the OP posted in 2007 (!!) and receives a call from a 2023 mother asking how it turned out. The OP came back and reassured the poster.
Isn't that the essence of parenting? sharing the wisdom that comes with the3 passing of time?

People are distracted, often don't read the date, often they don't even read the whole thread and will post a comment which makes no sense because a solution has been offered 500 posts above, but that's how social media and the internet work.
By asking someone to confirm an action - such as I understand this is an old thread, you risk losing them. It is MN not a banking app, asking me to confirm I want to post here is absurd. Social media is impulsive, spontaneous. That's its beauty.

12 month old and changing eating habits- anyone else had this? | Mumsnet

DS has just turned one. He has been BLW since 6 months with great success, eating anything and everything and also feeding himself with a spoon (if we...

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weaning/349343-12-month-old-and-changing-eating-habits-anyone-else-had

MagentaRocks · 29/11/2023 21:13

A million times people, including me have made suggestions that are ignored. I think a traffic light system, green for recent, amber for maybe a month or so and red for longer so it is obvious it is an old thread. It gets ignored every time. I think with the similar thread suggestions on MN there will be more zombie threads.

User8743 · 29/11/2023 21:28

Traffic light system? No wonder such suggestions are ignored.

So you want to put lines of codes so that after a certain set date, a thread automatically converts to another colour and then after some time another colour again. That's not doable. Especially not in a live website. A MNetter starts reading a discussion at 11.59 pm and technically at 00.01 am bang on when she is typing a reply that discussion should switch colour because the date changes. Sorry, it is just ridiculous.

Get over the zombie thing. It is fine.

BIWI · 30/11/2023 10:47

Oh OK. @User8743 has spoken. Biscuit

User8743 · 01/12/2023 07:26

Let's do some basic maths.

There are roughly 22.000 new posts on any given day. This means, that every single day, 22.000 posts become "amber" (a month old) and 22.000 become "red" (2-3-12 or whatever months old) . To change colour to these 44.000 posts, every single day, MN needs to be off-line. Every day at midnight, MN needs to become unavailable to its 8.000.000 monthly users because what 20 or so MNetters hate zombie threads. Let's make it huge, 2.000 MNetters hate zombie thread. Hate, hate, hate them.

I hate trivia nights. I don't go to the pub or school events if they involve trivia. However, I don't start a campaign to ban trivia.

There is already a warning on zombie threads, saying this is old, sure you don't want to start a new one.

You open a zombie thread, close it, or post a biscuit, or report it if offensive, and happily move on to shiny and fresh new discussions.

BIWI · 01/12/2023 09:35

If you don't like this thread, then why don't you leave, @User8743?

Have another Biscuit

AnImaginaryCat · 01/12/2023 09:45

A thread I started 13 years ago got resuscitated recently!

I've absolutely no recollection of starting it or the topic I was posting about.

MagentaRocks · 01/12/2023 18:20

User8743 · 29/11/2023 21:28

Traffic light system? No wonder such suggestions are ignored.

So you want to put lines of codes so that after a certain set date, a thread automatically converts to another colour and then after some time another colour again. That's not doable. Especially not in a live website. A MNetter starts reading a discussion at 11.59 pm and technically at 00.01 am bang on when she is typing a reply that discussion should switch colour because the date changes. Sorry, it is just ridiculous.

Get over the zombie thing. It is fine.

Then why not explain that instead of just saying they are looking into it and ignoring it. You can have different colours for your own, the ops updates so I kind of thought it would be a similar thing. Not everyone knows about coding

There is no need to be dismissive and condescending either.

The problem people have with zombie threads is the warning doesn't last and if someone replies on an old thread and it is totally irrelevant you then have others replying also. It's usually someone asking advice on their 5 year old. A 10 year old thread with advice on that situation is just a waste of time as that child would be a teenager.

Museum1066 · 01/12/2023 20:41

@User8743
real time traffic light codes are possible to run while the site is being used.

code examples:

const express = require('express');
const http = require('http');
const WebSocket = require('ws');

const app = express();
const server = http.createServer(app);
const wss = new WebSocket.Server({ server });

let threadColor = 'initialColor';

app.get('/api/thread-color', (req, res) => {
res.json({ color: threadColor });
});

wss.on('connection', (ws) => {
// Send initial color to the connected client
ws.send(JSON.stringify({ color: threadColor }));

// Handle messages from the client (if needed)
ws.on('message', (message) => {
// Handle incoming messages from clients
});
});

// Update thread color every minute for demonstration purposes
setInterval(() => {
threadColor = getNextColor();
// Broadcast the color change to all connected clients
wss.clients.forEach((client) => {
if (client.readyState === WebSocket.OPEN) {
client.send(JSON.stringify({ color: threadColor }));
}
});
}, 60000); // Update every minute

// Start the server
server.listen(3000, () => {
console.log('Server is running on port 3000');
});

function getNextColor() {
// Implement logic to determine the next color based on your requirements
// For demonstration, you can use a predefined set of colors
const colors = ['color1', 'color2', 'color3'];
const currentIndex = colors.indexOf(threadColor);
const nextIndex = (currentIndex + 1) % colors.length;
return colors[nextIndex];
}

and

// Client-side (JavaScript)
const socket = new WebSocket('ws://localhost:3000');

socket.onopen = (event) => {
console.log('WebSocket connection opened:', event);
};

socket.onmessage = (event) => {
const data = JSON.parse(event.data);
updateThreadColor(data.color);
};

socket.onclose = (event) => {
console.log('WebSocket connection closed:', event);
};

function updateThreadColor(color) {
// Implement logic to update the thread color on the client side
// This could involve changing the CSS class, background color, etc.
console.log('Thread color updated:', color);
}

BIWI · 01/12/2023 21:40

<applauds @Museum1066>

... although I have no clue what any of that was about!

User8743 · 01/12/2023 21:46

Why should I leave? Is it a discussion for those against only? Where does it say so.

I give another perspective on zombie threads and it seems tolerance on difference of opinions is very low, getting a biscuit, even two, for saying I don't mind them.

Some zombie threads are sweet, like the one I posted above. Yes that child is now a teenager and that is the whole point of it. How did that little boy turned out, 15 years down the line.

And to the coder. A server for a site the size of MN would struggle to update 44000 posts at once on a daily basis and slow operations and I believe the disturbance to users would be greater when as you type, the colour of your post changes suddenly.

AutumnFroglets · 01/12/2023 22:10

I disagree. I haven't met a sweet zombie thread yet. Most are irritating because the information is generally out of date.

TheElfOnTheShelfIsTakingAKeroseneBath · 22/12/2023 17:15

This reply has been deleted

Sorry all, this is a big old troll so we've removed their threads and posts.

MsLogical · 23/12/2023 13:04

@User8743 they wouldn't need to update those thousands of posts all at once with a new colour. Just record the date the thread was last updated, then when it comes to displaying the page, calculate the time difference between then and now, and determine the colour to display it in from that subtraction. Easy peasy.

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