Moved Topic Idea

[Tungro]

So when a Mod wants to move a topic they move it and create another one and lock and then they give the location. I was just wondering if it would be a better idea to have a "Moved Topics" in the announcements board where mods can just post what topics they moved and what location they were moved to. Not only would it make it easier, but if they want to move an old topic they don't have to create a new one. And if they want to move a lot, they doesn't have to bog the board with a hundred locked/moved topics posts, they just list them all in the announcements. Just my thoughts.

[Ouroboros]

I've gotta agree on this one. It's always kinda irked me that the board has clutter in it regardless of if the topic is moved or not.

[Chipster of Noonvale]

It's important to note that the "this topic has been moved" threads are created automatically by the forum software when moving.  That said, it's possible to disable it with a checkbox, and a single "moved topics" thread might help reduce clutter, although more time-consuming for the staff.

[Tungro]

although more time-consuming for the staff.

The same maybe, but I don't think it would be more...
But in the end, it is up to the Mods anyway...

[James Gryphon]

The same maybe, but I don't think it would be more...

Unfortunately, it definitely would be. Right now, when you move a thread, you don't have to do anything extra, because the checkbox to automatically make a redirect thread is pre-selected. To make a moved topics directory, you would have to copy down the name of the topic and go in there and put it in the list, with a link. It isn't a lot of work, but it is some, whereas with the current system, you have to do extra work *not* to make a redirect thread.

As far as the clogging up of the boards, that's a fair point. I think there are some advantages even to keeping redirect threads around, such if you're looking for the thread after having been gone for a long time, and because it shows the history of activity on the forum, but I understand not everyone will see it that way. That being the case, it might be a good idea for the staff to simply periodically delete old redirect threads. Deleting threads is, like posting redirect threads, mostly an automatic process, so it wouldn't take a lot of time and could be a viable solution to this problem.

All that said, I might also note that the current system has a significant advantage in consistency and discoverability:

If you go to a board expecting a topic to be there, and it's been moved, under the current system, there would be a redirect thread right where the old thread was. So, at a glance, you know exactly what happened to the old thread, and you have a reasonably quick way of getting to its new location.

Under the proposed system, the topic will have just disappeared. If the directory thread has new posts for every move, then you would see that there's a new post in the directory thread, so you would probably surmise that some topic or another has been moved (providing that you actually looked at it, and didn't just tune it out -- members have a way of getting used to ignoring stickied threads ). If you know how to quickly get to the last post, then you'll click that and see that it's the thread you're interested in.

That said, there are some flaws with this system: By nature of it being in a thread that has a post for every time a topic is moved, you'll have to load all of the other posts, which takes up a little more bandwidth and a little more time. This isn't a big deal in the modern age, generally, but it is worth mentioning. Also, the last post icon is relatively obscure and not nearly as big of a target as the normal thread title, which tends to impede use, for desktop users and especially mobile users. (This is how SMF works out of the box, so I'm not accepting blame for that one.) If you don't know how to get to the last post quickly, then you have to do extra actions to access it, making it less accessible. Finally, a principle of UI/UX design is that, barring a really good reason why not, things are supposed to stay roughly in the place you last saw them, and this tends to violate that.

None of this is to say that it can't be advantageous to have a moved topics directory, but if the choice were binary, the current system or this alternate system, I think the current system's advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

[Cornflower MM]

As a mod on a different SMF forum, I do agree with James on this one. I don't personally mind the redirect threads, it's good to know that the thread you're looking for hasn't just POOF!ed into thin air, and I know I'd never always read new replies from a thread listing what went where.

[Ouroboros]

[snip]

it might be a good idea for the staff to simply periodically delete old redirect threads. I can agree with this, if the current system is kept. It just depends on how "old" you classify as old. Do we get rid of redirect threads after a week or two because most people have seen them, or leave them there for months in the off chance that an older member returns and can't find the moved thread?

[snip]

If you go to a board expecting a topic to be there, and it's been moved, under the current system, there would be a redirect thread right where the old thread was. So, at a glance, you know exactly what happened to the old thread, and you have a reasonably quick way of getting to its new location. As true as it is that the redirect threads are useful, especially to a older member who wouldn't know about the proposed "moved topics" thread, they aren't essential. For instance, if you know what the thread is called (and chances are you do if you're looking for it), you can always use the search bar to find it. It's what I do to find threads from a few years back, rather than click through all the various pages of a board. This really just hooks back up to my above point, really. It's fine to keep the individual topics if they are going to be deleted eventually, though we still need to determine how long they should be kept around for.

[snip]

[Cornflower MM]

The Search bar is notoriously buggy and picky, and I avoid using it at all possible times. If you're looking for a topic and misspell it without realizing or knowing the proper spelling... Chances are you're not gonna find it.