How does a thread get closed?
The moderators and administrators have a set of special buttons that the regular users don’t have acess to. One of these allows them to close threads. Others allow them to move threads, merge threads, delete threads, ban users, etc.
Okay, now I know how. Thanks.
So, who decides when a thread is to be closed?
Is it just after a thread lies dormant for a while?
Does the OP have any input into this decision?
For the most part, each moderator or administrator has the say on whether a particular thread gets closed or not, as I understand it. An administrator can reverse the decision of a moderator, but I’ve never seen this happen (which is not to say it hasn’t), or a moderator can change his mind and reopen a thread. In some cases, the OP can request a thread closing, but unless such a closing is merited, the mods and admins may choose to allow the thread to continue.
Dormant threads are not usually closed.
The OP can request that a thread be closed, but there’s no guarantee that it will be.
Other reasons that the mods/admins close threads:
• Multiple postings of an OP
• Cranky old troll threads
• Spam (usually deleted)
• The thread is “too stupid to live”
Oh, and occasionally a Pit thread that becomes a little too vicious gets closed, as well.
In general, a thread will only get closed if there’s a problem of some sort in it. This can mean that the posters in the thread (especially the OP) are misbehaving, or it might mean that it’s distracting from another similar or duplicated thread, or it might mean that posters aren’t misbehaving yet, but it looks likely that they will be soon.
I could close this one by way of demonstration, but that would be really snarky.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
Sooo tempted, though, because irony is such a big bitch.
Looks like this one is begging to be closed soon…
Actually, a moderator could re-open a thread closed by another mod or an admin. Generally, we don’t do such things without discussing it first, as a matter of courtesy.
Lynn