Suggestion: Staff Approval for Bumping Threads

[Zeotor]

The Basic Idea: A staff member (Moderator, Super Moderator, Administrator) would have to approve new posts to an old thread.

Example: A forum member tries to post a reply to a certain thread. The last post of that thread was made two years ago. When that forum member goes to submit the reply, a new page comes up. The page displays a message that states, "Due to the age of this thread, you cannot post this message without approval. To submit your message for approval, choose 'Continue.' Otherwise, choose 'Cancel.'"

Issue: What some people consider an "old" thread may not be an "old" thread to someone else. Some standard length of time from the thread's last post to the current time and date would have to be established. For example, six months, one year, three years et cetera. This wouldn't have to be the forum's official definition of old (not that the forum has one); it could be more of a guideline.

Something similar to this was proposed here in 2010.

 

[rj]

The Basic Idea: A staff member (Moderator, Super Moderator, Administrator) would have to approve new posts to an old thread.

Example: A forum member tries to post a reply to a certain thread. The last post of that thread was made two years ago. When that forum member goes to submit the reply, a new page comes up. The page displays a message that states, "Due to the age of this thread, you cannot post this message without approval. To submit your message for approval, choose 'Continue.' Otherwise, choose 'Cancel.'"

Issue: What some people consider an "old" thread may not be an "old" thread to someone else. Some standard length of time from the thread's last post to the current time and date would have to be established. For example, six months, one year, three years et cetera. This wouldn't have to be the forum's official definition of old (not that the forum has one); it could be more of a guideline.

I don't think this is helpful before 3 years.

 

[sneaklyfox]

This idea is probably ok. And once the first post after the 2 years or whatever is approved then other posts would be as normal again. But I don't really see a problem with bumping really old threads depending on what the thread is about and what the new post is. Some things don't get old (like Reader's Digest) and IMO it's silly to make a new thread of exactly the same topic when it's not one of those things that really gets old.

 

[mark49152]

Does it matter? I agree with Sneaklyfox. If it's on-topic, better to revive an old thread than create a new one. Some bumps are great as they resurface old content that might be interesting to the newer audience - the recent bump of the ZZF2L move count thread is a good example. That was a better read than any of the new stuff posted that day.