Cafe Announcements 📣 Search and reply in old post vs starting a new thread

[Pete Thomas]

From the cafe survival thread:

People are encouraged to use 'search'. I try this and yes it's worth the search sometimes but a question asked again is tailored by the OP and answers are fresh and up to date.

users are encouraged to use Search to find answers and, more often than not, I usually find (or get something close to) what I want with Search so I end up not posting/participating.

Perhaps encouraging new posts rather than searching could help drive rankings?

I can't actually find where users are encouraged to use the search. Apart from the search form being very readily accessible (I hope) as well as very comprehensive.

However when it comes down to starting a new thread rather than posting in an old one there are no rules about that apart from the bit about asking the exact same question. I'd certainly say it's a good idea to see if a question or related question was already asked and post in that thread if it seems appropriate. But there could be valid reasons to start a new one, maybe the old thread was irrelevant due to being out of date.

OTOH the advantages of asking in an old thread is that all the people who participated would like get notifications and so you may get more responses - and possibly things have changed anyway so more and different responses. If a thread answers your question exactly, then maybe no need to do anything - but that is maybe rare.

 

[wakyct]

The other forum I participate in has a convention of giant threads (hundreds or thousands of posts), and mods will actively merge new posts into existing threads if they think it's the same topic. The idea I guess is to maintain a less cluttered browsing experience without lots of duplicate threads, and as you mentioned people will get notifications of threads they're presumably interested in (or at least have already set their notifications preferences for).

On the other hand people there frequently complain about posts getting merged when they feel they're legitimately their own topic.

Personally I feel it's a bit of six of one half a dozen of the other, I use search here a lot and wouldn't mind someone reviving an old thread, but if they posted a new topic that's OK too in my book.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Personally I feel it's a bit of six of one half a dozen of the other

Me too.

We have to make a judgment call on whether it’s helpful or confusing to merge. It’s down to both useability and SEO.

 

[Jeanette]

• Please take some time to see if a question you have has already been asked. If you have something new to add to that discussion please do so in the thread rather than starting a whole new thread on the same thing.

 

[Pete Thomas]

• Please take some time to see if a question you have has already been asked. If you have something new to add to that discussion please do so in the thread rather than starting a whole new thread on the same thing.

I agree if it's the same question

there are no rules about that apart from the bit about asking the exact same question.

 

[mizmar]

Just to point out a flaw in the "use an old thread" way; quite a lot of people will reply to the first post in a thread they find worthwhile - even if that post is 5 years old, theyOP is long gone and the actual new question is 4 pages away.

Maybe "quote" functions shouldn't be available for posts older then 2 years? People can still reply on the thread but they'd be aware of the age of that bit of conversation

 

[Saxlicker]

Hmm a bit of a closer look at my thoughts.
The encouragement I mentioned is sometimes from other members (any forum) or moderators on forums encourage it generally. I didn't think to single out the Cafe as expectations for want of a better word, tend to follow suit forum to forum.
So not completely to do with this forum but the encouraged behaviour of people online somewhere.
Also more subtle messages too, like the message at the bottom of this page which reads ....

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀​

I get now that meaning of this is 'as well' not 'instead of' but when you couple it up with people recommending you do a search, you can lose sight of 'as well' and it becomes 'instead'. At least in my mind when you don't want to be online all night.
But for sure I hadn't considered the notifications on revitalised threads doing a good job of getting additional posts.

So at the end of the day I guess I refer more to the fact users think that is the general expectation and try to conform to it.
I have learned tonight that I shouldn't think that way, the forum is happy to have NEW similar posts to others already out there.
Still I believe others (maybe SOTW?) actually point out similar threads when you start to create a new one.

 

[eb424]

Hmm..as someone whose been told off on many occassions 😉..for conversational threads..this is an aspect of the cafe that i really like..knowing that I am so brilliantly supported by such a fantastic group of peeps..For me its not necessarily ( just) about getting an answer / solution to a problem but the process of how..

 

[Pete Thomas]

as someone whose been told off on many occassions 😉..for conversational threads

I don’t believe that is correct and a bit unfair on the moderators.

 

[thomsax]

When I read old posts, maybe 10-12 years old, I ask myself did I write that! New facts/knowledge is coming all the time and it's a little bit embarrassment to read about old knowledge.

I can't delete my old posts ....

 

[eb424]

I don’t believe that is correct and a bit unfair on the moderators.

It was meant to be in Jest @Pete Thomas

 

[Pete Thomas]

I can't delete my old posts ....

Just let us know via the contact mods link, I love deleting posts

 

[sax panther]

I agree with saxlicker, the 'use the search' grumble is more of a thing on SOTW, with the usual people with nothing better to do getting their knickers in a twist over new members asking questions. When you do find a relevant old thread on there though, there's a banner at the bottom saying 'this is an old thread so you might be better off starting a new one'...

I think of SOTW as the more active forum, but cafe saxophone has a much higher proportion of nicer, more helpful people.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I agree with saxlicker, the 'use the search' grumble is more of a thing on SOTW, with the usual people with nothing better to do getting their knickers in a twist over new members asking questions. When you do find a relevant old thread on there though, there's a banner at the bottom saying 'this is an old thread so you might be better off starting a new one'...

I think there are really two schools of thought on that, the owners of SOTW obviously have their own opinion but their corporate policy is blanket one that has to cover all of their 1300 or so forums, not all of which are about saxophones.

But again - it is quite nuanced which is why I think it's best to use an old thread if it is the exact same question especially with the same title otherwise it's up to the member to decide whether a new post is better or not. A new post is best when the old one is obviously no longer relevant. I/we may sometimes merge only if appropriate based on what we think is best (usually SEO factors in which is something we wouldn't expect most people to have a lot of experience of or realise why duplicate content may be bad for searches).

 

[Targa]

When I read old posts, maybe 10-12 years old, I ask myself did I write that! New facts/knowledge is coming all the time and it's a little bit embarrassment to read about old knowledge.

I can't delete my old posts ....

I can keep myself amused for far too long reading old threads 'accidently' while doing a search for something and always being surprised by what I and others had written.
The other day I came across 'Very very very exciting news for 2019' and had forgotten what the news was so had to read all 29 pages, couldn't just skip to the end of course.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Maybe "quote" functions shouldn't be available for posts older then 2 years?

I wouldn’t know how to do that, plus in many cases quotes are still useful on old threads

Still I believe others (maybe SOTW?) actually point out similar threads when you start to create a new one

That happens here.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I can keep myself amused for far too long reading old threads 'accidently' while doing a search for something and always being surprised by what I and others had written.

Me too. The similar threads widget can be a bit hit and miss but you can sometimes find a gem or two. I have no problem with people reviving old threads if it seems appropriate or useful.