# A six week old thread is a zombie? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 7, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-six-week-old-thread-is-a-zombie/432574 "2008-01-07T04:50:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-six-week-old-thread-is-a-zombie/432574/1 "2008-01-07T04:50:39Z")
I hope this thread is in the right place. Is there a limit as to how old a thread can be before it’s considered a zombie thread? I ask because I was confused as to why the [Strange, surreal & creepy things your teachers made you do](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=434084&page=5) thread in IMHO was closed. The last post before today was 11/23/07 which seems recent enough to me. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-six-week-old-thread-is-a-zombie/432574/2 "2008-01-07T04:57:19Z")
[QUOTE=Eyebrows 0f Doom] I hope this thread is in the right place. Is there a limit as to how old a thread can be before it’s considered a zombie thread? I ask because I was confused as to why the [Strange, surreal & creepy things your teachers made you do](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=434084&page=5) thread in IMHO was closed. The last post before today was 11/23/07 which seems recent enough to me. [/QUOTE] But it was started in August. Start a new one and link to the closed one if there’s more to say. ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-six-week-old-thread-is-a-zombie/432574/3 "2008-01-07T05:05:59Z")
Having resurrected my first zombie thread a few hours ago, I have to ask: does VB allow rules to lock all inactive threads after a certain amount of time has passed? If not, could someone write a script that locks all threads after a certain time? My coding skills aren’t up to it (I’d offer to do it if I could), but it seems like this could be a simple script that works through a moderator login and runs daily. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-six-week-old-thread-is-a-zombie/432574/4 "2008-01-07T05:10:36Z")
It’s been suggested, **cornflakes**. TPTB refuse to install even the smallest of mods or hacks because, and here I paraphrase, it makes upgrades a pain in the ass. Which, you know, would be more convincing if we upgraded once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-six-week-old-thread-is-a-zombie/432574/5 "2008-01-07T06:38:39Z")
Agreed! I never visit this forum but came in here today to snivel and whine about that thread closing. I call shenanigans about the zombie rating being connected to the start date of the thread. If the discussion was current up to six weeks ago, the discussion was current. It had a previous gap mid-page-four but went on for another page and a half after the bump. I say it’s a fun thread, let it live! ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-six-week-old-thread-is-a-zombie/432574/6 "2008-01-07T09:41:22Z")
Different moderators and different forums have different standards about what constitutes a “zombie” thread. That particular thread was started in August, posted reasonably continuously unitl 9 Sept, and then nothing until being revived on 17 Nov, a two-month hiatus, then a spate of posts for a week until 23 Nov, and then silence until yesterday (6 Jan.) For the IMHO forum, that’s a couple of long breaks. For CS, it wouldn’t have matttered. Also, please note, if there were a poster who has since been banned who had been posting there, and there were a lot of responses to that poster, that would consitute “zombi-ism.” The reason that some forums (like IMHO, MPSIMS, and the Pit) are harsher on old threads is exactly because those banned posters can’t respond. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-six-week-old-thread-is-a-zombie/432574/7 "2008-01-07T12:06:41Z")
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-six-week-old-thread-is-a-zombie/432574/8 "2008-01-07T15:08:04Z")
Curse you, Frank! Now I have to listen to that damn twelve-string all morning…