mcDuffies wrote:
Look at this guy: he has a week off and he's gonna spend it doing the same thing he does on work - coding! Sam, you're officially a geek.
Heh... Yeah. I know. I stopped trying to hide it long ago
Honestly, though, it wouldn't take any more than an hour of my time. It'd keep my computer busy for a while as it ran it, but I have direct access to the server, so I can actually link to the phpBB tables through MS Access and make a quick VB script to automatically add threads with thousands of posts. It'd just take a long time to run.
It'd probably be better for me to do that anyways, as it'd keep me OFF of the computer for a day while it processed and let me do something else equally geeky
And Kisai, that is EXACTLY what I wanted to hear. If you ever need an extra hand, I will gladly offer my services. I'm just happy that we're going to fix a problem if it occurs instead of band-aid it.
In compromise, please move threads that are compromising the system (you can tell because you will not be able to get into the forum) to the unmoderated discussion forum. I'm pretty sure the problem is solved, but without it being replicated again, I don't know. Only the search engine for the forums ever impair the forums performance.
As a suggestion, what you may want to do is lock a thread after it's gone too far off-topic. The main problem with long threads is that people start going on about something else, and so after 20 pages, if that's the case, lock it. People will then get back on topic if they start another thread.
That doesn't really count for "Post anything you want" threads, mind you
Dude, it's Keenspace. We never stay on topic. Look at "Keffria!". That one stayed on topic for half a page! However if it's going on 20 pages and went from talking about the benifits of using non-photo blue pencils to the differences between Ralf Nader's penis and a stick of gum, then I would recommend a locking. (god I hope that doesn't actually spawn a conversation about that... )
I am The Poster Formerly Known as Crossfire. Or PFKAC. ...has a certain ring to it, no?
That's the point. There are plenty of places for you to chat about off topic stuff, so if a thread is getting long and it's off topic, then there's nothing wrong with locking it
Sam_Charette wrote:That's the point. There are plenty of places for you to chat about off topic stuff, so if a thread is getting long and it's off topic, then there's nothing wrong with locking it
Muh, going off-topic and ending at some totally different topic that is perhaps much more interesting than the original - was always the most interesting part of this forum. That's what this forum is known for. Locking threads that go off-topic would be dangerously close to killing it.
mcDuffies wrote:Muh, going off-topic and ending at some totally different topic that is perhaps much more interesting than the original - was always the most interesting part of this forum. That's what this forum is known for. Locking threads that go off-topic would be dangerously close to killing it.
Nono, I didn't mean to suggest locking any thread that got off topic. I meant that a good way to keep threads under control you can lock the ones that have gone widely off topic. If something reaches, say, 20 pages and the last 12 have been off topic then lock it.
Don't lock it JUST because it's off topic, but lock a runaway off topic thread.
Threads like Fanart Joy and Artshow that just demand to be longer than 20 pages won't get locked unless there's an obvious problem. The threads that tend to be non-flame war discussion usually never pass 10 pages anyway. It might be useful, though, to split threads that go off topic into an interesting tangent so the page count between the two is minimized.
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