Making replies to old threads and posts more obvious?


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Posted

Sorry if this has been hashed through already, but it seems nearly everyone at one time or another replies to a very old thread not realizing how old it is. On some other forums I believe the forum will warn you when you are posting to an old thread. I don't suppose we have a similar option we can turn on?

BTW, I'm happy to research this if helpful. Looks like we're running on the https://invisioncommunity.com/forums/ software (a version number would help if someone knows it).

TIA

 

Posted
On 1/29/2025 at 1:10 PM, thewoodwhisperer said:

Just did a quick bit of searching and it doesn't appear to be a stock forum feature. In past versions, 3rd party plugins would do this but I'm not sure there is anything we can use that would work with the current software. If anyone finds anything promising and it isn't too involved or sketchy, I'm happy to take a look.

If I know what I'm talking about, there is a "Dead Topic Protection" plugin that was updated in November of 2024: https://www.sosinvision.com.br/index.php?/forums/topic/3013-dead-topic-protection/

It does cost $18 up front and $10/year, which seems a little pricey given this is a minor annoyance at most.

Posted
11 hours ago, h3nry said:

On both this and other forums, when a zombie thread appears ... it's often a new poster and the text reads a lot like an AI bot. I don't call them out just in case it is a real human.

I don't think the robots will care if any measures are put in place, they'll still come here to push whatever agenda robots have these days.

I just wish there was a way to weed out the AI bots and the spammers.  It doesn't bother me so much if a real person re-opens an old thread.

  • Like 1
Posted
On 1/29/2025 at 7:42 PM, wtnhighlander said:

The posting date / time is displayed just below the username on each post. Maybe a small adjustment to the forum theme could make it more obvious?

Your question is a good one, but well past my understanding of the Invision Community software to answer.

My conclusion is there isn't obviously a cure for this issue that is better than the disease. I thank everyone, especially Marc, for their thoughtfulness on my question.

If you are reading this ten years from now, your thoughts on this thread are welcome.

  • Haha 2
Posted

There isn't a lot of technological advancement in woodworking zombie threads are usually relevant still. The bots or spammers are the true problem and i don't think there is much more we can really do there.

Honestly i sometimes wish zombie threads got resurrected more often. A good portion of the questions we see have been answered before, but sometimes could maybe benefit from more detail or further explanation.

  • Like 2
Posted
On 1/30/2025 at 6:41 PM, wtnhighlander said:

Well, pre-emptive blocking would be awesome, but you guys do a great job of pointing out the weeds as soon as they sprout, so keeping them cleaned out isn't too difficult!

I seem to recall that if two spam reports are made on a post, the post is deleted (temporarily?).  Do I understand correctly? 

Posted

@Mark J, there are 'moderation points' applied to a post / poster when reports are logged, and they do accumulate. I don't know about the post being hidden, all I've seen is that further posts from the reported user may require approval from a moderator. I think at least 2 or 3 separate reports must be logged for this to trigger.

  • Like 2

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