I know that is what MPSIMS is for, but it seems kind of silly to me to start a new thread every month or two for what is essentially an ongoing discussion, and unlike the MMP threads, we don’t start a new topic each time we start a new thread.
So I’m seeing the following options:
[ul]
[li]Keep things as they are by starting a new thread every month or two.[/li][li]Having one ongoing thread in MPSIMS that goes on forever, kinda like the Canadian politics thread.[/li][li]Having ongoing threads, but sticky them, or[/li][li]Starting a sub-forum in MPSIMS for support threads that would be restricted to board members only.[/li][li]Some other option I’m not creative enough to consider.[/li][/ul]
I know that each one has its pros and cons based on member preference, administration issues, and so forth, so I started this thread to get feedback both from posters and TPTB. And I didn’t want to start a poll in IMHO because I don’t know what TPTB are amenable to.
Seems to me we need to understand the situation better.
If the conversation is continuous and ongoing, what drives the need to start new threads every couple of months? The excessive length?
I would think the easy solution would be whomever starts the new thread should provide a link to the old discussion, and anyone wishing to cite posts from the prior threads should be free. Also post to the old thread a link to the new discussion, something like
“Hey, this thread was getting excessively long, so we are continuing the discussion here.”
I think there’d be a couple reasons to do this.
Sometimes these types of threads don’t get the traction and end up being one thread. The Apprentice/Celebrity Apprentice threads used to be a new thread for each week. Now it’s a thread for each season as the interest has waned. I’m assuming that if the interest waned for the MPSIMS threads, they would be consolidated too.
Also, for the weight loss/cessation thread, these are milestones for those working on these issues. To be able to say that last month I did this, this month I’ll do this helps focus on the work in progress. And having a new thread celebrates that.
I like the monthly (or bi-monthly) weight loss threads. Some months I’m not really focused on my weight loss goals so it’s nice at the beginning of each month to have an opportunity to jump back in.
The reason why I started this thread in the first place was to get some feedback from thread participants to see what they want to do going forward, and also from TPTB in terms of what the SDMB itself is willing to do. There is also the ex-smokers’ thread, and that’s at two pages now, but it’s similar to the weight-loss thread in terms of being an informal support thread.
The other issue that comes into play is that there are precedents. The MMPers start a new thread each week because they change their topic. It’s still an ongoing thing that has (mostly) the same participants week after week. The other is the ongoing CanaDoper Cafe thread that’s now at 850 posts and counting. The support threads are more like the latter than the former.
And, really, I’m expanding on a question that was inspired by One and Only Wanderers in the weight loss thread. I have no particular issue with any of the possible options. It was a good question and I thought it might be worth discussing.
BTW, I was responding to Irishman’s post. I didn’t see the others before I hit submit.
I think that most people would consider the thread owner and the one needing support to be the OP, and wouldn’t want to chime in with their own issues, because it could get confusing, and also seem like you are hijacking the thread. I don’t see a problem with just having one big thread for each though.
We’re not going to set up a subforum, and we’re not going to sticky them.
Whether you want to have a single long thread, a la Canadian politics, or one that starts anew every month or so, a la Whatcha Reading in Cafe Society, is totally up to the participants.
I’m assuming you still want thread participant input? My preference would be to just have one thread for Weight Loss rather than monthly/bi-monthly threads. Then if it gets too long (does that affect the software or something?) we can create a new one and close the old one. But it doesn’t seem busy enough to require a new thread on a monthly/bi-monthly basis.
There is no logistical reason on our end to limit the length of threads (as there was in earlier versions of vBulletin). It really is completely up to the participants in the thread if they want one ongoing thread or new threads every month or two.
Agreed, if it gets too long, surely we can just have “Ongoing weight loss thread - Part 2” to start a new one, rather than rolling it over every month.