We're pruning old threads

[Ed Zotti]

In an effort to keep the SDMB from crashing so often, we're pruning the oldest threads in the largest forums such as GQ. We're archiving some threads and deleting the remainder. As of right now we've cleaned out everything in GQ prior to 6-1-99. We'll be continuing this process here and in other forums in the weeks ahead. Pruning may cause your post count to go down - sorry, but better that than have the board be out of commission for hours at a stretch several times a week. We're also taking other steps to improve reliability - I'll be posting a thread about this in ATMB soon. Thanks for your patience!

[RM Mentock]

Ed

I know that there are some people who are disappointed that the post count will not reflect the actual number of posts. Perhaps, UBB will make a small mod to the software someday so that those old posts would reappear in the post count. Shouldn't be that hard.

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rocks

[Vestal Blue]

Ed, my thanks to you and the other administrators for the job you folks do; I appreciate it.

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VB

Some people say that cats are sneaky, evil, and cruel. True, and they have many other fine qualities as well.

[Sycorax]

Wonderful - yes we do appreciate it Ed. BTW, KILL THE POST COUNT. what the heck is it with this obsession with one's post count? In another thread, someone opined that a small post count indicates a newbie and leads to the inevitable "let's bash the newbie" festivities. I think there's something to that. OTOH, maybe those with high post counts get a big head and feel they have a right to bash newbies or anyone.
Didn't the post count used to be in the profile? Put it back there.

[OpalCat]

Just ignore Sycorax. 533 posts indeed

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I have over 2000 posts, dammit! Show some respect.
http://fathom.org/opalcat/showmerespect.jpg
O p a l C a t
www.opalcat.com

[Jophiel]

*sniff* and I was just hitting 1000 - Let's see where I'm at now.

(Of course, for this you might as well turn off the whole "Posts so far" feature since it's not even accurate any longer)

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"I guess one person can make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn't."

[DSYoungEsq]

Please just make sure I don't have to post number 666 again.... someone ALWAYS notices...

[Satan]

First they pruned the trolling threads.

But I did not speak out, since I did not participate in trolling threads.

Then they pruned the whiimsical threads.

But I did not speak out, since I rarely participated in whimsical threads.

Then they pruned the threads which had posts mainly from people no longer with us.

But I did not speak out, since I was still here.

Then they pruned my posts.

And there was nobody left to help me...

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Yer pal,
Satan

[CLedet]

Its a plot I tell ya. Damn them Illuminati!

[zero hr]

It's probably time to do this again, considering the complaints of slow board action.

I would guess most of the MPSIMS and Pit threads that are, say, past page five of the list are not worth keeping.
Also and thread with the word TEST in the title.

(I don't know why Ed put this thread into General Questions, so if this is the wrong place to raise it, please switch it to ATMB. Thanks)

[Chronos]

I don't think that would help, zero hr. This thread dates back to our last month using the Ultimate Bulletin Board (UBB) software, which had problems with old threads. Shortly after that time, we switched to the vBulletin (vB) software, which (it's claimed) can handle any number of threads equally well.

[zero hr]

Sounds too good to be true.
Things like that usually aren't.

[TubaDiva]

I assure you the vB software handles large volumes of posts just fine.

When we have slowdowns, it tends to be for two reasons, both involving bandwidth.

1. The system can only handle so many operations at one time. This includes all the processing that occurs after a user hits the "send" button, whether it's calling for a page, sending a reply, or doing a search.

All of these things, especially the search function, takes up computing power. When a lot of people hit the button at or around the same time, the system first slows down, then times out.

It's a good bet, if you haven't received what you asked for in under 30 seconds, you're probably going to time out.

2. At peak times of usage in cyberspace itself, we get slowdowns attributable to this heavy traffic. There's a lot of traffic between our server and your computer and service can be negatively affected.

Short of buying huge new servers and etc., we're not going to be able to easily solve that first one. And we have zero control over the second one.

Thanks for trying to help us, though. We really appreciate it.

your humble TubaDiva
Administrator

[dropzone]

I wouldn't mind if my post count went down after pruning. It would help me maintain the illusion that I have had a life the past four months.