How about automatically closing threads that have been unanswered for months?

[Catsmere]

There have been a lot of zombie threads lately - one was ten years old! Since it seems way too hard for some posters to look at the dates, would it be possible to automatically close them to new replies after a set period?

@HebeMumsnet , what about a bigger "heads up, this post is over a year old" or "hasn't been active for months" type of banner appearing when someone tries to respond?

I think the best option would be somewhere in the middle. Threads become read-only after 1 year but the OP updating would reset that timer again. That way, the OP can update and people can respond to the updates. But it also stops people replying to threads from 2004 where the OP hasn't been back for 20 years.

This is a very sensible suggestion, but unfortunately it seems MNHQ are determined to keep things as they are.

That sounds like a very good idea.

All the op needs to do is put Update in title of a new thread then link to old thread.
Last week the two top threads on Threads I am were from 2011 and they had been bumped by trolls

The really annoying ones are when someone tags a new but sort of related question onto a 10yo thread. Everyone then carries on answering the original question in good faith, and the new question gets ignored by most, and the posters get attacked by other posters for giving incorrect advice, but really they are just answering different questions!

In the good old days, the date the thread was started was shown in the active list, rather than having to check. This was really helpful, so of course MN got rid of it.

Zombie threads are only the mildest of irritants to me. And they disappear soon enough.

Apologies duplicate post

There's a zombie thread (bad enough originally, it's goady imo) at the top of AIBU now. Damn things can't disappear fast enough for me!

@HebeMumsnet but why doesn't MN think it a good idea? Yes leave the threads so that they can be read, but what good is it when some spammer adds a sales link to every thread with 'chimney' in the title which then get rapidly deleted, but in the process resurrects 20 ten year old threads into active?

The iPhone app doesn't show the date all the time. It shows the time but not the date.

I think it would be a good idea for old threads to show up in a different colour, but I don't want them to be closed.

This comes up so often, yet MNHQ do nothing about it, despite the number of eminently helpful suggestions. I really don't understand why @HebeMumsnet!

@fedupwithbeingcold wow, that's inadequate!

I sometimes wonder why anyone bothers with the app. Everything I see about it says it's missing important features. I use the website whether I'm on iPad or iPhone.

@BIWI maybe the same reason they aren't dealing with the stupid "watch" bar that cuts across the screen in Chat, despite being repeatedly asked to do so ...

Can you explain why you don't want old threads to be closed to new posts?

I don't see any downsides to making old threads read only (unless you're the OP and want to post an update)

It means spammers and trolls can't revive a long dead thread
Posters can still benefit from all the advice, and enjoy reading them
The OP doesn't have to relive or be reminded of a thread they posted years ago

because they often are relevant and people often start to use them again

Why not just start a new thread and link to the old one, then?

An old thread may be relevant but that doesn't mean people need to post on it. If it's still relevant then chances are there are newer and more up to date threads, and if not then posters are free to start one.

We're not talking about threads that are 6 months old. The zombie threads that have been revived are often years old, and some even reappear over a decade later.

They ate not relrvant. If someone bumps an old thread nobody reads the bump , they just answer the Op who is long gone.

Indeed @Whinge

We're not talking about threads that are 6 months old. The zombie threads that have been revived are often years old, and some even reappear over a decade later.

One came up very recently on my TIO that was 12 years old!

Why don’t people just take a beat to read the date? If it’s a long thread popping up I always go to the first page. If the date is from years ago I’ll zip to the last page and find the point of resurrection. And see if it’s of any interest.

Thanks HebeMum for sticking to your guns on this despite the recurring pressure. The comment that states ‘This thread hasn’t been posted on for a while’ is the perfect solution.

And as for the OP being the only one to resurrect? What if there’s been a real back and forth with a number of key contributors other than the OP and they want to update?

Personally, I wish more people came back and updated. I had a really nice exchange with someone whose thread was updated and it turned up on my ‘threads I’m on’. I last posted on the thread 12 years ago and was able to update the very expert OP who had helped me out with an issue my 4 year old was having - who is now nearly 17!! Someone else hadn’t spotted it was a zombie thread, and the OP came back - so I said hi! Was lovely!😊

I think the zombies should be closed for new replies but still searchable. If someone wants to reference an old thread they can always link to it.

Thread title says months. I don’t agree with that.

Bur perhaps 1/2 years old defined as a zombie thread.

Im ok with Zombie threads.

if it’s taken from date of op then that’s dadsnet buggered.

So how would that work for long running threads like those about Grenfell and the post office scandal. Particularly as the inquiries last for years