[WISH] Close Old thread to new postings

[Cableguy]

Hi @Erel,

Today something very funny happened between @alwaysbusy and @ilan...
Alain had marked a thread as Solved and Ilan asked how he solved it as he was too having a similar problem...
The funny part is, it was a 5 year thread! and of course, last activity on it dated from 5 years ago!
My wish is that, Threads older than 1 year, with more than 6 months of "inactivity" should be closed to further posting, thus forcing for a new thread to be created.

 

[moster67]

For me it's fine as long as library threads are not closed..

 

[Cableguy]

For me it's fine as long as library threads are not closed..

Why should they keep open?
This wish is so that the questioning user is forced to create a NEW thread instead of posting in a dead one. As happened today, Alain did'nt even remembered what his solution was to the problem!

 

[moster67]

So when I am supposed to know if anybody asks a question about a library of mine? I don't read the forum daily, maybe there can be two weeks in between me accessing the forum. Am I supposed to read all posts written during two weeks? If they write in my library thread, I will be notified and not miss the related post.

 

[Cableguy]

I understand your point of view, but, if its not a bug, then any other user that knows how to use your lib can answer a post about your lib, no?
If its a bug report, then I am forced to believe that it should be reported while the thread is "hot 'n' fresh"... not after 6 months without ANY new posting on that thread!
Let me ask you, when you use the search function of the forum, do you actually look into threads that have had their last posting 3 years ago?
Anyway, this is just a wish...

 

[moster67]

Some libraries work and are used even after 5 years from being published.
Some libraries are of specific interest so many users would not even bother to help since they don't use them.

I just replied to your wish with my consideration. Finally it would be Erel to decide.
I am out.

 

[Alexander Stolte]

And what if i want to release an update after half a year? then i have to post the library in a new thread?

I think it's good the way it is, because it's better to be notified when someone has a problem, I can still tell everyone that it's better to post in a new thread, but it always depends on what the concern is.

A better solution would be, that the thread creator can decide, if further answers from other members should be possible, but he himself can still post something.
That would sometimes keep a thread cleaner.

 

[DonManfred]

Why should they keep open?

If the thread is closed i can not update my published Libraries.

A better solution would be, that the thread creator can decide, if further answers from other members should be possible, but he himself can still post something.
That would sometimes keep a thread cleaner.

I do agree with this.

 

[Erel]

There is a warning in old posts. Technically it is not possible to lock old threads while allowing the thread author to continue posting.
I usually delete such posts with a message to the poster that they should start a new thread.

If someone posts a question in an old thread (excluding libraries threads or tutorials) then the only correct answer should to ask the poster to start a new thread.

 

[Julen]

There is a warning in old posts. Technically it is not possible to lock old threads while allowing the thread author to continue posting.
I usually delete such posts with a message to the poster that they should start a new thread.

If someone posts a question in an old thread (excluding libraries threads or tutorials) then the only correct answer should to ask the poster to start a new thread.

This happened to me this week and I don't understand why. I found a solution to a problem in a thread but there was no explanation of why the solution worked so I asked why. Erel deleted my post, but I believe that thread (which had been inactive since 2019) was the best place to have the explanation I asked about.

What is the advantage of starting a new thread for that and what is the problem of continuing with the old one?

Julen

 

[Erel]

You can start a new thread and post a link to the old one.

What is the advantage of starting a new thread for that and what is the problem of continuing with the old one?

It helps with building a knowledge base. Without it we will have endless unsearchable discussions.

There should only be a question in the very first post. No one will ever find a helpful question and answer in page 17 of a long thread.

 

[Julen]

Thanks for the reply.

In this case I disagree, because that way the information gets fragmented. IMO, the thread was not complete as the solution was given without an explanation. Adding the explanation there would have made it much more usefull for anyone reading it in the future.

Moreover, that particular thread was very short.

Anyway, I am Ok with it if that's how it is.

Julen

 

[NeoTechni]

A post of mine was deleted under the reason "you should never respond to old threads"

I don't agree with this policy, if I am googling the solution to a problem it is best to have that solution eventually show up in the google result so it's easier to find
The original question was not answered (how do you get the subnet mask?) and I was asking for it to be.

This policy needs to be changed


Also I am finding it very difficult to find some libraries. If I google them I can find the help pages easily but not view the site's search bar (which is why the site should work with google), but they should either link to the file itself, or the thread you can find them in. Though it'd be better to directly link to the file, then you could build the functionality into B4A to download them.

You can start a new thread and post a link to the old one.

It helps with building a knowledge base. Without it we will have endless unsearchable discussions.

I feel starting a new thread and linking to another does that. A hundred threads on the same thread is not helpful.

 

[agraham]

Also I am finding it very difficult to find some libraries.

New feature - online libraries index | B4X Programming Forum
B4X Libraries - Google Sheets

 

[NeoTechni]

I mean the search functionality should be built in, I shouldn't have to check a google sheet!
This should either be built into B4A or the site itself (if the site uses PHP I am willing to do it for you guys)
The help pages could also link to the result from the google sheet, and B4A could even link to the help pages

 

[Erel]

Also I am finding it very difficult to find some libraries.

This comment has nothing to do with this thread but let me try to help you. Which library are you looking for?

If I google them

Never use Google. There is a good search engine in this site.

This policy needs to be changed

It will not be changed. Don't make too much drama about it. Just create a new thread.

 

[Erel]

(if the site uses PHP I am willing to do it for you guys)

Thank you for this suggestion.
There is a custom built search engine based on Lucene. It uses about 15 factors to score the results. It uses BM25 algorithm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okapi_BM25) for the keywords scoring + stemming + many other advanced features. This is not something that you can do with PHP.

 

[Erel]

This should either be built into B4A or the site itself

Check the search field in the top right corner.

This thread is a good example of why you should never post questions in an existing thread. It is therefore locked.