# Old Posts



## Moosegut (Sep 24, 2005)

_The following is my humble opinion. Read it only if you wish._

I check this forum whenever I get the chance. Often I have just a little time in the morning or as I'm sitting at my desk quickly getting in a few sips of coffee or scarfing down my lunch before the next crisis arises. It makes it very difficult to stay current and enjoy the board when posts that are years old are resurrected.

It's one thing to bring up a topic that may be helpful to newbies, but bringing up newspaper articles and such that are a few years old is counter productive. It also tends to make people feel foolish that they did not pay enough attention to notice that the post was out of date.

How about a moratorium on the old stuff? If we find something that would be helpful to someone, how about we copy and paste into a new topic? That way we can inform people without flooding the board with very old stuff.

My humble suggestion.

Scott

On Edit: I just went through two cups of coffee and three pages of "New Posts" only to see that half of them were OLD. I don't think this is very productive even if it is something that may help someone because, unfortunately, I've gotten to the point that I have to check the first post to see the date and then just skip it. I don't want to read three pages of posts from three years ago that are popping up as new. It's one thing on a rainy day for me to go back and read, but completely different for my daily check in.

But, that's my opinion. As stated regarding other posts, I don't have to read them. And I won't. But I think it cheapens the current messages of the board. MHO


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## mswalt (Sep 14, 2004)

Maybe there's some way to color the old posts differently so we'd know which ones were, say, over a year old before we opened it????









Mark


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## RizFam (Feb 25, 2006)

mswalt said:


> Maybe there's some way to color the old posts differently so we'd know which ones were, say, over a year old before we opened it????
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That is a very good point, Mark. Perhaps Doug or one of the mods will see this & make the older posts a clear differentiation?









I will add tho IMHO, I have really enjoyed reading the archives









Tami


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## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

mswalt said:


> Maybe there's some way to color the old posts differently so we'd know which ones were, say, over a year old before we opened it????
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Great idea









Thor


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## Hokie (Jul 10, 2006)

Moosegut,

I don't want to stir the pot too much, but I have to agree with you.

As I was reading posts last night, I was under the impression that another camping "attack" had occured as well as HootBob slicing his finger on ice (again). I was fortunate enough to notice the dates of the original posts after a few minutes.

Some older technical posts are OK to resurrect at times since we can all benefit from seeing the info again, or possibly there is new information to add. But old "current event' issues should remain just plain old unless there is something pertinant to add based on new data.

Just my humble opinion. I have never been one to stir the pot!









-Sam


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## daves700 (Jun 12, 2006)

yeah I was one of the dummies that replied yesterday to a old post about a f650 ... I did not even look at the dates .... count me as one of those not so bright bulbs yesterday!


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## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

Moosegut, that's a great idea.
Maybe under â€œtopic starterâ€ it could have the date of the original post? 
(You will be able to see it before you open it)
That way you will know when the last post was and the when the topic was started as well. 
And if you see itâ€™s oldâ€¦ just skip it.

Maybe its just meâ€¦ but I look at the dates of the posts.









Dave700â€¦ I would not call yourself a dummy!







The post about the F650 was cool! 
I had never seen it before and thought is was an awesome truck.

MaeJae

p.s. in some of the old posts I have resurrected I have highlighted a particular comment and replied to that.
I would think also, if everyone read the archives we could also avoid many repeated topics too.









I donâ€™t want this topic to turn into a lengthy debate, soâ€¦ 
â€œThatâ€™s all I have to say about thatâ€


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

I've been stewing on the exact same thought. I often start to read a "new" thread, only to find that it sounds familiar ... from 2004.

Other forums do close old threads for exactly this reason. I wouldn't want to put an undue burden on the admin's, but if it is something that could be done automatically it might help a lot.

Ed


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## Lady Di (Oct 28, 2005)

Since I wasn't on the forum in 2004, I am of a different persuasion. I kinda enjoy them. Placing the original date somewhere would help those who may have already read them.


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## egregg57 (Feb 13, 2006)

Hey Everyone,

In reading this I have to agree. There are old posts that do pop up and I for one have "ressurected" a few. Especially things dealing with Wolfwood and I that a good number of people enjoyed. But they were stricktly intended for fun.

I like keeping current too. But like others I joined in 2005 and there are/were things I didn't see that are brought back up and have enjoyed reading and seeing.

I think the idea of a particular colored file (I don't think yellow isn't used) is a good one. After a period of time it becomes "archived" for the lack of a better term?

Anyway it would serve to let people know that this is an old topic (but may have something new to share/or not) and allow those that want to remain on the cutting edge of the forum to stay focused! Good post Moose!!

I like it!


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## ARzark (Aug 9, 2005)

I agree, old posts should be archived, color coded, or simply just close the old ones (perhaps anything older than a year) so they can't accept new posts and resurface.

There is some interesting reading digging back into the old days. One could do their own perusing around and pick up a tip or two from a few years back. My concern would be as Outbackers.com grows with new members, the new post activity will grow. It would make for much easier navigation if old posts were not thrown into the current mix.

Interesting reading though


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## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

I check in all the time and yet still there will be 2-3 pages of 'new' posts. We encourage people to search before starting a new thread but we never enforce it and I like that also. Bumping up an old post when an individual has a new question on the topic is good. Bringing them back to life for the fun of it has gotten old. Before I answer a question, I most times will back up on the thread to see what the original question is, lately I began looking at the dates but never did before. When I joined I actually went back to the beginning and read all the old posts for fun ( whole lot more difficult now) and enjoyed reading them but that was my choice.

If they are being brought back for a purpose, fine, if its because someones bored, its not funny anymore.

(Just my opinion, not as a mod)

John


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

tdvffjohn said:


> If they are being brought back for a purpose, fine, if its because someones bored, its not funny anymore.
> 
> John


X2


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

For what it's worth, I agree with Scott's humble opinion and for the same reasons. 'nuff said.



egregg57 said:


> In reading this I have to agree. There are old posts that do pop up and I for one have "ressurected" a few. Especially things dealing with Wolfwood and I that a good number of people enjoyed. But they were stricktly intended for fun.


...and, I've certainly got to support ANYTHING that will end the resurrection of the posts Eric is referring to, although I'm not sure that "less than a year old" counts as "old posts" in this context.


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## 7heaven (Jun 4, 2005)

Maybe a simple filter could be added to the "view new posts" screen, instead of "active topics" say "new topics" and that would be defined as any topic thread started since the last time you were on line....


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Gotta agree with John on this. Administering anything to do with this would be monstrous! If a reader hasn't already opened the thread, it will automagically open to Post #1. As adults, we should be able to check the dates ourselves (if we're interested). If a reader has already opened the thread...then they should already know that its older.

just MHO, but we've gotta carry some individual responsibility in this.... Really now. How difficult is it to check the date of Post #1?


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

I'm one of the fools who replied to a old post then later found out it was old







But I'm use to making a fool out of myself. Need to read the dates. I also thing it is OK some times to bring a old post forward, like a safety issue or a thread that is already started and someone has a question or comment that is up to date. So it really doesn't mater to me I just need to read everything more carefully.


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## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

I think this issue basically comes down to a common sense/courtesy thing. There is a lot of wisdom to be found in many of the older posts, and sometimes it is valuable to resurrect them. I would discourage posting to them just to enhance post counts though (keep that to some of the 'lighter' current topics!







).

I have looked at archiving and/or color coding older threads, and that is not a capability this software has. I am going to pass the suggestion on to Invision for their consideration though. Maybe some future release will include this.

Happy Trails,
Doug


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## LarryTheOutback (Jun 15, 2005)

PDX_Doug said:


> I have looked at archiving and/or color coding older threads, and that is not a capability this software has.


Thanks for checking, Doug.

The old-post storms don't happen too often, but when they do they are certainly an inconvenience. That said, status quo sounds ok just now.

Ed


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## mike (Dec 17, 2006)

Being a new tt owner, I have some very humble and respectfull thoughts on the subj. I have responded to old threads but they pertained to us. It was great to be welcomed by everyone, but We responded to a thread of how many firefighters have outbacks. We were welcomed by our fellow ff's which was great. It is also good to see old threads to learn from past posts. Therefore I agree that a color change could help those with limited time but I dont feel that limiting old post would be benifical. Just my two cents. Thanks to everyone for this great site!!!


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## TNOutbacker (Apr 23, 2005)

As you can see I don't post very often and I do search the archives for information that I may be looking for. With that said, when I find a post old or new I may post a follow up question to get clarification on a tech issue or some advice. I have found this to be an invaluable tool and I would hate to have it limited by a time frame or a purge of old post. I saved several hundred dollars in replacing tires because I was able to get the information on the dry rot issues that OBs had. I still consider myself a newbie to camping and I appreciate the advice and camping experience that is gained from this site.


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## tripphammer (Oct 3, 2006)

I agree with both Scott and Doug. However, I would expand on one of Doug's comments that I feel is a detraction on the board... those who post just for postings sake. It takes up bandwith and storage (which are both items of cost) and simply makes it more difficult to sift through the real values of the board. My .02.
Take Care,
Tripp


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## GlenninTexas (Aug 11, 2004)

TrippHammer said:


> I agree with both Scott and Doug. However, I would expand on one of Doug's comments that I feel is a detraction on the board... those who post just for postings sake. It takes up bandwith and storage (which are both items of cost) and simply makes it more difficult to sift through the real values of the board. My .02.
> Take Care,
> Tripp


Well now you've touched on one of my pet peaves. It appears sometimes posts are done just to increase the post count.

Regards, Glenn


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## shake1969 (Sep 21, 2004)

Didn't we already discuss this a couple of years ago?


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## Kenstand (Mar 25, 2004)

shake1969 said:


> Didn't we already discuss this a couple of years ago?


I don't recall seeing this topic before...but I am sure it will pop back up..probably in 2009.

For the early members the 'classic' post are old stuff but for the recently added members its all new to them. I can easily see how they could be reading a post and make a comment without paying much attention to its origination date.

This thread should help raise everyones awarness level.


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