It would be nice if zombie threads could be immediately identified as such when they pop up.
Just saying.
We were talking about this just the other day. What is your definition of “zombie thread”?
Good question. Why not start with a month old. What is the downside for that ?
So these are zombie threads?
It would be nice if posters looked at the dates a little closer before replying.
I know, I know; I have been guilty of not doing that.
Just saying.
And, as per the prior discussion, there doesn’t seem to be much we can do about it. So, best bet is to shrug shoulders and ignore it, and close them when they pop up in the forums that don’t allow 'em.
I don’t visit the game room very often, but I take it that threads that disappear for a time (several months) resurface regularly there. Its been my experience in other forums that this doesn’t happen very often.
In any case whats the harm. A little icon lights up yellow when a new post is announced for any particular thread.
How about making that little icon light up red for a new post in a zombie?
No big deal. At least you now know what you arer getting into
In all seriousness, why blame me for responding to a zombie thread that has been resurrected by someone else ?
I don’t have a problem at all with zombie threads. I don’t see why they need to be locked except in special cases. But like knowing that a thread has been updated it would be nice to be alerted to a zombie thread before opening said thread.
Just one major problem. The staff keep repeatedly saying the board software doesn’t have that function. It can’t be done without a hack, which they aren’t going to do.
Why do people keep asking for the impossible? Can’t you get the message “we’d like to do it but it can’t be done”?
Sorry to have inconvenienced you by my suggestions. Forgive me for not having been party to earlier suggestions/discussions. I had no idea that my red light in favour of the yellow light had already been offered.
A pox upon you for a clumsy lout!
No one’s blaming you, and I have, as I said, been guilty as well. I guess we all need to pay closer attention to dates, and if a thread that sounds remotely familiar shows up again in our subscribed threads, it might be because it has been dormant for a long time.
It’s harder to detect if you never posted in a thread that appears in the new posts page.
It sure would, but it’s unlikely to happen with a SDMB hack, and I don’t think vBulletin will put it at the top of their future feature work list. Most other boards don’t have as much concern as we seem to about this.
I’m going to wait until this thread has slipped a few pages before I reply, it only seems right.
Better yet reply to an old one on this topic now.
Yes there are more zombie threads in the last month.
I don’t mind you raising the subject again, my posts were only to point out that a zombie thread is not necessarily one that has an OP several months ago. IMHO a thread that was started months ago, but has been regularly (at least once a week) posted to since then, is not a “zombie” thread. A “zombie” thread is one that lays dormant for several months (let’s say at least a year) and then is resurrected with a new post.
No personal attacks.
They are. There is a time stamp on every post. It’s not in big flashing letters and not everybody bothers to check the timestamp, but it is on each and every post. If somebody zombifies a thread, you can count on someone else saying so within two or three posts. We’ve usually defined zombie threads as those older than three or six months, but even then, bumping a thread that age isn’t necessarily an issue.
That’s fine and dandy, but in order to read the time stamp, I’ve already wasted my time opening up the thread. Furthermore, as I usually click on the icon directing me to the first new post, I have no way at all to be informed by time stamps that I’m reading a zombified thread.
Still, no big deal. I can live with it.