# Would it be possible to mark zombie threads somehow? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 12, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-mark-zombie-threads-somehow/612599 "2012-02-12T10:02:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-mark-zombie-threads-somehow/612599/21 "2012-02-13T19:48:19Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > If I had a way of doing this on the client end without hurting the rest of the SDMB experience (which normalizing all font sizes would do, arguably), I would. Maybe I’ll look into a Greasemonkey script… Someone posted a Greasemonkey script last year that alerts you to a zombie thread. Sorry - can’t find it at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-mark-zombie-threads-somehow/612599/22 "2012-02-13T21:57:57Z")
I found those scripts ([The "Beatin' Up Women" Network - In My Humble Opinion - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=59592) and [Zombies, again - About This Message Board - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=598635)). I’ll see if they still work. But really, that’s far from an ideal solution. Seems like srzss05 helped scuttle one of those old threads back then too. The topic has arisen independently several times because, I assume, there’s a lot more people who dislike zombie threads than those who both know how to use Greasemonkey and know how to find the scripts. If I had access to vBulletin source code, I’d submit a patched code snippet… one way or another, I hope they’d seriously consider this. It’ll take a decent programmer all of an hour to implement. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-mark-zombie-threads-somehow/612599/23 "2012-02-13T22:18:09Z")
Eeps, I messed up a link. That first one should be: [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13438467&postcount=60](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=13438467&postcount=60) (the original link went to a thread about abusive women networks because I deleted a digit) ---
**Author:** ![srzss05](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@srzss05](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/srzss05)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-mark-zombie-threads-somehow/612599/24 "2012-02-13T22:23:37Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I don’t understand the opposition. This would be really helpful for some of us and won’t affect the rest of you negatively. Why do you care? I’m not opposed to it, and indeed I think it is a good idea, **IF** it can be done without a lot of trouble on the part of the admins. However, it seems that TPTB are the ones who either believe nothing can be done, or that it is too much trouble for very little gain. ETA—note their conspicuous absence in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-mark-zombie-threads-somehow/612599/25 "2012-02-13T22:25:18Z")
Ah! Oh well, my bad. I responded to one about Monty Python non-squitters. I try not to do that, but I get so wrapped up in reading that I sometimes forget to check. Q ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-mark-zombie-threads-somehow/612599/26 "2012-02-14T17:20:29Z")
I have been advocating for years that SDMB needs to develop a small SQL script that runs once a week. It would look for threads that have no posting activity for XX days (at least 180) and marks them as being closed. Voila. No more zombie resurrections. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-it-be-possible-to-mark-zombie-threads-somehow/612599.md?page=1)