We have seen this a few times recently, and it's very confusing when we see it.
May I humbly suggest that after a certain given time, decided by you guys at admin, a thread should be viewing only.
Could be a year or something, and then it would give a parameter on whether it's OK to restart a thread subject as things have moved on.
As has been mentioned, it's an archive.
Of course, to be as reasonable as possible, as most of these are honest mistakes, then there are now grey areas. Perhaps a T&Cs decision on how long the life of a thread should have so as to avoid confusion for new members as it can be confusing when they are "dug up" so to speak. The recent (today) one in Legal/Visa etc was a good example, 2003 if I remember correctly.
Hopefully this suggestion is acceptable as my last attempt somewhat 'flunked it', to be honest.
Edit - You could even have an option for posters to request re-activation of a thread if they so wished to a Mod or Admin if they really desired it to be so.
Just thoughts/input.
Locking threads that are over a certain "age"
Locking threads that are over a certain "age"
Resolve dissolves in alcohol
Re: Locking threads that are over a certain "age"
Good suggestion - would help keep things more current
Re: Locking threads that are over a certain "age"
We will certainly discuss this between the moderators as we do all suggestions however the likelihood for implication is slim for a couple of reasons:
1) It is not that common that we actually have to lock old threads.
2) Much of the info in many threads is still relevant today so revival is not always a problem.
3) It would be an obscene amount of work to manually go through thousands of threads over a certain date and determine whether each warrants locking or not.
Common sense should cover why replying to an 8 year old topic that has certainly run its course may result in its closure. An extra explanatory clause in the T&C's is a good idea though.
1) It is not that common that we actually have to lock old threads.
2) Much of the info in many threads is still relevant today so revival is not always a problem.
3) It would be an obscene amount of work to manually go through thousands of threads over a certain date and determine whether each warrants locking or not.
Common sense should cover why replying to an 8 year old topic that has certainly run its course may result in its closure. An extra explanatory clause in the T&C's is a good idea though.