IDEA: Random thread

[Wayne]

Wayne???   Karlos???  Anyone there???

This is one of those pivotal moments when I point out that you really need to talk to Bill P to see what he'd like to do.  As easy, or as hard as it may be (dunno, haven't looked), I'm specifically not touching anything to do with the administration of the site any more out of respect for the new owner(s).

Karlos could probably check vbulletin.org and have one installed in a few minutes if it existed and/or Bill agreed.

Wayne

[Cammy]

What if people start replying to these old threads, simply to go "LOL, funny" and then all the Recent Topics area is full of ancient threads that have been bumped but aren't really relevant anymore?

Do people get so bored that they have nothing else to do? Why not start a new thread, try thinking up some ideas to contribute to the Amiga community, or read someone's post asking for help, do some research online then come back and reply to that person, helping them out.

I'm sure there's heaps of valuable information lost in those older posts, but the best way to get to it isn't to start pulling them out of the box randomly. If there's something specific we need to find out, there's the search function. Searching for something specific, finding it, reading through the thread and replying to it because it's the topic you were looking for in the first place seems more productive.

[Karlos]

LOL, funny!

[Cammy]

[Karlos]

:lol:

It's a fair point, actually but to be honest, I only really see that sort of thing happening on threads that were supposed to be funny anyway.

You'd have to be pretty bored to stick a "lol" post on the end of a deep technical thread just for the sake of it, and if you were going to be that sad in the first place, you'd probably already be doing it on every thread anyway.

[Tension]

What if people start replying to these old threads, simply to go "LOL, funny" and then all the Recent Topics area is full of ancient threads that have been bumped but aren't really relevant anymore?

Do people get so bored that they have nothing else to do? Why not start a new thread, try thinking up some ideas to contribute to the Amiga community, or read someone's post asking for help, do some research online then come back and reply to that person, helping them out.

I'm sure there's heaps of valuable information lost in those older posts, but the best way to get to it isn't to start pulling them out of the box randomly. If there's something specific we need to find out, there's the search function. Searching for something specific, finding it, reading through the thread and replying to it because it's the topic you were looking for in the first place seems more productive.

What?

[J-Golden]

What?

I think what Cammy is trying to say is that there is a potential of new posts with active threads getting burried/pushed off of the "Top 10" list by people responding to the old, random threads.  

I to can see how this may kill a post that is not being added to rapidly, or hinder help asked for or given.  This would force ppl. to look into the individual forums to find what they need.

Maybe if there was a way for A.ORG to know the difference between a reply added through normal means and a comment in answer to the "Random Thread" of the day...

[Tension]

I think what Cammy is trying to say is that there is a potential of new posts with active threads getting burried/pushed off of the "Top 10" list by people responding to the old, random threads.  

I to can see how this may kill a post that is not being added to rapidly, or hinder help asked for or given.  This would force ppl. to look into the individual forums to find what they need.

Maybe if there was a way for A.ORG to know the difference between a reply added through normal means and a regurgitation spewed in answer to the "Random Thread" of the day...

- edited by mikeymike - language - dude, that's a bit strong!

[fishy_fiz]

Pull up a bit there fellow, show some respect. Agree/disagree/whatever, I dont give a hoot, but at best that response was a very poor choice of words.

[Marcb]

When I read the title "Random thread" I thought this was going to be a thread where we just post random stuff...

Like,

If a duck farts while swimming, does it's speed increase?

Me too, and I think the duck's speed would decrease because the release of gas will make it less buoyant.

[arnljot]

When it's going deeper in the water wouldn't that make it harder for the duck to paddle forward, in other words: reducing it's speed?

Hm, that was perhaps off topic.

But I don't think that the site would be flooded with old threads coming to the surface as duck farts. Only those who still bear intrest to the community would survive, and mods could kick users in the n*ts who post "LOL funny" on all the random threads. In Cammys case it wouldn't be the problem, as she wouldn't post it, and there are no **** to kick either.

[gertsy]

What I'm still trying to figure out is if both Karlos and Wayne replied then there must be 2 Virgins in this thread.  

Maybe the duck ?  It floats like a Virgin... Or is that a Witch ?

And who's to be sacrificed.

"Ohh the humanity"

PS: Search works fine. I think.

[Marcb]

I personally like the idea, why not turn this thread into a poll?

Rather than have it show up with the other threads it could pop up in its own section like the random pic...

(I see yr point about the buoyancy of the duck working against it.. I will have to re-think my position)

[Argo]

Just go hunting in the depths of the various sub-forums, if you are so inclined. I agree with Cammy. Not a good idea for the Top 10 active topics. Would have to be a side box and even then, there are some forum topics I'd rather not see dredged to the surface. Random or not.
For your own amusement, go nuts. Put whatever weird keyword(s) in the search box and see what you get. Just don't be bumping them to the top, please.

[Marcb]

But...

If I type keywords into the search engine then the found topics wont be a random selection, one would hope they would be in some way related to my keywords.



That's the whole point of a random thread... It is random.

[Argo]

Use Random keywords.

Use that brain, AO users are smarter than the average bear.