About THREAD CLOSING ...

[Junner2003]

No, this is not the usual WHY HAS MY THREAD BEEN CLOSED complain! :D

I just wonder if closing a thread is really useful? A closed thread still appears in the search results and therefore it does not matter how many replies it has, so, closing it is pointless!

A better idea would be to remove / delete threads if they do not contribute anything to the XDA community. This way that 'non-content threads' wouldn't even show up while searching for things.

[the-equinoxe]

You have a point there.

Sometimes we leave threads only closed just to let them pop up in search results to prevent another one opened for the same topic.
Sometimes there is no apperent reason not to delete it.

If you happen to find such a thread, feel free to report that thread to a mod or admin so he/she can take action.

Best Regards,

EquinoXe

[scotchua]

I agree, most of the time we don't delete them because it causes more issues that it solves. That being said, it would probably benefit us greatly to start at some of the oldest threads and just start deleting information that is not longer relevant or useful anymore. Eventually it would greatly improve the quality of searches.

[denco7]

I think the Mods walk a fine line of censorship here and on other forums. Forums, especially development forums grow and evolve through the free flow of ideas and the back and forth bantering of it's members. Because of human nature this bantering often ( too often ? ) disinigrates into unproductive flaming , ego driven hard feelings and other such behaviour. At which point the Mods need to step in .

I think when a Mod steps in with a valid reason and posts why he/she is closing a thread, he/she walks on one side of the censorship line. When they close and delete all traces of a thread, I fear they cross to the other side of the censorship line.

[farukb]

guys, you all have the point...mike has most...
i think closed threads are good example and reminder to all members (not just juniors)
eg. i won't ask a question if i saw it in a closed thread...so you get less new useless threads and there for less work for mods...
by the way closing is best way of preserving good solved threads from being rocked with all those stupid and useless posts and replies...like thanks...it worked for me...and so on

[-PiLoT-]

i think as long as a post provides information or the answer to a question that may be a popular one, then it should be closed rather than deleted if the reader has further question maybe a pm to a mod to reopen it

[parleyp]

I personally have had several very offensive flame threads removed at my request by the moderators. In every instance, they were removed shortly after I reported them. Removal is a very drastic step that should be reserved for those threads that are offensive to their core. Apparently our moderators agreed with my view because the threads were removed.

So I think there is a place for removal--but do like the idea of some threads being moved to the trash forum...as an example of what not to do. Sometimes, we do put information in threads that are closed that is very valuable but fully discussed and those, as noted above, do not belong on the trash heap.

[Junner2003]

I hear the sentence 'value in older threads' quite often and surely understand the fact that nobody wants to lose such information.

So,
keeping this fact in mind, older threads still could be deleted easily if their content is covered in the WIKI. This - at least in my opinion - makes sense since the WIKI should be one of the first places users should look at before posting / starting a new thread.

A big 'task before house cleaning' would be to add anything of value to the WIKI, then the deletion of a thread wouldn't really matter but would add a bit more quality to the boards since all those 'not-more-needed' threads would be reduced to a minimum.

[farukb]

So,
keeping this fact in mind, older threads still could be deleted easily if their content is covered in the WIKI. This - at least in my opinion - makes sense since the WIKI should be one of the first places users should look at before posting / starting a new thread.

nice idea...but only in theory...because someone has to go through both the wiki and the forum to merge,replace and delete threads if they are in the wiki

you'd need people to do it...and you can't just point the finger at anyone, not even mods...they are volunteers, not slaves

generally the idea has sense and would be a good time and space preservation...you just have to do it yourself when you become so stressed and angry because of redundancy, useless info...and people in general

i tried to run some actions in cleaning the threads of those offtopics so i gathered over 200 offtopic (non htc) threads and provided them to mods...and they deleted the most
but it's a one time action....those threads will come again over time...and nobody really gives a damn about it