Zombie threads

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1

There is a thread in Great Debates that **Marley23 **shut down which was over 11 years old. :eek:

Is it possible to set a flag with the board software that will permit a thread to be found in a search, to be opened for reading, but locked to further posting? Or, if automated locking isn’t possible, perhaps flagging the resurrected OP in some way (a different color, or a special marking of some kind) so board members can tell with a quick glance before opening it that its shelf life has passed?

I’m not sure why, but it seems that zombie threads are appearing with greater frequency. Reading a zombie can be entertaining, but when new posts are attached, there is quite a bit of discontinuity. As **Marley23 **points out, many of the posters are no longer around… original meaning and context are long gone. At this point, as suggested, the best way to continue a discussion of the subject is with a new OP.

2

Zombie threads are much more common now that Google has indexed the board and all of our threads, even the very old ones, come up in web searches. I think making those threads read only or inserting a warning about the age of the thread would involve making changes to our software.

3

This has been discussed before, numerous times. To summarize:

  1. no, there is currently no standard feature to do this in Vbulletion, the board’s software, that would allow this.

  2. Even if it were possible, it is not desirable. Some zombie re-animations are considered to be valid and allowed to run. This has to be decided on a case-by-case basis. Blanket locking of ALL threads older than a certain date is not a good idea.

4

And I’m supposed to be writing a stickie about this, which I totally forgot about. :smack:

5

I have no idea if it’s standard, but it is possible. I’m on another VB board where if you try and post to a thread that’s been dormant for more then a certain amount of time there’s a big red block of text between the last post and the quick reply box that says something to about how old the post is (and that you probably aren’t adding anything useful anyways). You then have to check a box and click an OK button. It then actually takes you to another screen where you again have to confirm that you’re aware that it’s an old thread.
I assume it’s a hack though.

6

Yeah, it’s a hack, and given the very finite amount of tech support we have, TPTB do not add hacks to the version of V-Bulletin we’re currently using.

7

They used to annoy be, but life’s too short. I now find them quite humorous.

8

Zombies have been reappearing in quantity now for about a year since the policy change.

And given that zombies are complained about roughly once a week in this forum, and that each complainer elects to start a new complaint thread which promptly dies after the canned answer is given …
In another 6 months or so I’ll have the opportunity to “accidentally” awaken a zombie thread complaining about, yes, awakening zombie threads. Should be fun.[sup]Should be fun. …[/sup]

9

Marley23, I had not known that google indexed the board. That indeed explains it.

After reading this thread, I’m sure it has been discussed before. However, if you don’t frequent this forum (like me), odds are you would miss it.

twickster, a sticky would indeed be helpful… at least it would cut down on threads like this in ATMB! :smack: A software solution would be nice, but only if it were part of the standard board software

Thanks for the answers

10

(Hmmm… month and a half… still pretty fresh IMO…)

Maybe there’d no need for a software block, but rather boilerplate text in the reply box/page that says “Please try to make sure the post you are replying/following up to is current, or at least less that X years old; if older, consider if it would be better to start a separate follow-up thread with new information; see [link to the appropriate place in ATMB] for how to do that”.

But that’s not such a splendid strategy either: then we’d probably be flooded with new follow-up threads that only flog dead horses.

11

Yikes. “Writing a stickie” never made it onto my to-do list – totally forgot about it. On the list now. In capital letters.

12

You do know that putting it on a list isn’t the same thing as doing it, right?

13

Yeah, but it does greatly improve the odds.

14

SHHHHshhh!! Don’t say things like that in public, my boss might find out!!

15

There is a script you can run in your browser that will flag zombies. I’m on my phone or I would search for it.

16

This cracked me up.

You could post, but you couldn’t search? Priorities!

17

I haven’t learned the nuances of the Tapatalk app. I know how to read and post, but not how to search.

Now that I’m home and on my computer, however, I can search. Here is a link to the Greasemonkey script that will flag zombie threads for you:

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=13438467

18

Could you not set it up so people who just signed up can’t post to zombie threads? Lots of zombies are reanimated by one time posters. Have a rule like a new member has to have 3 posts first before being able to post to a thread more than 6 months or a year or whatever old.
Would that be feasible?

19

Even assuming it could be done, I doubt they would do so for the same reason old threads aren’t locked. Your way makes new posters seem like second-class citizens, and I don’t think anyone wants to do that.

20

I’m already a second-class poster as I don’t pay for a subscription. So what’s it matter having a small clause like I mention, especially since I’m talking about it only being for a few posts? Few established posters are bumping 12 year old threads on here, it’s almost always someone’s first post that does it.