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Forums: Index > Wiki proposals and applications > Old blogs and forums


I constantly see people commenting on blogs that are very old. Because of this, I'm making this forum to suggest a new rule.

The reason is that people comment on blogs and edit forums that are from 2011 and earlier. In addition, people wouldn't expect someone to comment/edit something so old. A perfect example can be found here.

The rule is simple: if someone edits a forum or comments a blog that is 6 months old or more, the administrator locks it.

However, if it includes a link included in Wanted Pages/Files/Categories lists (or anything else needing maintenance) then the user is free to edit it.

So, what do you say?

Poll

  • No - Unnecessary rule, and makes redundant work for admins. Sorry, but I see no pros to this. -- GOTW User | Talk 17:49, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
  • No Per GOTW. --Cheese Lord (talk) 18:03, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
  • No See Below. Agent c (talk) 18:04, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
  • No I don't see any benefit to this. User rights requests and previous proposals are locked as a common practice after the poll or discussion is over anyway. And the rest has been said by Agent c already. --Skire (talk) 18:08, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
  • Neutral I see where you are coming from, but I'm going to let others decide this one. Detroit lions Hawk da Barber 2012 18:15, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
  • No I don't think it's really a problem that requires urgent attention, or any attention at all for that matter. Also more work for admins. It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Otisman! (talk) 18:21, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
  • No I'm with the others on this. I don't find this to be a problem that needs that sort of attention. I feel that anything that gets people commented and excited about Fallout is a good thing.--Bunny2Bubble 18:41, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
  • No I see the good intentions by Energy X, but I'll have to agree with Chad's comment below. --C'n-Frankie -ArroyoTalk 19:23, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
  • No I can see Energy X's reasons for wanting to do this, but I think it's a waste of time for the admins to have to go through every forum and blog post and lock it just because it's a year or two old.--Ryker6121:26, July 7, 2012 (UTC)~2:25pm 7/7/2012 "For the struggle of survival is a war without end!"
  • No This seems pointless and a waste of time. Keep those forums open, you never know when they may open up again! Power Bonkers (talk) 23:24, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
  • No Unnecessary legwork. Archiving pages like this just closes off the community to old discussions or blogs and forces a constant policy of administrators checking the forums for posts affected by this. User Talk:Gothic Neko Gothic NekoNeko's Haunt 16:57, July 8, 2012 (UTC)
  • No Completely unnecessary; The time admins would spend could be used doing more important things. - CC 4 Star Dragon Ball Edit 23:23, July 8, 2012 (UTC)
  • No I say nay! Older articles can be insightful to some of our fellow members and anonymous members, therefore it may warrant them to comment on it to express gratitude or something else all together. ट्रेलरपार्कप्रिमाते टॉक पेज 01:25, July 9, 2012 (UTC)
  • No Hardly necessary. What's wrong with users having conversations? ~ Toci ~ Go ahead, make my day. 05:40, July 9, 2012 (UTC)
  • No As others have said before me, what's the point in this? Hugs MadeMan2 "Say 'ello to my little friend!"
  • No I don't feel like it's necessary. If you don't want people to keep on commenting on a blog; turn off commenting by yourself(Or ask an admin to help you). Love Exogenesis42 (talk) 16:57, July 12, 2012 (UTC)
  • No - Just because a blog or forum page is old dose not mean it no longer has value. CupSaintPainThat was broke afore I got here. 01:34, July 12, 2012 (UTC)

Comments

As a blanket rule, I think this is a bad idea. Some blogs, like my DLC/Mod ideas are timeless, and I welcome feedback no matter when you came across them... Some users got to experience them for the first time in chat the other night. With News blogs - particularly with the Beth v Iplay series, I can see a case for a final comment from the poster encouraging people to look at the next in the series and then lock as being a good thing, rather than leaving someone who stumbles across something half way through with the wrong impression. I'm happy to start doing locks as "best practice" for news digest blogs when the next is published if others agree this is a good practice. Agent c (talk) 18:04, July 7, 2012 (UTC)

But blogs like this are very old (and it might be a coincidence for someone to see and then comment). Even if it was popluar (a lot of comments there), I just don't see reason for somebody to comment on that subject. That is why I closed the comments on polls - the subject is over and move to next. Energy X 18:13, July 7, 2012 (UTC)

It is not that we will make every forum/blog locked, only those who are edited recently. It would need a bot to do that (or at least I think they can do it). Energy X 21:28, July 7, 2012 (UTC)

Whatever happened to discussion of topics like this for a reasonable time before a vote is put up? The Gunny  380px-USMC-E7 svg 21:41, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
Yeah, Gunny, this is quite spontaneous and random, isn't it? But if a discussion needs to take place, it still can (here). I think going straight to a vote in certain cases may expedite the process. If the community doesn't like it, we'll veto it and the matter will be over. --Skire (talk) 21:44, July 7, 2012 (UTC)
It's not just this one. I don't mean to single out anyone. I think that forums that go straight to votes really restrict the process of discovery and don't allow us to explore alternative solutions. If a root problem can be identified, there is often more than one way to solve the issue. In this case, I've seen wikis with automated messages that pop up on old forum threads and blogs after a certain amount of time informing users that the thread is old and considered archived. The Gunny  380px-USMC-E7 svg 00:01, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

Just because a blog is old doesn't mean people shouldn't be allowed to read and comment. Granted it's pointless for them to do so, but perhaps the comment they make could even spark up an old debate or something. And if the comment ultimately does nothing, no harm done.
Alternatively, if we're going to lock every forum/blog after six months as soon as someone tries to re-ignite it, I don't really see a point in having blogs and forums. Yes Man defaultUser Avatar talk 00:59, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

I never stated that we will ALL. I stated only those recently edited (yet are very old). Energy X 07:42, July 8, 2012 (UTC)
I am with Gunny on this, normally it is best practise to discuss it first to ascertain what the group thinks, and gain feedback to polish off such rules for the betterment of the community, before going to a vote. As with most best practises, it isn't always case that such things are needed. But, by the votes so far and the feedback, it seems this isn't one of those cases.
Now with the proposed rule, I see no issue or harm caused by people posting to out dated blog posts. If they wish to say something, what negative impact does it really have on the community or the use of the site. Unlike forum posts, answering a blog doesn't bump the thread back to the top of the discussion. And lets face it, most the Fallout 4 blogs that have fallen off the table, will become active (and still be relevant) after the 6 months time limit. Also a technical issue, blog comments don't state the year of posting
The only real issue as I see it, is the bumping of forum posts. And 99% of the time that is caused by maintenance, which this rule excludes and also very essential part of the sites .. well maintenance. I probably would suggest a different solution, by creating a forum archive sub-set, then moving those threads over to the archive as and when someone edits them due to maintenance. This way they are no longer clogging up the main forums. User:AvatarUser talk:Avatar 17:26, July 8, 2012 (UTC)
It isn't just the fact it is old, it is also a hint user might be boosting. Commenting on something ancient and getting a nice badge simply isn't the way you should get it. Let them comment on something new and I have no trouble about it. Energy X 17:30, July 8, 2012 (UTC)
If it's a leaderboard issue you're worried about (and please nobody kill me for saying this), then why do we even have a leaderboard? Since it's been installed, the thing has caused nothing but trouble by people making stupid edits merely for a badge or being blocked under suspicion of achievement boosting. Personally, I don't like the leaderboards because people who are interested in editing will edit regardless, and people who are (pardon my language) crappy editors are going to make crappy edits for the sake of a meaningless badge.
If anything is an issue here, it's the achievement plug-in. Name one good thing it's done for this site since we installed it late last year... anyway, that's my bit. Yes Man defaultUser Avatar talk 23:14, July 8, 2012 (UTC)
If they are boosting, then that is already covered in the rules. If they are border line, then how would you notice it amongst newer blogs. To me a pointless edit is a pointless edit, and such edits to older blogs would highlight a problem user easier. You could kinda call them honey traps in that respect, as we would then have an eye on such users and determine there intentions from their contributions. The problem with blanket policies like this, is that it stifles genuine input, for the sake of possible intentional bad edits and boosters. So it is a trade off of sorts, one that I think is worth it. You have to balance bureaucracy, to much is just as bad as to little. User:AvatarUser talk:Avatar 23:47, July 8, 2012 (UTC)

Toci, the only problem is that you won't get any response. That is one of the problems - someone creates a blog and see it for a few days. After that, nothing - no respons and yet some might still comment on it, despite the oldness. There are some blogs about bugs - you expect someone to comment to see the issue/fixing and that is it. Energy X 13:53, July 9, 2012 (UTC)

To my knowledge, forum edits do not count as edit edits. Thus do not apply to boosting. And most of the time when an old topic is brought up, it is done so by a bot fixing grammar or what not. We do not need more rules that really have no logical reason to exist.--Kingclyde (talk) 22:51, July 11, 2012 (UTC)

Ah, you meant article edits. Yes, it is true they don't, but you forget other badges - lucky badge and badge of "daily commitment". They seem to also be added, nevertheless you don't edit articles, rather comment on blogs or edit forums. Energy X 07:48, July 12, 2012 (UTC)

Result

We leave it as it is. I've never experienced any trouble or annoyance with blogs or forum staying open. So every now and then an old blog gets a very late comment, that's not a big deal and happens rarely. Same thing with forums, mainly because of maintenance. In no time they're pushed down again by actual topics anyway. Probably even has some advantages if topics become actual again. Jspoel Speech Jspoel 17:37, July 14, 2012 (UTC)

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