Old Threads & Zombie Resurrection.

[0TreeLemur]

Dear Editor/Site Manager,

I suggest that old threads and posts that are older than some age (e.g. 24 calendar months) since writing be somehow denoted.   For instance, they could be given a slightly colored background.   Something to denote that they contain information that might be old and dated.  Perhaps a tag added to the title **> 2 years old**.   

The present scheme treats all articles as equal.   Because of changes in regulations, technology, equipment/software upgrades, older articles should be taken with a grain of salt in some topical areas, not all.   Having a slightly different background color for older articles will help readers recognize that caution in interpretation may be warranted because some of the info they are reading might be out of date, or just wrong (isn't that always the case??).   It will help with reader awareness and increase the value of the information on these pages.   Now, I'll gladly admit that with my 51 year old aircraft, state-of-the-art is ancient.   But a lot has changed even in the past few years.

IN the past year since joining this site I"ve started to keep my eye on the recent posts sidebar.   Sometimes it takes me to a recent post on a thread started 10 years ago!    Or- members add comments to a thread that turns out to have been started 10 years ago.

I believe that contemporary threads are more valuable than old threads.   Threads with a 4 or 6 year gap between posts are not unusual.   Sometimes the original posting and those older follow ups contain useful info.   I'm not saying we should delete those threads.  I'm saying that we should warn users that they are reading an old thread, and they might want to create a new one rather than revive a zombie.

Do with this what you will.  I don't expect a reply or to have started a debate.

Thanks.

-Fred

 

Edited November 21, 2018 by Fred_2O
detail.

[aviatoreb]

7 hours ago, Fred_2O said:

Dear Editor/Site Manager,

I suggest that old threads and posts that are older than some age (e.g. 24 calendar months) since writing be somehow denoted.   For instance, they could be given a slightly colored background.   Something to denote that they contain information that might be old and dated.  Perhaps a tag added to the title **> 2 years old**.   

The present scheme treats all articles as equal.   Because of changes in regulations, technology, equipment/software upgrades, older articles should be taken with a grain of salt in some topical areas, not all.   Having a slightly different background color for older articles will help readers recognize that caution in interpretation may be warranted because some of the info they are reading might be out of date, or just wrong (isn't that always the case??).   It will help with reader awareness and increase the value of the information on these pages.   Now, I'll gladly admit that with my 51 year old aircraft, state-of-the-art is ancient.   But a lot has changed even in the past few years.

IN the past year since joining this site I"ve started to keep my eye on the recent posts sidebar.   Sometimes it takes me to a recent post on a thread started 10 years ago!    Or- members add comments to a thread that turns out to have been started 10 years ago.

I believe that contemporary threads are more valuable than old threads.   Threads with a 4 or 6 year gap between posts are not unusual.   Sometimes the original posting and those older follow ups contain useful info.   I'm not saying we should delete those threads.  I'm saying that we should warn users that they are reading an old thread, and they might want to create a new one rather than revive a zombie.

Do with this what you will.  I don't expect a reply or to have started a debate.

Thanks.

-Fred

 

Point taken.

but - remembering that my airplane is 35 years old so much of the advice from 10 years ago was related to my then 25 year old airplane.

[RLCarter]

Adding the start date to the title would help the reader decide if they want to click or pass

[Skates97]

I have found a lot of information in old zombie threads through google searches. I don't think it is so much the thread itself as it is resurrecting it through a new post. One feature I have seen on some different forums is a warning when you go to post that it is an old thread and "do you really want to post" message. I'm sure that is a built in option depending on what powers the forum.