I don't know how much control the moderators have, I suspect none, over what the user agreement says, but, for the love of carbureted V-8's, can we please get something to tell new users not to make their first posts be resurrecting a 15 year old thread with such a tangentially tenuous connection to the original topic that it is clear they came in fresh from google?

Something like "Click here to show you have read and understand that you are to make new threads with your new topics." in giant font.

 

What changed that makes this problem much more frequent than it was? It.seems like it happens a lot lately.

 

I'm guessing it's that rolling thread thing. I think people roll over the original thread w/o realizing it, then go on an old post and pull it up. But it could be a Google thing. It's far easier to search Google for stuff on CO than it is to search here.

 

I do realize the next thread after the original that I am reading. If it interests me I post on it. I personally think it is good to revive older posts sometimes that people haven't seen. 5 year old for sale posts? Not so much.

 

Thats true, I do see things that are still useful info. It's funny, I forget to check origination date and think the thread is current, hit on it and see posters who haven't been on in a while, then realize its a old post.

 

Can't seem to make up the minds. "There's 4 other threads going with the same thing. We must merge them immediately so info is in one place!" or "Someone posted in a 7 year old thread! Omagherd! They should start a new thread!" So- which is it?

Sometimes posting in an old thread is accidental. You can blame iPhone and other touch screen devices for that. And then again, sometimes people post in old threads just to watch other people get their Depends in a wad. It's like a sport.

 

I've never supported replying to old threads, so there's no contradiction despite what you're implying, unless the topic became relevant again, like restarting an abandoned restoration years later. Instead, we get posts where someone is talking about the black phospate coating on an alternator bolt, then, 11 years later, the very first post of someone off google is "what size is the alternator bolt?"

This forum is popular because it's free and stable, however, the software and forum structure is pretty bad. I don't think any of the moderators or admins have any control over it, and I don't think they know who owns the site, like what person, they just know it's a company. The level of dismissal that shows up when people suggest improvements implies no influence whatsoever is possible. I don't wear Depends, but, as someone who uses the forum database for information; it's irksome to see it shitted up. The moderators do a decent job of moving, merging, and deleting threads while reminding people of what to do, but it would be so awesome if some basic rules could be conveyed to new users.

1. Search before you post.
2. Make one new thread, in the right section, with a new question.
3. Don't bump like a spastic squirrel.
4. Don't resurrect old threads irrelevantly.

 

There are stickies listed at the top of forums with rules and/or instructions. Most people do not read them. There is no cure all for site issues based on not following directions.

 

Oh, yes there is :

 

True, that... I love it when a newbee with 1or2 posts asks a question, then a bunch of guys answer that question- sometimes getting into huge arguments among themselves, the thread gets up to 2 or3 pages long and the original poster is never heard from again... It happens here some it really happens a lot on the Hamb. Ahhh, it's all good, I get alot of enjoyment from this site, thanks to all who keep it going.

 

Part of the problem is when you scroll down to leave a comment sometimes it goes past to the next suggestions for a thread and boom you just opened up an old thread. I done it and go back and delete my comment but some don't realize it.