ATS Members - Do You Prefer NEW Threads or Adding to Existing Threads?.

a reply to: Majic

Right. I think it should be addressed here as well that is why in general once a thread is started and lives on...and a member may want to 'take it back"... or change their member name on past threads...its highly unlikely it can be.

It confuses things back and forth through time and continuity. So be careful when you start one and have a member name you like! 'Cause its in the record likely for GOOD!

Thanks Majic...by the by...always good moderating on your part...thanks for that!

Best

MS

a reply to: carewemust

I like new threads. I love new threads with links to as much material on the subject as possible including links to old threads.

I dont like necrotic threads

Just to clarify, I'm not suggesting old threads should be revived, just that there are no rules against it, and if members want to, they can.

But in general, yeah...

Onward, to the FUTURE!

It's frustrating that very few people see a question posted to an older thread. But it would we wasteful and silly to start a new thread to ask about the Opioid epidemic.

But I gave it a shot... www.abovetopsecret.com...

Obama's National Security Advisor, Susan Rice, has agreed to testify to the House Committee Investigating..err..something.

Should I add that to an old thread, or start a new one?

I think it's SILLY to start a new one, but no one will see it, if I post that fact to an existing Susan Rice related thread.

WHAT WOULD YOU DO?

I really don't like starting new threads, but for the life of me, I can't get any traction by adding an "update" to an existing thread, or asking a question in an existing thread.

How I wish that the only way to view ATS threads was the last one to receive a post. From top to bottom...just like you see when clicking the "Recent" icon on the top ribbon.

originally posted by: carewemust
It's frustrating that very few people see a question posted to an older thread. But it would we wasteful and silly to start a new thread to ask about the Opioid epidemic.

I deliberately look for posts by posters I value first...

the newer issues are 'hot topics' that (imho) need cooled down a bit... because passions rage over common-sense
I often find I am contributing to a year-or-older thread... because of the last-post-made-Author

so... i'm not the only one commenting on older threads that were tucked away...besides there are plenty of threads that never covered the perspective or slant-on-the-issue that I See needed addressing earlier


being a new thread creator takes a talent that I don't excel at... but the site itself loves to throw a bundle-of-data at you which is designed to impress...about the volume of topics being addressed & the ability to handle that traffic


Lucky for me, I been on 'Cruise' for better than 13 years now ...& rarely post more than 5 comments per day which deserve another input that I haven't seen in that thread yet

originally posted by: carewemust

originally posted by: slapjacks
New, sometimes I forget to bookmark and then lose it.

I don't how to bookmark a thread on ATS. But after 10 years here, I'm still finding new features.

The "search" function is bare-bone, but thankfully it's indexed to the forum's contents thoroughly.

It's so bare-bone, that when I tried to search I got only hits from other sites. Why is the search engine here used globally over the entire net, instead of confined to ATS?

The question is not directed at you. It's to anyone that knows the answer.

On topic. I prefer existing topics. I may be biased, since I have been mod on another forum. But that is for me the best way to keep a forum organized and easy to find what you are looking for. It is also more easier to keep control of the trouble members (every forum has them).

Just my opinion. It's not my forum, so I don't have any say in how it is run.

originally posted by: Majic
a reply to: verschickter

SkepticOverlord (Bill Irvine) is the only one with the ability to access or change the code, so he would be the guy to talk to. He's been very busy with other things, though, and gets spammed with all sorts of issues on even the best of days, so I can't guarantee he'd respond, but it couldn't hurt to try.

Many moons ago I suggested using more sub-forums to better categorize topics, but Bill pointed out (correctly) that the fewer hoops members have to jump through to get to a discussion, the better. I know this isn't the same thing, but the same principle may apply.

It seems no matter where you go on the Internet, "General Discussion" is usually the most popular forum. People naturally prefer fewer constraints, and despite the value and need for some sort of topical organization to keep things from becoming one giant hairball, I really can't blame them.

For my part, I would love (and have been requesting for years) the ability to merge threads. Most modern boards have it, and it would solve tons of problems on ATS. But alas, on a custom-coded board, that's a small matter of programming and just one of a long list of things people want, and me wanting it won't change that.

Whatever the outcome, I do appreciate your interest and willingness to help.

That's never a bad thing.

On the forum I was mod on earlier, we categorized the forums under portals. Now this is a different forum software that was used there, but I imagine that it would be possible to do the same thing here.

The setup was like this:

The portal
-forum
-forum
-forum
--sub-forum

Not many sub-forums was used though.

So if you have something like this:

Breaking news:
-US news
-European news
-Asian news
etc

On that forum you could click on the portal, and it gave you all the topics in all the forums in the portal. And even had a search engine set up.

Not sure if it is possible, but it was a great way to set up an easy to navigate forum.

originally posted by: St Udio

originally posted by: carewemust
It's frustrating that very few people see a question posted to an older thread. But it would we wasteful and silly to start a new thread to ask about the Opioid epidemic.

I deliberately look for posts by posters I value first...

the newer issues are 'hot topics' that (imho) need cooled down a bit... because passions rage over common-sense
I often find I am contributing to a year-or-older thread... because of the last-post-made-Author

so... i'm not the only one commenting on older threads that were tucked away...besides there are plenty of threads that never covered the perspective or slant-on-the-issue that I See needed addressing earlier

being a new thread creator takes a talent that I don't excel at... but the site itself loves to throw a bundle-of-data at you which is designed to impress...about the volume of topics being addressed & the ability to handle that traffic

Lucky for me, I been on 'Cruise' for better than 13 years now ...& rarely post more than 5 comments per day which deserve another input that I haven't seen in that thread yet

Thanks for letting everyone know how YOU utilize and navigate ATS, St Udio. First I've heard that a member looks for posts from specific ATS members to read.

Like you, I don't excel at the art of creating high-quality threads, complete with photos, graphics, etc.. But it's interesting how ATS mimics the major media with respect to how they cover specific topics. A new " news article" (thread) is created, even if only incremental information is learned about an ongoing news item (thread).

As you can see when adding to an older thread, most people will never see what you say...even if it's a very important development or revelation. If a thread had 200 posts in 2014, and you add a bombshell update here in 2017 to that thread, you'd think that everyone who posted in 2014, would flock to it, to see what's been added.

originally posted by: flatbush71
Most people ignore a thread once it gets multiple pages.
And for good reason as most of it after the fourth or fifth page is BS.

Its absolutely amazing that people keep posting for 20 or 30 pages.
Only the people posting read it, nobody else does.

Buck

I actually read 20 or 30 pages of posts, I have even read more. I read extremely much more than I post.

originally posted by: pompel9

originally posted by: carewemust

originally posted by: slapjacks
New, sometimes I forget to bookmark and then lose it.

I don't how to bookmark a thread on ATS. But after 10 years here, I'm still finding new features.

The "search" function is bare-bone, but thankfully it's indexed to the forum's contents thoroughly.

On topic. I prefer existing topics. I may be biased, since I have been mod on another forum. But that is for me the best way to keep a forum organized and easy to find what you are looking for. It is also more easier to keep control of the trouble members (every forum has them).

Just my opinion. It's not my forum, so I don't have any say in how it is run.

Thank-you for sharing that, Pompel9. Perhaps it's those of us who have been forum moderators at some point(s) in our life who are all for keeping developments, updates, etc.. relating to a particular subject, in a single thread.

ONE of the things working against that happening at ATS is that there are so many sub-forums. I get the feeling that only a few of us login to ATS and then immediately click on "RECENT" to see what everyone is talking about that day. I think most members have specific sub-forums they like/visit. That's why there can be 3 threads on the same subject, spread across 3 sub-forums, yet most members will only see the one thread in the one forum they visit.

I click on "Recent"...see 3 threads talking about ObamaCare Repeal, and think to myself... "Which one should I comment in?". Or, should I comment in 1 of them, and then do a copy-paste of that comment into the other 2 threads? (I rarely do that...but I often times want to!)

-cwm

originally posted by: pompel9

originally posted by: flatbush71
Most people ignore a thread once it gets multiple pages.
And for good reason as most of it after the fourth or fifth page is BS.

Its absolutely amazing that people keep posting for 20 or 30 pages.
Only the people posting read it, nobody else does.

Buck

I actually read 20 or 30 pages of posts, I have even read more. I read extremely much more than I post.

FlatBush71 is right about how most threads fly off-topic after a few pages. What I hate is when they go off-topic after 3 pages because members with big egos, swipe at, and insult each other for pages of posts at a time.

That's amazing to me, considering that everyone is entitled to his/her opinion. I never take insults personally from people whom I'll never see in my life. (But I do take them as a compliment, if the insults come from someone who is a radical liberal!)