Can we request specific threads to be pruned? I’m not talking about controversial threads - what I was thinking about are the dopefest planning threads that have served their purpose and are now completely obsolete. If this is ok, I’ll be happy to locate the threads for my area.
Of course - this will probably drop my post count by about 500 posts. 
I’m guessing that pruning the old threads will not affect our post counts.
they will
As I understand it, Lynn and a few of the other mods are already pruning thing like obsolete Dopefest threads when they get a chance. If you want to compile a list for them, though, I’m sure that they’d appreciate it.
Not to poopoo the other forums, but the older threads in GQ are actually kind of useful. My searches in there often hit ancient threads with tons of guests and HTML code. But the threads will usually also have answers to my questions.
I’d think a lot more could be pruned than just to January 2000, at least other than in GQ and the two Comments forums. While there would be exceptions, the rest could probably stand to be cut down to the last six months–I’m tempted to say three months–even in GD, where the same people are going to be arguing the same things unto board eternity. Select what really should be saved, and dump the rest.
I realize this would erase a lot of board history, and that’s unfortunate. But maybe the time has come to be a little draconian about it.
And please feel free to get rid of any and all threads I have ever started. That’s not very many, so it wouldn’t be much savings, but I can’t think of any that are worth taking up the space.
Yep, MysterEcks. However, the way we’re gonna do it is just a quick press of the button for a board-wide pruning, rather than going through each thread individually and making a decision as to whether or not it should stay. I HAD been pruning ATMB and Pit threads in this manner, but it would take many more moderators to continue to do so. I prune fewer threads than are started each day. This is why Ed has asked you, the Teeming Millions Online, to bump any really worthwhile threads that you come across. I’ll do my bit in GQ, if and when I get the time…but one person’s taste shouldn’t dictate which threads get saved. The majority of threads that I’ve pruned have been testing threads, which are of interest to virtually no-one.
Should I volunteer additional threads for deletion (after the “quick-press board-wide pruning”)? I’ve started a few which I will not personally miss at all.
Let me know if you’d like for me to sacrifice my little babies.
Is there any way I can get a certain thread I started and want to die completely, deleted?
ACK, don’t delete the actual Dopefest threads, just the planning the Dopefest threads…some of them are classics!
I love to go back and read the antics of Dopefests, some silly some completely outrageous…
Anyhow, not the actual rememberances of our Fests, Please. Those Dopefests are history of this board…again, just the planning threads should be deleted.
techie - if you want to keep them, just bump them!
I disagree with MysterEcks about GD being prunable down to 3 months. I frequently link a new debate to a relatively recent one and relatively recent means a lot longer than 3 months.
pan
Y’know, I can’t think of one old thread that I need.
But the way my mind works I usually don’t remember what I need until it is forever lost.
What I am getting at is this:
I don’t know the what all is involved, but is there any way you could burn old threads onto a CD?
I’m sure many dopers would pay for ‘Classic Dope’ if it were possible.
Just an idea, anyway
Gerry
Actually, Merc, I disagree. Keeping in mind that the board was pruned of all threads older than May 1999, if you type in the address
http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/member.php?action=getinfo&userid=1
and continue up through the ID numbers, changing the 1 to 2, 3, 4, etc., you’ll notice a lot of old posters who only posted a few times who have a nonzero post count although under last post, it says “never”. My guess is that when the threads were pruned, those members kept their old post counts even though the board could no longer look up their last post (since it had been deleted). Of course, this could just have something to do with the Great Software Switch, in which case I would be completely wrong.
Does it matter? Does anyone really care too much what the post count is? I mean there’s an obvious difference in understanding the culture of the place between some one with heaps (more than 1500?) and not many (less than 500?) but apart from that the actual number doesn’t tell us much does it?
And if the pruning helps get the board speed up, ain’t that worth it?
Redboss
You do know that you can save any page(s) you wish to your local drive as an html file, don’t you?
In the vBulletin software, unless something goes wrong or you are dealing with imported posts from uBB etc, deleting a thread or a post lowers your post count. Go to http://www.vbulletin.com and read about it if you don’t believe me, or take my word for it since I run my own vBulletin board. Either way is fine.
That is correct, Anthracite. I guess I wasn’t aware that fact was even in question. Perhaps my reading comprehension isn’t what I think it is. Thanks for covering that for us.
Oh, now I see it.
I was just trying to give a final answer, Uncle - I wasn’t trying to step on your toes at all. I apologize if it appeared that way. This question has been asked by a few people before - it seems like it might belong in a FAQ.
No, no. I certainly didn’t feel “stepped on.” I apreciate you catching a pertinent question which I overlooked. No apology is necessary. And you are probably correct. That is a question that properly belongs in the FAQ. We, not so long ago, had plans to update that thing, as well as the user agreement, but it’s kinda fallen by the wayside. I’ll see if I can do something to resurrect it/them. Maybe that’ll give me something to do this weekend.
Thanks again for your help.
I really don’t think that deleting threads from GQ and GD is the best plan. There are a great many more threads in MPSIMS, the Pit, and IMHO that could stand pruning instead.
There is too much good and useful content in GQ, GD, and the Comments forums to just delete, and too much to go and bump the good ones. Do the high signal-to-noise forums have to suffer equally with the chatter forums?
If the decision to delete all threads before the cut off date is final, is it possible that they could be archived and merged at a later date after a server upgrade? Or even hosted offsite on another machine (I’m sure somebody would volunteer. I certainly would, as soon as I get my new cable set up)?
I really would hate to lose such a vast storehouse of knowledge and information.