Why don't threads with best answers auto close?

[Rusting In Peace]

I've just given best answers to a few threads and had a moderator close them off.

This behaviour makes no sense to me. If moderators close answered threads as soon as possible why isn't the forum just closing the thread immediately after a best answer?

If the thread is supposed to be open after best answers then why are moderators closing answered threads?

Just doesn't seem very streamlined to me.

 

[randomizer]

I personally don't see much reason to close the threads. Yes, it does prevent pointless necromancy 4 years later but at the same time someone may have a good reason for resurrecting it. I don't close them myself unless the OP requests it, but some of the other moderators like to close them.

 

[amuffin]

but some of the other moderators like to close them.

mousemonkey.avi

 

[tigsounds]

I think it's better to close them when solved. They become reference material after that and can't be polluted with useless on-going additions, especially from someone 4-10 years later that doesn't even look at the date but wants to put in their 2 cents.

All threads should expire (auto-close) after about a year from lack of interest (no new comments) so nobody can keep dredging up old post. If they have a similar problem from way back when, they can start their own thread with their current problem/comment.

 

[EXT64]

It is probably best to reference an old thread (link to it) if it includes important information rather than to post in it and resurrect it.

 

[Ijack]

Just to add my two cents. Sometimes the "best answer" isn't actually the best answer and someone my later come up with a better, or more informative, one. Closing the thread immediately frustrates that. The OP may be satisfied with what he marked as "best answer" but I think it would be helpful to other forum members to leave a week or two leeway before locking a thread just in case anyone else has useful or interesting information to add.

At the other end of the scale, threads that haven't been active for, say, three months definitely need to be locked. They seem to be the exclusive province of spammers. I've seen ten-year old threads suddenly revived, which is just plain stupid.

 

[Rusting In Peace]

It's not an unreasonable argument ijack, however, there is a difference between the best answer to the technical question asked and the best answer deemed by the OP. Given that the best answer is selected by the OP and not a technical moderator, when an OP chooses a result it's not helpful to second guess that choice.

Ideally the best solution would be to continue a best answer award on threads but perhaps introduce a "moderators choice answer" award which can be taken after a best answer is selected and would automatically lock the thread.

 

[amuffin]

Too bad best answers can't be changed

 

[randomizer]

Ideally the best solution would be to continue a best answer award on threads but perhaps introduce a "moderators choice answer" award which can be taken after a best answer is selected and would automatically lock the thread.

It's already quite common for moderators' opinions to carry more weight than other users' opinions for no legitimate reason, and this would be an extension of that problem. I don't think it's a good idea to presume that moderators know any more about a topic simply because they are moderators.

Too bad best answers can't be changed

They can be changed by moderators but we only do so if requested, if we really know what the best answer is, or if we know that the current best answer should (without a doubt) not be marked the best answer even if we don't know for certain which one should be. Sometimes the OP picks a rather dangerous post as the best answer, and while we can't protect them from their own stupidity, we can protect others who stumble across the thread.

 

[Saga Lout]

Here's a sugegstion while we're on the subject.

Could it be fixed so that only those threads with BAs show up in a Google search or a Tom's search for a specific problem, or at least go to the top of the page.

Too many people search to try helping themselves then come up against threads which match but which don't have an answer at all, are clearly rubbish or are simply five years out of date.

 

[Pyree]

That would be difficult since people always forgot to change from a discussion thread to a question thread.

 

[Rusting In Peace]

I've always thought that threads should be questions by default not discussions anyway

 

[Saga Lout]

+1 RIP - never did understand that one.

 

[randomizer]

Could it be fixed so that only those threads with BAs show up in a Google search or a Tom's search for a specific problem, or at least go to the top of the page.

That's a very small percentage, so I highly doubt BoM will want to remove the majority of their content from the Google search index

 

[Mousemonkey]

mousemonkey.avi

 

[delluser1]

when an OP chooses a result it's not helpful to second guess that choice.

In some instance's it is

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/342758-28-dell-optiplex-gx620-desktop-power-supply

Doesn't matter what the "opinion" of the poster who received the BA is, the board is BTX

Many years ago, on another forum, moderaters had the power to remove BA's that were given to response's that were flat out wrong

 

[HEXiT]

i like it just the way it is. often i will put a reply in a topic that already has the best answer chosen. most of the time its to explain a point that i felt may have been overlooked or to clear up a fuzzy reply. it may even just to say thank you for picking my answer. what ever the reason i do prefer it if the subjects are left open for 24 or so hours just in case the OP was a little hasty in his choice...

 

[jpishgar]

In response to the question - "What's the best way to fix a video card covered in orange marmalade?" the answer could be given "Aardvark wombat grape tambourine suspender pants." and be set as the Best Answer, if the original poster was sufficiently insane enough. A user following that could line up a step-by-step drying off process, testing the card for functionality and cautioning against further spillage of jellied breakfast confections, and not receive a Best Answer.

We have mods to make the judgment call on threads, to apply a human element to thread quality and control. It keeps the forum useful.

 

[Proximon]

I'm always happy to review a thread and BA, if you want to send me a pm. I imagine that's true for all the mods. If it's not clear we can always discuss it in our private forum. The example above is perfect, because it's one that I would not have bothered with unless requested. Threads can always be reopened as well.