Old topic indicator

[.Ian]

A problem that many sites suffer from is people replying to topics that are 1, 2 or even 3 years old or more.

Would be nice to have an 'old topic warning' beneath the reply box.

With a warning saying something like

'This topic is more than 400 days old. It is very likely that it does not need any further discussion and thus bumping it serves no purpose.
If you still feel it is necessary to make a new reply, you can still do so though.'

The a tick box that says

I am aware that this topic is rather old but I still want to make a reply.

Unless they tick the box, they are unable to reply.

This should reduce the amount of bumping with spam old topics or for no reason.

[Adriano Faria]

Today you can use a hook to warn users.

[bfarber]

I'm not a huge fan of this idea, personally. If you run a site about 1962 Chevy vehicles for instance, and have a topic that has had discussion off and on for 10 years, I don't see what it matters if someone joins and replies to the topic. In other words - what does it matter if someone replies to a very old topic?

[KittyCanuck]

I love this idea!

In other words - what does it matter if someone replies to a very old topic?

Depends on your type of forum. For mine, many threads are quite timely, and a thread even 4 months old can be hopelessly out of date and contain (now) incorrect information.
It's one thing if the topic and information stay relevant for 10+ years, but quite another if the thread is no longer relevant.
It's also a different thing if a thread that runs for a long period of time and is constantly updated vs a thread that gets one post every 2 years.

[Jυra]

Would not be of use to me since I allow older topics to be posted in. I also have a preference in joining forums that allow older topics to be posted in.

[.time]

I'd rather someone bump an old topic than start a duplicate.

[.Ian]

I'm not a huge fan of this idea, personally. If you run a site about 1962 Chevy vehicles for instance, and have a topic that has had discussion off and on for 10 years, I don't see what it matters if someone joins and replies to the topic. In other words - what does it matter if someone replies to a very old topic?

No problem at all, however sometimes people will reply to very old topics just for the sake of it, we have all seen it happen here & the initial thought is "why?"

The threshold would be set fairly high anyway - say 18 - 24 months - if a topic has not had a reply for 2 years is it really an active topic?

But it also gives the go ahead for someone to post in an old post - maybe new members think 'that post is 3 years old, I would love to reply to it, but can I? I do not want to upset anyone'.

So it can work to a forums advantage.

[Biker.GA]

For tech support issues, especially those that are being driven by a regional issue, this type of feature would be a godsend. I don't know how many times I've seen a thread resurrected when the original issue was solved ages ago.