# Forums names and subjects **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [August 11, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415 "2023-08-11T17:50:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2023, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/21 "2023-08-11T22:10:54Z")
Maybe my reaction was exaggerated. Clogging up a forum isn’t really a thing after all. It does seems odd that reporting on a couple of court cases needs ~6 out of the first 20 threads in P&E, especially on a day when there are actual politics and elections to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/22 "2023-08-12T02:23:03Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > > [@The\_Librarian](#): > > > > My point is that I came in P&E today to find out about the Ohio thing and I couldn’t find it between all the gushing Trump threads. > > I think rather than a board-wide change, that you could easily use the Discourse tools to mute the excess threads that you describe as largely inane bullshit, resulting in far less work for everyone else, including the mods. How do you mute a thread? ---
**Author:** ![Bashorian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bashorian/32/3546_2.png) [@Bashorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bashorian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/23 "2023-08-12T03:00:33Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > How do you mute a thread? Under the Topic dropdown at the bottom of the thread there’s a control for how the user wants the thread treated. Normal, Watching, Muted. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/24 "2023-08-12T03:20:13Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > Maybe my reaction was exaggerated. Clogging up a forum isn’t really a thing after all. > > It does seems odd that reporting on a couple of court cases needs ~6 out of the first 20 threads in P&E, especially on a day when there are actual politics and elections to discuss. It seems a kind of hubris to demand that the whole board change to suit what you want, especially when you have to work so hard to ignore contrary facts that are presented to you. As the previous post indicates, it is easy to put any or all of the Trump posts on mute status for yourself, so that they don’t show up in your list of topics. That may be a certain amount of trouble for you, about which I personally don’t care even a little. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/25 "2023-08-12T05:35:36Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > That may be a certain amount of trouble for you, about which I personally don’t care even a little. Lol. You came in here to tell me you don’t care about this subject? Wow. What a burn. It really hurts. And I was looking forward so much to learning your opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/26 "2023-08-12T05:43:06Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > Either suspect Trump is a valid target for a DoJ prosecution, or it is a political witch-hunt. To the extent that Trump’s crimes were politically motivated, the threads belong in P&E. It makes no sense to require that the _prosecution_ be politically motivated rather than the pursuit of justice. > [@The\_Librarian](#): > > 6 to 8 threads about different court cases cannot all be politically relevant I think you might get more traction with an argument that the cases about E. Jean Carroll or Trump’s corrupt business dealings prior to 2016 don’t belong in P&E. Although even that is dubious. If Trump were a nobody, the fact that he’s a sex offender wouldn’t be big news. The question of whether a convicted sex offender or fraudster is fit for office is certainly political. But in any event, I don’t think those cases constitute a significant amount of posting traffic at the moment, the focus is on his directly political crimes. > [@The\_Librarian](#): > > there are actual politics and elections to discuss Like it or not, the prominent issue in U.S. politics right now is Trump’s future. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/27 "2023-08-12T06:30:27Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Like it or not, the prominent issue in U.S. politics right now is Trump’s future. That is a valid point. however I would also like to show this: > [@](#): > > 1- Clarence Thomas secretly accepted luxury vacations from GOP donor without disclosing :: 452 > 2- What happens if Trump is indicted in Georgia? :: 195 > 3- How do you solve a problem like Tuberville :: 63 > 4- Do San Francisco, Los Angeles, et alii prove the failure of progressivism? :: 142 > 5- Trump Is Disqualified From Holding Office, Conservative Law Professors Argue :: 31 > 6- DOJ/Jack Smith Investigation into Trump and Election Interference, January 6th Insurrection (Indicted 08-01-23) :: 1.1k > 7- Biden and Trump polling neck and neck: How, exactly? :: 42 > 8- Trump - possible Wire Fraud indictment? :: 17 > 9- Ohio Issue 1 (election on Aug 8) {2023 It was voted down) :: 85 > 10- The Hunter Biden Investigation {This thread started September 2019, bumped after 3 years dormant} :: 512 > 11- How’s Trudeau doing, Canada? :: 556 > 12- FBI Search and Seizure at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Residence (August 8, 2022) :: 7.2k > 13- 7 Jan 2021 and beyond - the aftermath of the storming of the Capitol :: 4.4k > 14- Do you think H.R. 1321 (More Homes on the Market bill) will pass? :: 92 > 15- What should a new U.S. motto be? (instead of “In God We Trust”) :: 102 > 16- Ron DeSantis 2024 :: 403 > 17- No Labels Party and Its Impact on Election 2024 ::79 > 18- Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene MUST GO :: 1.5k > 19- How is trump still a viable candidate for president? Really, how? :: 429 > 20- Should Diane Feinstein resign from the senate? She has missed some 60+ of 80+ votes this year :: 298 > > threads about Trumps legal shit: > 6/20 threads > posts about Trumps legal shit: > 12k/18k posts 2/3 of all posts\* are about the court cases. - I get that it isn’t completely correct to use the post count of longer running threads:: but I think it is fair to use it as a rough proxy to activity. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/28 "2023-08-12T06:37:32Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > 2/3 of all posts\* are about the court cases. What’s your point? Nobody is disputing that a lot of posts are about the court cases. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/29 "2023-08-12T06:51:10Z")
I"m more or less arguing for a (temporary) special forum. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/30 "2023-08-12T06:51:45Z")
> [@The\_Librarian](#): > > 2/3 of all posts\* are about the court cases. > > - I get that it isn’t completely correct to use the post count of longer running threads:: but I think it is fair to use it as a rough proxy to activity. So, again, mute those threads. You don’t even have to see them if seeing them for some reason bothers you. Figure we get 1-2 new Trump threads in P&E a week at most, 20 seconds to mute them both, and your problem is fixed. If, by your example 2/3 of the participation in P&E is not important to you, then the majority of the board obviously disagrees with your for better or worse, so the selfless act would to be drop the issue (for which you have little to no support) for the greater good. Or, again, use the built in tools and eliminate the problem with negligible effort. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/31 "2023-08-12T08:51:58Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Not the point of this thread but is there some metric to use for when QZ is worth retiring? Independent of starting some other dedicated forum for anything else. Maybe a bit of a hijack, but I’ve been wondering this myself. Now that the pandemic is largely over, and the virus controlled, maybe it’s time to retire The Quarantine Zone. We’ve done that before (the Barn House and Chicago forums), and we just keep on keeping on. Might be something to consider, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/32 "2023-08-12T13:51:07Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Now that the pandemic is largely over, and the virus controlled, maybe it’s time to retire The Quarantine Zone. No! No! If we retire the Quarantine Forum, the pandemic will start back up again! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/33 "2023-08-12T13:53:33Z")
> [@Pleonast](#): > > Is there a way for a regular user to hide an individual thread so that they no longer see it? Yes, very simple. In the thread, click the bell shape button and choose **Muted**. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/34 "2023-08-12T14:00:02Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > All P&E Trump threads should be combined This will absolutely not happen. I’m glad there are no votes for it. > [@ParallelLines](#): > > We should beg, on bended knee, for our overworked mods to spend even more time trying to moderate Trump threads I would hate to do it myself. I don’t think it is fair to ask for such. But I wouldn’t mind a Trump subforum set to expire when things slow down finally. So I’m guessing after the 2024 election. I would be willing to shuffle all the active P&E threads on Trump to a new subforum if that decision was made by the Staff. * * * * * * This isn’t a case where tags would help much. Though we could tag the P&E Trump threads and it is possible to ignore all threads tagged as _trump_. But it sounds like a lot of work for something 2-3 people would use. > [@The\_Librarian](#): > > This message board needs a forum where we can discuss the Ohio referendum or other political stuff without that getting drowned out by inane bullshit about the color of Trump’s prison garb\* Can you link to the thread? That sounds like a pretty clear hijack if accurately portrayed. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/35 "2023-08-12T14:51:54Z")
FWIW I’ve been following several of the Trump legal threads … there are digressions of attempts at humor, a couple that actually are a little funny, but they generally don’t last long. Posters mostly keep the discussions on topic without needing mod redirects. Most of the discussions are about actual issues, many with cited support for speculations, and sharing actual updates. They stay at the top because there are frequent events pertinent that earn discussions. In comparison the other “actual politics” have rare updates and not much to discuss that hasn’t been already said in the thread. Judge Thomas took more sizable gifts from others without reporting than previously known. Yes that is news. And what else is there to say that is different than already stated except confirmed as even more unethical? Wake me when there is some action being taken in response. So on. They aren’t crowding the top because they don’t earn much new discussion. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/36 "2023-08-12T14:58:21Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > No! No! If we retire the Quarantine Forum, the pandemic will start back up again! Seriously though, what degree of inactivity earns retirement? Or keep it forever, at the ready for the next pandemic of whatever it will be knowing that at some point it will be? I don’t care myself as I have up on that forum long ago and it is easily ignored, but I do think that every decision to create a new forum or sub forum should include the metric of when it goes away. Kudos to @What_Exit for including that regarding any possible new sub forum re Trump (although I’d still much prefer NOT). ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/37 "2023-08-12T19:12:04Z")
@What_Exit, while I did include a bit of levity in my poll, most of the ideas presented were to try to evaluate the OP’s solutions or variations on the norm. The status quo option was obvious, and the request for additional moderation by you guys noted the degree of overwork you already have. But that is one of the more common requests to ‘fix’ thread issues in ATMB, so felt it should be included. The narrowing down the allowable topics (for example, moving the Carroll thread) was my suggestion as a partial compromise. The “Trump” Only forum was a direct suggestion of the OP as was the one you worried about, combining and allowing only one P&E Trump thread, so don’t worry, it isn’t something I was suggesting, but wanted to try to represent the OP’s request. But I fully acknowledge while the “crimin’ and lyin’” was me being a bit tongue in cheek, I was otherwise trying to get an understanding of those not posting to the thread, as the OP’s suggestions had until that point, gotten zero traction from all posters myself included. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2023, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/38 "2023-08-12T19:22:23Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Seriously though, what degree of inactivity earns retirement? Or keep it forever, at the ready for the next pandemic of whatever it will be knowing that at some point it will be? I can’t find it anymore but I remember the last time it was suggested to retire the forum, it was said that it wasn’t hurting anything to leave it and odds are that it would be needed again for something. So it’s easier to just let it go idle until then. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/39 "2023-08-13T00:46:18Z")
Maybe this? From ‘21 > [@What will be the fate of the Quarantine Zone?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-will-be-the-fate-of-the-quarantine-zone/943781/2): > > One option would be to tag them all as COVID-19 and move them to IMHO or MPSIMS and delete the forum. There are currently 1304 threads, so hopefully there would be a way to script the tagging and then the move. Another option would be to demote QZ to a subforum under IMHO or MPSIMS. Or we could just leave it. But no such consensus. No objection to having it around but as a general principle? Some general principle of when a topical forum gets retired should be conceived. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415/40 "2023-08-13T00:47:35Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Maybe this? From ‘21 No, it was a lot more recent, but damn if I can find it. 😕 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/forums-names-and-subjects/988415.md?page=3)