Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Old Thread vs Starting a New One

This is topic Old Thread vs Starting a New One in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 11-13-2004, 04:14 PM:

First, this is not to piss off or annoy a moderator, but to pose an honest question. Fairly often a question or subject will be brought up in a new post and it is referred to an existing thread. When going there it is mega pages long, started years ago rambled to cover 180 unrelated subjects. Why not occasionally allow a new thread to begin in a more clear arena?
thanks Bill

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 11-13-2004, 06:02 PM:

Personally I feel if the old thread is years old and has tons of pages and unrelated meta-discussions that it's OK to start a new one, just be sure to read the old one first as your questions may be answered there. Other moderators may feel differently. But the goal is to not have 9,000 threads on the same subject. It makes searching much easier for people who have questions about the particular subject if they don't have to read through a ton of different threads. Just look at how many threads we have about CAP code and movie projectors! it seems like everyone wants to start a thread about their movie projector. All movie projectors are the same and could easy fit into one "movie projector problems" thread. OK I am kidding about that, of course.

I'd actually like to hear what other people have to say.

Posted by Adam Wilbert (Member # 1184) on 11-14-2004, 04:28 AM:

my two cents says that new topics are more appropriate in yak and less appropriate in ground level or FHF. Generally, if its an entertainment-based discussion, new thread. If its a problem-based discussion, old appropriate thread where possible.

I personally get more use out of a problem/solution thread if the original poster replies with the solution that ultimately solved the issue, instead of "problem-try this-try this-try this-end. Also, if people posting a question in a new thread could place links to other threads where they've already looked, it would help to sort of 'hyperthread' related issues together in a way that might be useful to others. In that regard, adding keywords to the bottom of a post would help searching. IE if someone has a 'racking' issue, a keyword of 'framing' at the bottom may help locate the info in the future. Just some ideas.

Posted by Kyle McEachern (Member # 2250) on 11-14-2004, 04:39 AM:

It seems as though the reason that moderators continue to close threads and refer to the Magic Answer Machine is that creation of a new thread isn't just about clutter, it's that the question has been answered before (in some cases, many times over) and it gets tiresome for people to give the same answer to a question over and over. If it's an addendum to a current thread, then add it. If it's something new or a new twist on something old or it's a comment about something in a billion-page-long thread, then I say start a new one. But if it's asking how to change out a bearing on X projector, and there's a thread that explains exactly how to change a bearing on that projector, then starting a new one is a waste of time and energy, and chances are if it's a thread of a few pages or so you'll end up getting your answer and a great deal more information that you might not have gotten otherwise.

It's situational, I think. But if it's for a simple answer and the answer is already around, go with that.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 11-14-2004, 10:35 AM:

It's because of what Joe and Adam and Kyle said. If you have a problem with a certain piece of equipment and you start a new thread, this tells us that:

#1 You made ZERO effort to use the search engine.

#2 You are lazy, because you wouldn't even take 5 minutes to do a search where it has already been answered, yet you want the answer spoon fed to you at someone else's time to do the search and give you a link to that older thread or re-write it all out in your new one.

#3 You are now making it HARDER for the next guy to find assistance with that problem, because he has to sort through a bunch of threads, rather than having it all contained within one or two.

It's all about keeping the forums organized, which makes them more useful. This is also why those stupid teaser subject headers you see on every other internet forum are not permitted here. Just imagine how hard it would be to find an answer when you keep coming across titles such as "My Simplex projector is..." Your Simplex projector is what? Producing a shaky image? Running noisy? The picture is streaking? Well guess what, now you have to click on the link and read part of it to find out! Teaser subject headers are rude and shows a complete disregard for other people's time. [Mad]

Plus as mentioned, many of the troubleshooting steps necessary to solve your problem could have already been taken care of by you if you would've gone through the old thread first. That means ultimately your problem gets solved faster...and that's the goal, right?

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 11-14-2004, 10:53 AM:

Do newcomers realize that adding a reply to an old thread makes it a current thread and bumps it to the top for everyone not just them?