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SHaines

Administrator
Staff member
Well that's not how it actually works in practice, is it? Look, for instance, at The Clinic and its many, many, "many months (or years) old" threads that come back to life when new content comes along. Please don't suggest that such threads have to be killed and reborn with linkbacks, cause that's just *** up and defeats the intended purpose of many of these threads.

The forum rules apply everywhere on the forums, but the categories like Off Topic or the Clinic aren't as time sensitive as other spots. I don't suspect this will turn into a major issue for those specific subforums, but if it does become a problem we'll figure out the best path forward.
 
Great question! We never want to paint with too broad a brush with the rules, because it's super easy to get sucked down the rabbit hole. However, a generally safe strategy if a thread is many months (or years) old, is to create a new topic when it's back in the news and link to the old thread for context.

This helps generate a fresh discussion with the latest news, while giving readers a chance to see the full backstory as well.

But couldn't you achieve the same thing simply by having old threads be reopened - when relevant - and then people can look back as far as they find necessary?

The forum rules apply everywhere on the forums, but the categories like Off Topic or the Clinic aren't as time sensitive as other spots. I don't suspect this will turn into a major issue for those specific subforums, but if it does become a problem we'll figure out the best path forward.

But what about rider threads? Sometimes a rider might not do much for an extended period of time, then… BLAM! Wins something. Or their threads become relevant for other reasons.
Take the Madrazo thread, it had been silent for over a year, then he went and won a stage in the Vuelta. (Fun fact, I was sure I'd never heard about him before, but then I saw I posted in his thread, so... guess that disproves that theory…)

I mean, why do you think we have the Rider Thread Directory? Sometimes, when a system is working there is no need to change it.
 

SHaines

Administrator
Staff member
But what about rider threads? Sometimes a rider might not do much for an extended period of time, then… BLAM! Wins something. Or their threads become relevant for other reasons.

If you find an old thread that needs a fresh post after a long period of silence go ahead and post the update. The rules we have now work very well in the vast majority of situations. If exceptions need to be made, the Moderators can make them on a case by case basis. If we find that all of our time is spent reviewing a substantial number of old threads being updated, we may need to revisit the necroposting policy. My strong suspicion is that this won't actually be a problem if five or ten threads a year need a bump after a substantial period of hibernation.
 
On the main forum page is it possible to add a 'New Posts' link (as per the old forum). Most forums have a link for New Posts on their main page. Right now in order to go to new posts one has to first click on 'What's New' go to that page and then access the 'New Posts' link from there, an extra unnecessary step.

BTW - the top of the list of so-called 'trending threads' on the What's New page aren't even as current as 'new threads' below them. I honestly think 'trending threads' doesn't even need to be there. For example - as I write this post on 8th November 2019 - the Team Ineos thread is top of the 'trending threads' page and the most recent post there is dated 28th October, 11 days ago, which doesn't seem very trending to me. Also, the Alberto Contador thread below Ineos had the most recent post early yesterday. Why that isn't placed above the Ineos thread is a mystery to me as it's got newer posts in it. Anyone going straight to the Ineos thread will be expecting new posts and will be disappointed unless they don't check the forums often. And they may not even know 'new threads' below exists, as I didn't as it's not visible without scrolling down (which I never did before making this post as I never use 'trending' or 'new' threads, preferring to check for new posts).
 
Changes make total sense. Making racing and cycling primary in the list instead of the off-the-topic-of-cycling forum which always appeared at the top is spot on.

Clinic is fine, it's not just about road racing.

If I'm thinking about the forum list as a prioritized list, which it is whether you want it to be or not, my only suggestion is to put form and fitness above the cafe.

Nice cleanup.
 
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So... is the upvote/downvote answers thing solely for threads that are prefixed Question?
Is it an upvote/downvote (plus one/minus one) thing, à la Reddit's points-make-popularity thing? Isn't it more shades of like (thumbs up, laughing, gobsmacked) and dislike (sad, angry) from social media? I mean, even the "up" laughing, some will use that as a like ("You so funny!"), some as a dislike ("You really do talk nonsense.")
 
Is it an upvote/downvote (plus one/minus one) thing, à la Reddit's points-make-popularity thing? Isn't it more shades of like (thumbs up, laughing, gobsmacked) and dislike (sad, angry) from social media? I mean, even the "up" laughing, some will use that as a like ("You so funny!"), some as a dislike ("You really do talk nonsense.")

Dunno what the Reddit thing is... If you go to a thread that has a Question prefix you'll find a little section with arrows next to the username-section of the repliers. It's hard to explain, just... go check it out yourself…

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Right, this might be a bit of a crazy idea - and could create a too many sub-sections situation - but maybe have a section specifically for rider thread? Because there are riders who do multiple disciplines, but all rider threads are in the Road section. It's a bit like with the Clinic with the old layout; technically we're not allowed to talk about Van Der Poel's cross or MTB exploits in his thread in Road...
 
I've gotten used to the new sub-forums by now. But can somebody please correct the title of the "Off Topic Discussions"? The double capitals ("DIscussions") hurt my pedantic eyes. ;)

Haha, I just went here to comment on this but was beaten by a mere 24 minutes after this having been an issue for weeks xD

Also, maybe just call it "Non-Cycling Discussions", instead of off-topic.
 
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SHaines

Administrator
Staff member
Okay, seriously, would it take maybe five seconds to change that capital I to a lower case i?

Less than 5 seconds. Sorry about that. It's fixed now. If we ever drop the ball on responding quickly, please feel free to also drop us an email at community@futurenet.com. It shouldn't be necessary to do so, but in certain times, like around forum launches or holidays, it may just be an extra layer of visibility. We will genuinely do our best to keep wait times to a minimum for things like this.

Haha, I just went here to comment on this but was beaten by a mere 24 minutes after this having been an issue for weeks xD

Also, maybe just call it "Non-Cycling Discussions", instead of off-topic.

I agree, so I've updated that as well. We can go back to the standard "Off Topic" wording, if people don't understand the change. Just let me know.
 
I can still find them when I go watch my posted messages overview, but they are like 'hidden' topics now or something like that.
No, some of the last posts i made (Pogacar, Evenepoel, general rider topics...) are not in my posting overview. If i go to those topics from my browser history, it says the topic doesn't exist.

EDIT: it does seem to work for topics i created myself, and i get the notification that the topic is pending approval. Perhaps all these topics are "pending" but you can only see the topics you created yourself. In which case, there is hope.
 

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