How long does a thread 'live'?

I just visited a thread that is 6 years old and 14 pages long.

It's still 'alive' because the OP 'bumped' it...a bit like a prone 95 year old being defibbed.

It's not even a record - we've all come across threads much older and much, much longer.

There comes a point where you think, "This is ancient history. Please archive this old relic, good moderator."

You should then be allowed to start a new thread on the exact same topic - just because the previous thread 'died' a natural death.

So my question is, what is the lifespan of a thread?

Also, how long can a thread get before it becomes unwieldy and put out to grass?

reply to post by CJCrawley


After recent changes to ATS website the new maximum is 400 pages long [20replies per page] before it gets automatically closed by the mods as being to long in the tooth [i.e. it causes problems for the servers mainframe and overloads the database etc.].

The lifespan of a threads usefulness is generally about 1 to 2yrs old and I have seen many threads topics revamped by others after about that time period even if the old thread has not reached 400pages long.

This is my personal opinion based on what I have read on ATS and during the time that I lurked!

I hope this helps!

New information on an old topic may be posted in a new thread IF the older thread has been inactive for more than a few months.

A new thread with no new information on an old topic will be subject to closing and redirecting when discovered.

Hope that helps.

reply to post by masqua


So basically, all things being equal, threads just go on and on ad infinitum?

reply to post by CJCrawley


Yes. I have threads that go back to my first days on ATS, including my introduction. I'd not be happy about losing any of them.