the locking of threads

[duckfan96]

So start a new thread on the same subject...but in the off topic. Its not really that hard. I appreciate all the work the mods do. Keep up the good work. The way they run things here is the reason I left Olive and have never gone back to that pos forum. JMO

[Zyme]

It's because there are no guidelines as to what and when threads should be locked. This board is run as a dictatorship. But the people are mostly happy, so whatcha gonna do?

It is a dictatorship true, but so far its been a benevolent dictatorship. I think he's done a pretty good job around here.

[TheMaehlMan]

I'm not sure if you have, but I would have just PM'ed the mod who closed it rather than creating a thread. I'm a mod on a different forum, and I always tell posters that if they have a problem just to PM me about it and I'll reconsider. Then again, you may have PM'ed whoever closed it, I wouldn't know. I do think you bring up good points though.

[UOducksTK1]

at the slightest disagreement or deviation from the original subject matter is pretty bush if you ask me.

I don't see why we should be discussing another member's age in a Deanthony Thomas thread. If you want to keep the discussion going, I have NO problem members continuing it in the off topic section.

[UOducksTK1]

Last locked thread in Kelly's Heroes:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=9289&start=15
Jan 11th

And I locked 2 threads in the recruiting forum this month:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9625&start=30
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9650&start=120

Honestly, where are these threads headed? They all go off topic and end in personal attacks. That's not what this forum is about. That's one thing I will not slide by, sorry.

[wheaton4prez]

My 27 cents:

Personal attacks and off-topic are two different things. In my view, the response to personal attacks is to take it up with the person making them rather than locking the thread on everyone.

In regard to where those threads are headed, they are headed where the posters involved want to go with them. That's just the nature of conversation. It happens in the purely football related threads. It happens when people go from Odysseaus to Bromance.

It's just a subjective call to close a thread on the basis that someone doesn't like where it's going. In this recent case, others are pointing out that they were interested in seeing where it would end up. Perhaps they wanted to know the true age of Wheaton4Prez.

My vote is to just move threads for organization purposes if needed rather than close them. Isn't there a way to branch a thread from a certain point into a new thread? I know that feature was available in other installs of phpBB.

[Autzenoise]

I for one am happy to see the threads locked that have been. If you want to continue to go off topic, instead of making them do your dirty work and move the thread, start one in off topic. Don't be lazy.

I have seen at least twice where threads were locked, and later unlocked after people had cooled down, or maybe the mods were contacted.

Please keep up the great work mods!

[L Perry]

Wow. So it is the admin's job to come in and move the thread rather than close it, so the members do not have to actually stay on the subject matter of the thread?...That is like some really heavy silver spoon logic!
I for one prefer to actually be able to tell what is in a thread, to a certain degree, by the subject matter expressed by the thread title.
Really did not think I would get dragged into board politics in my second post here. Is someone making you use this forum? Probably not. And as forum netiquette goes, the admin seems to be pretty standard for sites that actually are not seething pools of chaos. Just my .02¢ worth.


L.P.

[wheaton4prez]

Nobody said that it was anyone's job to move threads. I characterized my position as "my vote" as in that's the way I think it should be done but I don't feel entitled to having a say beyond the value of my membership. Personally, I think it's silver spoon for users to feel inconvenienced if they come across a thread that contains people writing about something they aren't interested in. Just click out! A forum is a place for discussions. It's not wikipedia.

The problem with saying that people should move to new threads on their own is that it's subjective when that should happen. Most threads on this site have deviated from the original topic to some degree. Whose opinion should rule on which of those should be split?

[UOducksTK1]

I for one am happy to see the threads locked that have been. If you want to continue to go off topic, instead of making them do your dirty work and move the thread, start one in off topic. Don't be lazy.

I have seen at least twice where threads were locked, and later unlocked after people had cooled down, or maybe the mods were contacted.

Please keep up the great work mods!

Thanks I appreciate it, it takes a lot of work to get this site up and running. And it's especially hard to maintain this site since I work 2 jobs and am a full time Computer Science major.

[Autzenoise]

The problem with saying that people should move to new threads on their own is that it's subjective when that should happen. Most threads on this site have deviated from the original topic to some degree. Whose opinion should rule on which of those should be split?

Really?

Let's not go down the path of "how do i discern what is off topic." I think we all have the scruples to see when the thread has taken a turn, and being the intelligent people we are, we can take the time to say "hey, I started a new thread in off-topic so we can continue it there."

If that seems like too much to ask, then maybe the internetz are too powerful a tool for you guys

[Duck07]

The problem with saying that people should move to new threads on their own is that it's subjective when that should happen. Most threads on this site have deviated from the original topic to some degree. Whose opinion should rule on which of those should be split?

Really?

Let's not go down the path of "how do i discern what is off topic." I think we all have the scruples to see when the thread has taken a turn, and being the intelligent people we are, we can take the time to say "hey, I started a new thread in off-topic so we can continue it there."

If that seems like too much to ask, then maybe the internetz are too powerful a tool for you guys

my entire point about bringing this up was that 1) some of the reasons for locking threads were a bit trigger happy (wheaton's age ?, my calling supreme a troll - these don't really seem to me like "lockable" causes and in the same light you could consider your jab about the internet and posters to be along the same line. 2) if its bothering the mod's/posters that a thread has gotten off-topic, its just as simple to move it as it is to lock it, so just move it instead.

as far as posting in the "off-topic" section, it gets very few looks from people period, so starting and taking part in a discussion there is like trying to find a girl at taylor's with an original thought - not going to happen. this is also why the "offseason hot girl thread," "post a pic that is worth a 1000 words" etc is in the football room - it just gets more activity. Now I think TK's creation of the "Duck07 thread" is a bit superfluous, but if it allows people on this board to engage on other topics to keep the board "alive," then fine. if nobody want's to talk about what's being discussed anymore, the thread will fall off the first page, but nobody is forcing people to keep clicking on a thread if you already know its gotten off-topic.

[wheaton4prez]

The problem with saying that people should move to new threads on their own is that it's subjective when that should happen. Most threads on this site have deviated from the original topic to some degree. Whose opinion should rule on which of those should be split?

Really?

Let's not go down the path of "how do i discern what is off topic." I think we all have the scruples to see when the thread has taken a turn, and being the intelligent people we are, we can take the time to say "hey, I started a new thread in off-topic so we can continue it there."

If that seems like too much to ask, then maybe the internetz are too powerful a tool for you guys

Like I pointed out, most threads on this site go off topic at some point. If you look closely at this, the issue is not whether or not threads go off topic. They almost always do. The issue is when the topic goes to a subject that some people aren't interested in. And that is a subjective judgment. In this case, some people didn't like the subject direction, others did.

If it's too much to ask that people not read things that they aren't interested in, I suggest newspapers rather than internetz.

[L Perry]

The problem with saying that people should move to new threads on their own is that it's subjective when that should happen. Most threads on this site have deviated from the original topic to some degree. Whose opinion should rule on which of those should be split?

Really?

Let's not go down the path of "how do i discern what is off topic." I think we all have the scruples to see when the thread has taken a turn, and being the intelligent people we are, we can take the time to say "hey, I started a new thread in off-topic so we can continue it there."

If that seems like too much to ask, then maybe the internetz are too powerful a tool for you guys

my entire point about bringing this up was that 1) some of the reasons for locking threads were a bit trigger happy (wheaton's age ?, my calling supreme a troll - these don't really seem to me like "lockable" causes and in the same light you could consider your jab about the internet and posters to be along the same line. 2) if its bothering the mod's/posters that a thread has gotten off-topic, its just as simple to move it as it is to lock it, so just move it instead.

as far as posting in the "off-topic" section, it gets very few looks from people period, so starting and taking part in a discussion there is like trying to find a girl at taylor's with an original thought - not going to happen. this is also why the "offseason hot girl thread," "post a pic that is worth a 1000 words" etc is in the football room - it just gets more activity. Now I think TK's creation of the "Duck07 thread" is a bit superfluous, but if it allows people on this board to engage on other topics to keep the board "alive," then fine. if nobody want's to talk about what's being discussed anymore, the thread will fall off the first page, but nobody is forcing people to keep clicking on a thread if you already know its gotten off-topic.

Item #1) Seems rather basic, targeting the poster vs the post.
#2) No it is not just as simple. If the thread is moved, it still has valid content as to the original subject matter that would be gone.

And why do you suppose that you can not find anyone in the 'off-topic' section to hold a conversation with? Because they want to discuss subjects that are relevant/timely to them.



L.P.

[wheaton4prez]

#2) No it is not just as simple. If the thread is moved, it still has valid content as to the original subject matter that would be gone.

Unless this install of phpBB is different than others I've had admin access to, you don't have to move the entire thread. You can check individual posts and move only those to a new thread.

And why do you suppose that you can not find anyone in the 'off-topic' section to hold a conversation with? Because they want to discuss subjects that are relevant/timely to them.

Not sure that I understand what is being said here. However, I think it's a bit retentive to expect that a large group of people mostly discussing football can't occasionally digress. It would be like a UO administrator shutting down a football banquet early because LaMichael James started talking about Texas instead of football. "This is a football banquet you jerks!"