Necro-threads

[danb35]

So after seeing yet another two-year-old thread brought to the top by someone who didn't pay attention to its age before replying, I have to wonder if there's something that can be done about that. Perhaps have threads automatically lock some period of time (maybe a month?) after the last post? I know some forums that do this, but there's a moderator setting that allows the auto-lock to be disabled for particular threads for which it's appropriate.

 

[Ericloewe]

Perhaps have threads automatically lock some period of time (maybe a month?) after the last post?

There's a plugin for that.

Yeah, this seems to have become a more common issue lately. As a first step, a notice that the thread is old would be nice - I think I saw a plugin that does that.

@JoshDW19, what do you think?

 

[joeschmuck]

Unfortunately sometimes there are threads which still do apply. I'm not saying the thread you are specifically talking about was one of them but there are some. I could see an automatic lock on a thread after a certain period of time from the last posting, maybe 1 year or 6 months to start out. I think 1 month is too short of a period of time.

 

[danb35]

Unfortunately sometimes there are threads which still do apply.

Of course, and if we were to implement something like this, there should be a way for the mods to mark threads to not auto-lock.

There's also a tension between expecting users to search the forums (which we do), and even users adding their own related questions to existing threads (which is OK, as far as I'm concerned, if the existing thread is recent enough that everything is dealing with the same version and such), vs. answering a two-year-old question, which really just isn't very helpful.

A warning, as @Ericloewe mentions, to the effect of "this thread is two years old; is your post really helpful?" would be another though; I've seen that before as well.

 

[BigDave]

IMHO if a thread does not receive any replies for 60 days, it should be locked.
If a member just needs to provide a new piece of information (this would be rare),
a moderator would need to become involved so as to temporarily unlock the
thread to add the new post.

 

[joeschmuck]

I agree, a moderator could become involved to temporarily unlock the posting if it's relevant. I think normally someone would just need to create a new thread and provide a link to the old thread as reference.

 

[BigDave]

I think normally someone would just need to create a new thread and provide a link to the old thread as reference.

Yes to that @joeschmuck
My thoughts exactly, make it just a little bit difficult and they will take the easier route ;)
and create the new thread almost every time. You Mods will just need to decide how much
inactivity is enough to lock 'em down :)

 

[adrianwi]

What's the problem with commenting on an old thread? At least it shows the person has searched through the forum, even if they haven't realised it was from some time ago.

On Macrumours, I've seen people resurrect 5+ year old threads, which have then gone on to have a healthy discussion!

 

[Ericloewe]

What's the problem with commenting on an old thread? At least it shows the person has searched through the forum, even if they haven't realised it was from some time ago.

On Macrumours, I've seen people resurrect 5+ year old threads, which have then gone on to have a healthy discussion!

Most of the time, it adds very little.

The latest one was basically a bit of unix-fu. A set of commands that can go into a script to delete files older than 30 days. Sure, it has some value, but the last message had been in 2015.

 

[BigDave]

What's the problem with commenting on an old thread?

This link is an example of a discussion that has become out dated, bloated and has lost value. If this
was better managed, it would be several posts with the aged information eliminated and thus
making the latest post more valuable and pertinent.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-6-with-access-to-remote-hosts-via-nat.22873/

 

[Ericloewe]

This link is an example of a discussion that has become out dated, bloated and has lost value. If this
was better managed, it would be several posts with the aged information eliminated and thus
making the latest post more valuable and pertinent.
https://forums.freenas.org/index.ph...-6-with-access-to-remote-hosts-via-nat.22873/

Well, that thread could really benefit from the Resource treatment. There's a single, updated document, and then there's the discussion thread. That way, people can freely discuss while still making it easy to keep things usable for those who are there to learn.

Speaking of which, a short PSA: Please post how-tos, guides and so on in the Resources section directly. They'll be much more visible. If they suck and have no business being in the Resources section, we'll just delete them. ;)
(Yes, other mods, I'll take the job of keeping an eye on what's posted, no extra work on your part is needed).

Similarly, old documents should be moved to the Resources section. Whenever you see one that you think should be moved there, encourage the author to do so - have them talk with me if they need help or tips. We can preserve old discussion threads, so nothing is lost.

This applies especially to the Plugins/Jails section, since I don't really go there.

 

[adrianwi]

I think the thread you quoted is an example of an excellent one, which is full of valuable information. I used it to create my OpenVPN jail and have recently posted a comment to help resolve a problem after the upgrade.

Sure, some of the posts could have been created in separate threads but then it would have been much more difficult to find the information. Anyone wanting to create an OpenVPN jail should be able to do so by reading some or all of this thread, and having to skip over some irrelevant posts shouldn't be too much of a hardship, and may well help their learning and understanding.

You could make the same case for almost all of the well used "How to..." threads, but I think these are some of the most valuable in the forum and certainly a great resource for anyone new to FreeNAS.

 

[BigDave]

Anyone wanting to create an OpenVPN jail should be able to do so by reading some or all of this thread, and having to skip over some irrelevant posts shouldn't be too much of a hardship,

We must agree to disagree Sir.;)

 

[danb35]

What's the problem with commenting on an old thread?

The one that prompted my post was a question posted over two years ago, to which the last post was also over two years ago. Another user, for reasons known only to him, replied to the thread this morning with an alternate way of addressing the OP's issue. The OP posted two years ago--either he's already figured it out, or he's given up. Another answer really doesn't add anything to the question, and it doesn't really help other users searching for answers, as the new response isn't related to the subject of that thread.

Tagging on to an existing, truly relevant, thread with one's own question is a different story, but I don't see that happen very often. I'll see it when the original thread is from two major versions ago, so the answer (and thus, really, the question) is completely different. More often yet, the question isn't even very closely related to the earlier thread.

You're right, though, that it indicates the poster has searched, and that's a good thing. But IME, most replies to long-dormant threads belong better in their own threads, or simply not posted at all.

 

[adrianwi]

We must agree to disagree Sir.;)

Well, I've just recreated my openvpn jail (after upgrading from 9.3.1 to 9.10.1) using this thread, and whilst it's not for the faint hearted, if you have a little idea of what you're doing everything is in there, so yes, we must agree to disagree!

The internet wouldn't be much fun if we all agreed with each other :)

 

[Jailer]

Just want to throw my $.02 in here and agree with the others that threads should be locked after a certain period of inactivity. I think 90 days would be a good time as updates, even minor ones, have usually been released in that time frame that include fixes to problems.

Posts need to be relevant to the existing current FreeNAS version. It only makes sense that since FreeNAS is not a static product that the threads in the support forum should stay current with the current version.

Why would anyone expect unlimited support for a product they fail or choose to keep up to date. XP anyone?

 

[Tigersharke]

I also would advocate for auto-lock of old threads that have been inactive (no replies) for a defined time period (90 days seems ok to start). On another forum I heard similar arguements against auto-lock or that favored a much longer inactive period. As far as I know an auto-lock does not prevent thanks and certainly does not hide the threads (unless if moving them is also an option to set). The myBB plugin for auto-lock was not as flexible as it could have been. I hope the XenForo plugin would allow for different inactive periods as well as not lock, for any of the various forum areas. As for any particularly valuable information that might need future updates but could lose activity of the thread, those could be revised as resources.

With regard to "proof of searching for an answer" by way of commenting on an effectively retired thread:
those users could as easily start a new thread and give links to other threads that they feel approximate their situation. Who knows, perhaps by needing to describe similarities without having the text in the same body (by way of commenting etc) they might discover some details they forgot or it will just get the gears in their head turning..

 

[JoshDW19]

If we were to do this it likely means people will make new threads that are exact duplicates of old threads to get new input. I agree that necro threads can be annoying, but what benefit do we gain by auto-locking the threads? It seems to me that we would be trading one annoyance for another. What do you all think?

 

[Jailer]

but what benefit do we gain by auto-locking the threads?

Keeping questions relevant to the current supported version.

 

[JoshDW19]

Keeping questions relevant to the current supported version.

Hmmm. I understand that and it's a valid point. Is there anyone that would like to argue against us automatically closing threads? If not I don't see any reason why we shouldn't continue.