I think that when making a thread, after you leave the subject field, similar threads should be automatically generated so you know if what you're making already exists.
Basically, the similar threads area that shows up once you make the thread, but instead showing up while you make the thread. I imagine it would be helpful.
Thread Recap (last 10 posts from newest to oldest)
Jun 03, 12 at 2:20am
Dynamite
I agree heavily with the above.
Duplicate threads aren't really an issue in the majority of boards. The most active discussions can be found on the 1st page and anything older is fair game for creating a new discussion. There are a few exceptions but these are generally handled by moderators or someone just links to the old thread for reference. Speaking generally, right now the site needs more new threads to provoke discussion in a lot of boards and I don't see having an additional barrier to thread creation as conducive to that as Mish touched upon.
We have the non-intrusive "similar threads" area in the bottom left of topics. I believe that's as far as I'd ever wanna see such a system go.
Jun 03, 12 at 1:03am
Mishtram
I guess I will be the Advocate for the other side here, just to flesh things out.
As lovely as such a system would be, I really do not like the idea of people being pushed into old threads, nor do I like the idea of people having another barrier to posting, especially since first time posters just want to get the words on the site. The more hoops to jump through, the more people will choose not to jump. We allow guests to post because we want as few barriers to community involvement as possible and I worry this will just continue it.
Especially since a lot of old threads will result in people posting at the end of them, possibly using unrelated threads just because they were offered as an option and people may be disheartened if forced to open a thread from 2005. Ironically, a thread recently here does not use one of seven or eight threads from recent times, but rather one from 2005 and another from 2002 from members who do not post here anymore.
New threads evoke discussion and drive forum growth, and I would prefer people post a new thread rather than go into the old ones. For most other benefits, they already exist as it appears at the bottom of the threads once created.
My own thoughts!
Jun 02, 12 at 2:03pm
hiigaran
thats where i believe the forum mods should decide on how it will work, or if it should exist at all. like i said, places like rfs should have it on for all threads, regardless of date. same for site help, music, tl, and a heap of others. other forums might not need it that way, or at all.
If this did happen, it'd be good if it included the last post date, it's all very well having an alert that the thread is already there, but sometimes it's better to start off fresh depending on the situation
Agreed, I love the idea but it should only work for recent threads. Like ones made in the past 30 days or something like that.
Jun 01, 12 at 11:57pm
Emberguard
If this did happen, it'd be good if it included the last post date, it's all very well having an alert that the thread is already there, but sometimes it's better to start off fresh depending on the situation
Like how GameGrep detects similar articles. Could apply the same thing to making threads.
This is what sprung to my mind when I saw this thread. GameGrep already does this and it looks good. Something similar I think could be done on Neoseeker as well. Would be very handy and I'd love to see it.
May 31, 12 at 2:35pm
hiigaran
bumpitty bump. i still think this is a really great idea for many forums.
the way i see it, implement something javascript based that searches the forum for all threads with similar tags and titles as the user types the thread name. for instance, if you are in the computer hardware forum, and want to make a thread on how to overclock, the feature would be able to locate the most recent threads related to 'how to' and 'overclock'. clicking one of suggestions will take the user to the thread.
of course, not all forums benefit from this. loungin wouldnt, of course, as im sure a few others wouldnt either. therefore, like optional or mandatory tags, suggested threads should be moderator activated.
Apr 09, 11 at 3:27pm
BrokenKnights
Yup. Support. Now that we're not really using Thread Indexes, it would really help new members to know what's floating around.
Apr 09, 11 at 7:58am
Rabla
Massive Support here, this would be really helpful to a lot of big forums like Pokemon and Final Fantasy.
Apr 08, 11 at 1:13pm
Yick
This is a good idea. MSDN uses a feature similar to this. I think Yahoo Answers might also, lol.
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