Seriously, people need to look at the date of when the topic was created sometimes. And I don't mean topics that can be revived at anytime because it's available for everyone to add a comment. I'm talking about help/support topics. I mean, obviously if a topic was created back in February, then the problem was probably solved because the topic creator never replied back. [Cookie for anyone that knows the topic I'm referring to.]

And of course, there are the people that are basically rephrasing what everyone else is saying in the topic. Sometimes, you'll find that in a topic (new or old, but usually old) there will be multiple instances of the same reply only rephrased in a different way.

So please people, try to at least see if the topic still deserves a comment after half a year before making one.

There are certain other ways to prevent that. Obviously, it should be set up that staff closes threads that are older than a month or two. If no one replies to a thread for over a month, obviously there is no more interest. Tons of members flow in the forums per day so lets understand that as well. I try to do that at IPB Gaming, closing old posts.

Yes, people on the forums don't take the time to look at dates, that's for sure. But it's not as bad as it once was here. I remember times where spam posts were made at an almost uncontrollable rate. I'm not on as much as I once was, but I rearely find that much spam around here.

Someone finally said it. It's kind of stupid to see a topic near the top of the list and the title seems familiar, then I realize: "Oh, I posted in this . . . a year ago." And it happens way too much. Lots of forums have a purge system where after a certain amount of time (based on the number of posts in the topic) a topic is locked or deleted. I'm sure it wouldn't be hard to implement here (there may even be a mod for it already).

unless you want your credits to be purged as well, i'd say it's possible to implement a purge system. once a member is hosted, there is no turning back but to keep the posts in the forum or else it will screw up the hosting credits. then we'd all be wondering, "where did my precious hard-earned credits go?". still want it? we have a "secret" section where we hold spam, wherein we move spam posts, and still not affect hosting credits.

as for old posts getting resurrected, i'd say we allow it IF AND ONLY IF new information is shared by member who replied on it, most especially if it's an unresolved issue/topic. and yes, i'd agree with Gyad, that members should please refrain from paraphrasing anything that has been previously raised already as replies UNLESS others have no idea what the reply meant and it needs to be made clearer and more comprehensible.

as a moderator, and i speak for myself, i don't have so much the luxury to review old posts and close them since i have limited online time. but if members are willing to assist, you can always use the REPORT button if by your assessment a thread needs to be closed. your report gets distributed to trap17 staff (admins & moderators), and it will be properly acted upon after your report is reviewed. (addendum: don't overdo the reporting simply to ask that an old topic be closed though, so that we don't get flooded with them (take it slowly... )... we still need to read and review more recent posts which may need greater attention. but your assistance with your reports is highly appreciated, and we thank you all. )

adding to Gyad's thoughts, please use the SEARCH feature of the forums before starting a new topic thread so we don't get redundant topics here. and if you use firefox, a trap17 search plugin is available (check my sig below for the link) -- makes searching a breeze.

Well I know since the new upgrade 2.1.5-to know people can create topics and the set a date to them as well. Unless that changed with this version, I could look around and see if their any mods out that set up a closed topic on a specific date automatically.

I recollect seeing one but I would have to check again.

Another forum I am a (inactive) member of has a great feature. When you want to post in a topic that is over 150 days old, you have to check a box to say you know that the topic is old etc. It does help cut down this problem a bit.

It doesn't help with the problem of 5 post saying the same things in different ways though.

the problem lies in with the search feature of forum you only can put in like 1 word and it will bring up every single posts. Trying to put in a 2 ore more words gives out these errors.

I tried to look at the first couple of pages see if anything comes up. Before posting.

Wouldnt it be possible for staff to simply close the thread once it becomes clear the problem has been solved?

That way people wont be able to make pointless posts, any information that might help other members would still be on show, & it would still appear in search results.