Closing old threads
 

It gets quite annoying to reply on a post and notice it's an old thread someone just resurrected. Other forums have the option to automatically close threads older than, lets say, 6 months old, or put a notice behind them recommending to open a new thread before answering that one... that would be nice. I've also seen forums where people that repeatedly reopen old threads are penalized.

Why penalize them?

Because it's not polite, like writing all in capital letters.

I notice, though, that a lot of times it's a newbie that opens an old thread. The person probably is new to forums in general and doesn't realize that it is better to start a new thread. It's the same with people who suddenly chime in with "their" problem, concern, etc. on an existing thread, instead of starting their own. I think a gentle reminder to start a new thread would be more beneficial. It really doesn't bother me that much that this happens.

At the same time, asking people to start new threads on things like "puppy biting" is really a pain around here. We can have 5 threads a day on that so if someone wants to bump an old thread for that- go for it.

Plus I don't really care when people bump old threads, personally. Sometimes I have found something I missed the first time around and end up getting good info. Just MHO, though

ditto

I agree with this. And sometimes reading an old thread will bring back memories! good or bad :laugh:
As long as they are bumping it up for legitimate reasons I don't see a problem. But now and then people don't look at the dates and will offer advice on a whelping question or something that is very timely..when in fact it was 6 months previous that the litter was born!

I agree Jane. Some of these old threads are relevant regardless of age.

I like it when I see the old threads come up, especially, like others have already said when it's the same issue - puppy biting ... that seems to be the most common!

I do look at the dates, one of the "first" things I check, but I'm anal that way!

Well, I replied to a 3 year old thread because I like the OP and her dog, and I am catching up on things I missed before I joined.
No one had a problem with it, and it was fun to get an update with photos from the OP