Kill topic option.

We know you have an opinion on how things should be run around here. These are suggestions for the forums, and the website.This forum is not a place to ask for suggestions to your own coding (or otherwise) problems.

Moderator: General Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
uberpolak
Forum Contributor
Posts: 261
Joined: Thu Jan 02, 2003 10:37 am
Location: Next to the bar

Kill topic option.

Post by uberpolak »

Due to work and school comittments, I'm unable to check the forums with as much frequency as I'd like. Often there's a 24 hour gap between when I can see what's here, but, I still want to be of some service. When there are 300 unread posts (and most of them in the same forum), and posts from the current day on page two, it becomes difficult to read through them. I find that when I do, many of them have already been solved.

To relieve some of the "holy <span style='color:blue' title='I&#39;m naughty, are you naughty?'>smurf</span> there's way too much here" shock, I have an idea. Allow the user who started a topic to stop it. Don't delete it, because the solution could have valuable information, and don't lock it down, because someone may want to add something to their solution, but have an option so the topic won't be reported if it has unread posts. That way, a user could see their problem has been solved, and cut down the amount of reading for those of us cruising around the forums looking to help out.

Nothing crucial, but it'd be nice.
User avatar
EvilWalrus
Site Admin
Posts: 209
Joined: Thu Apr 18, 2002 3:21 pm
Location: Springmont, PA USA

Post by EvilWalrus »

You're also forgetting that the additional posts to an already 'solved' topic provide a more intensive reference point for new users searching the forums for answer to their own questions.

There's always two sides to a coin.
User avatar
twigletmac
Her Royal Site Adminness
Posts: 5371
Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2002 2:21 am
Location: Essex, UK

Post by twigletmac »

Personally, I'm enjoying the approach of adding [SOLVED] to topics that are done with, that means I can happily ignore those knowing the user feels their problem has been dealt with.

Unfortunately there is no way to force users to close stop a topic. Mods are generally adding [SOLVED] to topics as are some regular users (to their own topics). If we can encourage that it will help when you've been away for a few days.

Mac
User avatar
Michael 01
Forum Commoner
Posts: 87
Joined: Wed Feb 04, 2004 12:26 am

Post by Michael 01 »

twigletmac wrote:
Unfortunately there is no way to force users to close stop a topic. Mods are generally adding [SOLVED] to topics as are some regular users (to their own topics). If we can encourage that it will help when you've been away for a few days.

Mac
Is there a possibility of "locking" the thread or post from more replies, creating a separate category, or forum consisting of "solved" threads, and than moving those threads that have been deemed "solved" there as a archive of sorts?
Some forums I have been to, delight in beating the dead horse, and than starting all new topics within the same thread, so it becomes this mass unnessessary storage hog with no actual bearing or meaning to solving anything after which of course you have spent a good half hour digging through it looking for the answer. :?
Post Reply