BS: Renewing old threads

Subject: RE: BS: Renewing old threads
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 17 Feb 02 - 12:17 AM

Theoretically you could construct an index to a long thread that might look like this (with one line per message in the original thread):

Songs about getting really old?

Peter T-------------------06-Oct-97 11:44 AM
This is a companion ("cf. Old Friends, Simon and Garfunkel") to the other thread "Songs ...
S.P. Buck Mulligan-------06-Oct-97 12:39 PM
Peter: I have a few for you: "Hello In There" by John Prine, "The Dutchman" by Mike ...
Harold-------------------06-Oct-97 01:19 PM
Peter, the Beatles sung "When I get older.." and not "When I get really old" ! Then you ...
Bill D--------------------06-Oct-97 02:13 PM
"Over the Hills to the Poor House"..old country/bluegrass number and "The Black Sheep"...
Alice---------------------06-Oct-97 02:30 PM
There are "Silver Threads Among the Gold" (in the DT) and "Darling Nellie Gray", "The ...

It's a bit tedious to construct, if you have to construct it manually like I did, but maybe the process could be automated. Maybe Max could even include this in a future version of Mudcat!

It's tedious to use, too, if you want to read a whole thread. But very convenient to use if you only want to read a few messages. And better than nothing if you can't load the whole thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Renewing old threads
From:
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 12:26 PM

I like it when people have continued the thread, but just put a clicky in to the old one....I personally just usually read the new ones as, I have said before, I find reading old ones similar to listening to a tape recording of a party held two years ago. mg

Subject: RE: BS: Renewing old threads
From: wysiwyg
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 07:27 AM

On a long thread there can be an awful lot of thread creep. I think I would rather see a long-dormant thread come back refreshed as itself, not a Part Two right away, so people will actually read the first post and go from there. If itt attracts a lot of new attention then a part two can be created soon after.

But if it's started with a part Two, I would rather see the frist post from part one repeated, than the stuff from the end.

~Susan

Subject: RE: BS: Renewing old threads
From: gnu
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 07:14 AM

Good advice which should (?) be included in the Newcomers' Guide.

Subject: Renewing old threads
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 16 Feb 02 - 06:57 AM

Just a suggestion, which has been made before.

Sometimes browsing through the archives you come across an old thread that you think deserves to be renewed. But it's very long, and that means that, if you just post to it, it'll take a long time t0 load - and some people won't be able to load it at all.

So it can be a good idea to start a "part two". And to allow continuity, so people with that difficulty about loading long threads can know what it's about, I think it's good to include the last few posts from the old thread, as well as a link to it from the new thread.

All you need do is highlight the last few posts, click on Ctrl and C, and then copy it into the first post of the new thread by clicking Ctrl and V.