Thread lengths and topic-wandering

OffshoreAlan · March 30, 2022, 02:43:03 PM

I am amazed at the lengths of some threads in this Forum. Frequently the OP has been lost in the mists of time, but people hop on board with what IMHO should be a new thread.

Just one example is https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=24931.240 which has been running for over 7 years, yet just within the last 7 weeks there have been 2 "new" questions raised which could have easily been started as separate threads, with more meaningful titles as well.

Such practice makes the Forum very difficult to read (IMHO again).

[end of rant]

Newportnobby · March 30, 2022, 03:13:10 PM

Maybe, but conversely there would be complaints there is an existing thread so why start another one, two, three etc. The latest posts come after posts in Oct 2021 so it's not so long really.
This is me speaking personally rather than as part of the Mod team.

Chris Morris · March 30, 2022, 03:47:46 PM

A bit of thread drift can make a topic more interesting.

maridunian · March 30, 2022, 04:25:29 PM

I think it depends on what's being discussed. In the example given, "Kato Unitrack System", it makes sense that it's all together, so anyone wanting to know more about that only has to look in one place.

On the other hand, I start a new thread for most of my new projects, separately from my layout thread, once again with findability in mind.

Mike

emjaybee · March 30, 2022, 05:38:33 PM

For my £3.85 worth (inflation huh!), I have been on the receiving end and indeed the 'giving' end when it comes to meandering.

If it's a general thread, in your example the Kato Unitrack , then meandering is less of an issue as the thread can be dipped in and out of, and indeed searched specifically for pertinent points at a later stage.

If it's a more specific thread, for example, "How do I install a decoder in a Dapol Class 52?", then as long as there has been some sensible answers that have solved the OP's question at an early stage then I see no problem with wandering off and drifting. These meanderings usually peter out fairly quickly.

Where a thread has gone off topic before the question, issue, discussion has been adequately dealt with, then that is an issue. It is usually resolved by a ~~swift kick in the~~ polite request to get back on topic.

PLD · March 30, 2022, 07:08:22 PM

If there's one thing I hate about posts on the forum, it's posters who start a new thread on exactly the same topic as the one they also started a couple of months ago...

I refer you to the responses you got in your previous thread...
https://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=55314.0

(Should I ask a moderator to merge them ...)

njee20 · March 30, 2022, 07:47:30 PM

I came to say exactly the same as PLD. Did you expect a different set of responses 4 months on...?!

Bealman · March 31, 2022, 12:48:47 AM

Like Mick, I'm saying this without my mod hat on.

I think it's a matter of personal opinion. I think that a bit of thread drift is what makes a forum. Without opinions, anecdotes and even jokes, we may as well have a factual but boring database.

njee20 · March 31, 2022, 08:12:48 AM

Agreed, a Q&A type repository, rather than an actual forum. Personally one of my bugbears is someone who asks a question, gets an answer and locks the thread. There can be myriad other answers or experiences to add, I just don't see why you'd do that.

That said it's just as baffling when someone posts in a long dead thread with an only mildly related question.

Basically everything makes me grumpy.

Bealman · March 31, 2022, 08:29:46 AM

We're just getting old, mate.

daffy · March 31, 2022, 09:47:56 AM

Please note that as the originator of the thread (my visit to York last year) this OP cited in his other thread on this subject (cited above a few posts back), I was very happy - as the OP of that thread - for it to wander and meander and drift along for a few posts, particularly as that peregrination was largely due to my own related aside (in a mid-post italicised note) of the subject that the current OP here referred to that led to the (ultimately) brief (but related) thread excursion, and that I actively joined in that short rambling exchange before taking the reins once again and returning my thread to the main subject.

If we don't wander we never get to experience the broader picture and we miss the opportunities to take the roads less travelled that can enhance our own journey through this all too brief existence.

And if we find we have taken a wrong turn, or reached deep into a cul-de-sac, then we either retrace our steps or leave by the nearest exit.

Having said my piece (having been both surprised and annoyed that my thread had been mentioned in this way without it being bought to my attention by the current OP through the use of the '@member's name' facility), I will now choose the latter option, never to visit this thread again.

Perhaps.

Bealman · March 31, 2022, 09:52:46 AM

Please visit this thread again, Mike. It's great!

(No mod hat on again)

dannyboy · March 31, 2022, 10:27:02 AM

I quite often visit another forum, (but not as often as this forum

), and coincidentally, this very subject was raised just a few days ago and got very similar replies to the ones above. I think it is a human nature thing, people do tend to go off at a tangent from the subject being discussed - I went to the opticians yesterday and my eyes are..., (sorry, I am doing it now

). The only way to stop this happening, is for people to ask a question that can only be answered with a 'Yes' or 'No' answer, which would be a good thing sometimes listening to some people talk, but in this world of ours, that will never happen.

Newportnobby · March 31, 2022, 10:28:08 AM

Quote from: daffy on March 31, 2022, 09:47:56 AM
Please note that as the originator of the thread (my visit to York last year) this OP cited in his other thread on this subject (cited above a few posts back), I was very happy - as the OP of that thread - for it to wander and meander and drift along for a few posts, particularly as that peregrination was largely due to my own related aside (in a mid-post italicised note) of the subject that the current OP here referred to that led to the (ultimately) brief (but related) thread excursion, and that I actively joined in that short rambling exchange before taking the reins once again and returning my thread to the main subject.

If we don't wander we never get to experience the broader picture and we miss the opportunities to take the roads less travelled that can enhance our own journey through this all too brief existence.

And if we find we have taken a wrong turn, or reached deep into a cul-de-sac, then we either retrace our steps or leave by the nearest exit.

Having said my piece (having been both surprised and annoyed that my thread had been mentioned in this way without it being bought to my attention by the current OP through the use of the '@member's name' facility), I will now choose the latter option, never to visit this thread again.

Perhaps.

Are you sure you were never a compére on 'The Good Old Days', Mike

Wonderful use of our language

Newportnobby · March 31, 2022, 10:30:43 AM

Quote from: njee20 on March 31, 2022, 08:12:48 AM
Personally one of my bugbears is someone who asks a question, gets an answer and locks the thread. There can be myriad other answers or experiences to add, I just don't see why you'd do that.

I believe only the Mod team can lock a thread so maybe the OP requested that