Notification for Necroposting

[PlanetAlexander]

I've noticed recently there's been a fair bit of necroposting - not that that is much different from any other time. It's understandable, new members may not be aware of forum etiquette, may have forgotten, or might not know of any other way to contact the original poster.
What I'm suggesting is a little notification that appears when someone goes to post on an inactive thread ("inactive" would need to be defined), similar to the popup that appears if we go to post and someone else has posted in the meantime. It wouldn't stop them from posting, it would just let them know what they're doing isn't good forum etiquette, and would propose that the new poster directly messages the original poster instead.

 

[FalseShepherd]

I've noticed recently there's been a fair bit of necroposting - not that that is much different from any other time. It's understandable, new members may not be aware of forum etiquette, may have forgotten, or might not know of any other way to contact the original poster.
What I'm suggesting is a little notification that appears when someone goes to post on an inactive thread ("inactive" would need to be defined), similar to the popup that appears if we go to post and someone else has posted in the meantime. It wouldn't stop them from posting, it would just let them know what they're doing isn't good forum etiquette, and would propose that the new poster directly messages the original poster instead.

This guy. The hero we need.

 

[Benton188]

I've noticed recently there's been a fair bit of necroposting - not that that is much different from any other time. It's understandable, new members may not be aware of forum etiquette, may have forgotten, or might not know of any other way to contact the original poster.
What I'm suggesting is a little notification that appears when someone goes to post on an inactive thread ("inactive" would need to be defined), similar to the popup that appears if we go to post and someone else has posted in the meantime. It wouldn't stop them from posting, it would just let them know what they're doing isn't good forum etiquette, and would propose that the new poster directly messages the original poster instead.

Planet, that is a brilliant idea! I think it would boil down to if the website domain the 405th uses has the capabilities of pop up windows on certain posts. This one would be up to the web site development team.

 

[PlanetAlexander]

Not a popup per se, I realise that was a bad choice of word. Here's a quick mockup of what I was thinking - from what I remember, the notification design is somewhat similar to the one that appears when there's been a message posted in the time you were typing one.

Though still, it would come down to changes in the site itself, as you said, rather than being able to be implemented by 405th staff. It would also then be able to work with other Movie Prop Sites, like the RPF.

 

[Cadet]

Unfortunately, I do not believe the Forum software supports custom messages based on the age of the thread. We can ask and get a definitive answer for you, but, we are limited by what the Software used to host the Forum can and can not do.

 

[PlanetAlexander]

I wouldn't have thought it would be too difficult to implement - some PHP, Java, or what ever else that may be in use that dictates if the last post was older than these many days, display this new element (the notification). But, I can't see the code of the Matrix and I don't really know how the site works, so it may be more difficult than I imagine.

Does Art/Movie Prop Sites have control over the design/functionality of the forums, or is that managed by another party?

 

[FANGS]

Hello PlanetAlexander.

I can certainly talk to Art about this but I can tell you we have other issues, like that armory upload issue, that we're trying to figure out first. We did do a major lock of threads a couple of years ago so it may be time to do that again to stave off some of it. I'll put your suggestion on the list and see what we can do. Thanks for taking the time to suggest it.

 

[PlanetAlexander]

So um, this is awkward...

But the reason I'm necro-ing my own post (which as far as I know is OK) is because I'd like to offer another small suggestion if possible. I'm so glad Art and the site programmers were able to implement this feature which I'm sure has helped a lot (nope, not trying to take credit). My suggestion is that perhaps it could also say something like "If you have a question for the original poster, please send them a direct message before replying to this thread".

That way it informs new members of the direct messaging system and (hopefully) avoids more necroposting, as new members may think a reply to the thread is the only form of communication. A direct message also shows up in its own tab at the top (the envelope), so it's less likely to get lost with other notifications. And finally, some users may have it set up so that direct messages send an email or push notification, meaning a more immediate response is more likely.

 

[FANGS]

I don't know that we have control over the message itself, but I can check.

 

[PlanetAlexander]

Oh, I wasn't expecting 405th staff to have control over these sorts of features, since the same platform is used by other forum sites. This just seems like the best place to make such a suggestion.