# Necrotizing Postititus **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [September 27, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrotizing-postititus/635963 "2012-09-27T02:57:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrotizing-postititus/635963/1 "2012-09-27T02:57:08Z")
Whilst reading a thread, I followed a link to another thread that was rather interesting but there was one post I thought merited comment. Then I glanced up at that little grey bar and noticed that the thread was seven years old. Lucky that, I would have looked darn stupid. My question is, how easy is it to alter the vBulletin that runs this board? I was thinking, maybe just a snippet that looks at the year on a post and hilites it in bold red or something, to gently nudge people away from dragging up necrotic zombies? ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrotizing-postititus/635963/2 "2012-09-27T03:33:58Z")
If you’re interested, user **Polerius** wrote a greasemonkey script to highlight old threads after you’ve opened it. I use it and am happy with it. But use at your own risk, etc. [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13450348](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13450348) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrotizing-postititus/635963/3 "2012-09-27T05:37:18Z")
This question itself is zomboid, being resurrected repeatedly, and just as repeatedly beaten to death. Some past threads on the subject: > **[Zombie threads](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=624601)** > > Is there a way for the mods to enable a feature to mark zombie threads as such? I’m thinking like a small “z” icon where the open/closed envelope icon is now. I thought we would all appreciate a heads up about zombie threads before we click on them. > **[Zombie threads, can anything be done?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658295)** > > It appears that the zombie apocalypse has already occurred here with threads rising from the dead with seemingly increasing frequency. In the Bible at that time God will mark his servants and Satan will mark his servants. Can we do likewise? Would... > **[Can the threads-in-forum page show first post date?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=658321)** > > Inspired by the recent (and chronically recurring) thread about marking zombie threads to make them obvious. The thread list page shows: Thread title, user name of OP, and date/time and user name of most recent post, among other tidbits. But it... > **[Would it be possible to mark zombie threads somehow?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=641801)** > > A lot of zombie threads have been popping up recently thanks to the revised zombie rules. I’m not against them, but it is a bit annoying to realize at the end of a thread that it’s years old. Could they be marked somehow, perhaps with a small icon... > **[Rule for zombie ressurection](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=656280)** > > We DESPERATELY need a policy for zombies! I just posted in a “ask the dermatologist” thread, only to notice it was 5 years old! :rolleyes: Here is the policy I propose: NO “reanimating” a thread until you have 100 posts. Plenty of time to learn... > **[some way to mark Zombie threads?](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=595929)** > > I’m aware of some recent policy changes that allow Zombie threads to be re-animated after a long peaceful slumber. Unfortunately, I find it particularly annoying that I read a thread only to realize its several years old and may not be particularly... > **[A suggestion about zombie threads](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=582827)** > > I like the idea of allowing old threads to be re-opened by new posts. But there have been moments of confusion where people (and I include myself) do not notice that the early posts in a thread are several years old. Is it possible to set up a... and probably more . . . Apparently, no matter what anybody suggests, nothing will ever be done about this. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrotizing-postititus/635963/4 "2012-09-27T15:06:22Z")
Why does there need to be? You have eyes. Glance at the dates every now and then. I’ve never posted to a zombie thread without knowing it was a zombie beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrotizing-postititus/635963/5 "2012-09-27T15:16:24Z")
Several different remedies have been suggested. I’m in favor of some form of archival system that would automatically put all threads after a certain time in “read only” status but that would not be an easy thing to implement, especially at this somewhat late stage in the game, what with our many years of postings. And I’m not the one who decides, neither. So we just bump along as we have. It is the easiest thing all the way around to ask people to read for comprehension, being conscious of the timestamps. We’ve all failed read the date properly (or at all) at some point and will no doubt do it again. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrotizing-postititus/635963/6 "2012-09-27T20:45:19Z")
In addition to the userscript by Polerius already mentioned, here is a simple script that just makes the date stamp on posts more readable. The gray font against a gray background is difficult to read for many. If you use Chrome or Firefox with the Greasemonkey add-on, [SDMB Bold Dates](http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/139495) will make the date stamp darker and much more readable (IMHO) right out of the box. If you want to customize it further it can be changed to any font, size, color and style that you like. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrotizing-postititus/635963/7 "2012-09-27T21:25:00Z")
I’m still a (relative) newbie here. What I tend to do is only post in threads which appear on the first page of a forum section. This prevents me from being the one to resurrect a thread, though it doesn’t prevent me from finding zombie threads resurrected, mistakenly or not, by others. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/necrotizing-postititus/635963/8 "2012-09-27T23:41:19Z")
> [@TubaDiva](#): > > It is the easiest thing all the way around to ask people to read for comprehension, being conscious of the timestamps. We’ve all failed read the date properly (or at all) at some point and will no doubt do it again. From recent threads on this, the best remedies I’ve seen suggested (IMHO) look like they should be easy, if they are possible at all with vBulletin: 1. The date at the top of each individual post should be shown in some bold font, or at least if it’s is older than a certain date. Or in come stand-out color. Possible? 2. One the thread list page, the date of the OP should be displayed. According to earlier discussion, there is plenty of room for it there, just beneath each thread title (along with the OP’s name), and current versions of vBulletin allow this. But it wasn’t resolved whether the SDMB version of vBulletin allows this. Again, isn’t this a rather trivial thing to implement, if it’s possible at all? No scheme will stop ALL zombies, but these two ideas ought to catch quite a lot of them, I would think.