Clutter and out of date threads

[ebayfiredme]

I think the forum has some out of date threads. To be honest with the way things change so fast with ebay&pp and what worked yesterday but not now. There should be a change in the threads kept on the forum even if they have some useful information.....or maybe a section created for post older than XYZ date people can search through if they need additional immediate answers.

I am guilty of asking questions that may have been asked already but I also do a lot of reading on this site hence part of my low post count. Also I think its almost better in everyones general situation to allow some of the same questions to be asked over and over cause even though it got answered sometime in 2007 what if a portion of it is out of date then results in mis-advice resulting in a suspension or other difficulty.

We as users on this forum are dealing with a crucial process here and I personally think anything 12-15 months old should be wiped out. I know some old old threads can bring new users in but I sometimes I don't even do a search cause I don't feel like sifting through what is now outdated info (trash).

Just my 2 cents not looking for criticism just seeing if anyone feels the same way?

I don't trust old post.

[GreenBean]

Yeah good point. aspkin would need to make the final decision. It may be worthwhile dating the threads to say info is out of date. Part of the choice would be for the user to look at the date and have some common sense about asking questions on a really old post. There will be a workable solution 'cos the forum specializes in them

[ebayfiredme]

Originally Posted by GreenBean

Yeah good point. aspkin would need to make the final decision. It may be worthwhile dating the threads to say info is out of date. Part of the choice would be for the user to look at the date and have some common sense about asking questions on a really old post. There will be a workable solution 'cos the forum specializes in them

I am not a forum expert but if askpin could make sort of a read at your own risk cause threads are old section that would work best....just keep the threads out of the normal searchable data we really need.

As a low poster and person who tries to not create useless threads in the first place I feel if I see someone answer my question via started thread or response to a thread I have to keep reading even more just to make sure that is most up to date info so my accounts don't get wacked.

[GreenBean]

That makes it complicated to do that. I said, it can be considered.

[philly387]

I suggest that if your question has been answered in a 2009 thread, it is up to date. But if it was answered before 2009, make a new thread.

Perhaps the search feature could be set at default to only search posts newer than 15 months, with the option for user to over-ride that limit and go back further.

Additionally, some threads are hopelessly out of date. Perhaps there could be an ARCHIVE section, then mods move threads manually into that ARCHIVE for historical reference. Have the ARCHIVE be NOT included in the search feature except when specifically set by user to include it in the search.

Some topics are timeless, pretty much. But most of those are not specific to ebay or paypal. They are mainly hardware, software, 3rd party app, shipping questions.

Even obsolete info threads have a use. The data may no longer be valid, but the principles are relevant. Also, for historical study and analysis, sometimes old data NEEDs to be compared with new data, to see and troubleshoot trends.

I think a section called 'Landfill' or 'Basement' or 'Archives' would be a good idea.

One thing comes to mind: some threads were started a long time ago, but have steady and/or recent activity. Should those be archived? How? Leave the first post and the most current but trash the rest (doesn't sound good)?

[aspkin]

It's common sense really guys... if you're reading a post that's dated 2007 - 2008 when this forum started up.. take the information with a grain of salt.

The forum does need to be better organized I agree, but it's getting there.

Common sense, for sure. Of course *we* all know that.

New members might be a bit overwhelmed, so cleaning up would probably be helpful. But then again, with a bit of mental processing, they could sort themselves out well enough.