Posting repeated threads...

Guys,

I have a question. What should we all do if we post a thread or info that was already posted? Should we delete the thread or leave it there in case other members haven't seen the other one similar to ours?. I'm asking this because when someone posts a repeated thread an AO member writes back saying for example: "Hi, this thread was already posted here", but there are many other members that still answer this new thread maybe because they never saw the other similar older thread, and sometimes this new thread has more answers that the older one. So, should we delete or leave repeated threads???

Hope this question and your answers help improving AO members "postings". :D

Thanks,

DKRR

Hi -Dark Raider- . I normally don't post just a reader. But just to answer your question I don't seem to mind it. Only because it's the same info so I don't bother reading the post. Other times they're might be different resources and discussion on another thread. I say just leave them up. If people here can't stand seeing a double post like what your talkin about they have some issues :)

Hi -DaRK-RaiDeR-.

Quote:

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I'm asking this because when someone posts a repeated thread an AO member writes back saying for example: "Hi, this thread was already posted here",

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IMHO I think their message are, 'search and reply to the existing thread if a thread exist'. With other words search before starting a new thread on the same subject :).

That's a tough one Dark. I have found myself going both ways on repeated threads. Sometimes I'll see multiple threads on the same thing and it annoys the crap out of me, whereas sometimes (like you said) I see the same thread BUT with more links and more information.I guess what makes a repeated thread wasteful is identical links and information.

It's really about the content of the thread, no?
for example; I don't think I would mind seeing a thread repeated about let's say...Firewall Rulesets or IE6 patches/exploits because these are constantly changing topics, updated daily.
I always check these type of threads (even if repeated) because someone may have found a better link(s) or more information on the same topic.
However if I see repeated numbskull threads like 'I lost my password to my bank vault, can someone help me break into the bank's password database?' then I get totally aggrevated.
slight hint of sarcasm but I think you get my drift :)

ShagDevil, i think i agree with you totally, i don't care if different members post twice or more if the thread has new info about the related matter.

mantra, i see your point but, what if you really look for an info in AO forums before posting a new thread but you REALLY can't find one similar so you post a new one. I have written a tutorial of "wrong posts" and i looked for wrong posts through AO forums but finally i asked other AO members to help me find more "wrong posts" examples because i really couldn't find them, then some members found more examples. Besides, sometimes a thread similar to yours have a very different name and so you can't find it.

By the way, i'll take this occasion to ask a new question, if you delete your thread, do you make other members lose their posts? :( I mean if you have for example 200 posts and you post another answer in a new thread so now you have 201 posts, but then if this thread is deleted with your post inside it, do you go back to 200 posts because this thread was deleted?

Bye.

DKRR

DKRR, to answer your last question, you lose your post credit if the thread is deleted. (I tested on my own, it may differ in the example you offered, but I don't think so.) The idea for this, I think, is a good one.

Otherwise, some newbie will post every few minutes, in Roll Call, or Gen., and posting "HI" or some such. If they got credit, the newbie would, within a few days of doing this, be a Senior Member for no posts.

dkr: IMHO, Sometimes I mind sometimes I dont, but I think that is what the bump button is for, if you think an article holds some special value then you should definitely bump it back up so that other can read it. But if someone really wants the good info they will just cycle through the forums to see whats new. I have seen a lot of ppl get negs for reposting things also. Again thats just my opinion.

D_R., good question and you got some good answers. IMHO, new news is new news, on any subject. For instance, today one of our members started a thread on a dog-shooting by the police (headid=239054). I remember this same subject being discussed when the event happened, and tried several search-terms to bring it up without success. This thread, even though it is a repeat (technically) of a prior on the same subject, did have a new item; the THP video clip of the event from one of the patrol cars. As for looking up an old thread, adding to it and bumping it, a thread with 90 replies is not going to get the last post read by most people, and in this case we would have missed the video clip.
I for one do not worry about a subject being re-posted, as long as it has some new information somewhere. July said it better than i just did, and Shag_Devil was correct also. IMO.