Could it be set up that when someone starts a thread and it gets moved to a new forum that they get a message that their thread was moved and where it was moved to?

I realize you get notified when new posts are made to your thread. BUT, suppose you want to go back to your thread to reread the info and there are no new posts. You have to search where your thread went to. Can be frustrating, especially when you are having a complicated day.

Please and thank you

You can go to your profile to find it, look under "View posts made by jvdubb".

Calif_Sue said:You can go to your profile to find it, look under "View posts made by jvdubb".

Yes I fully realize that. BUT, I think it is a courtesy to let someone know their thread was moved.

I agree with Jennifer.

The other side of the coin is:

We used to notify members, but it happened more and more frequently that they would either
a) get their feeling hurt
b) feel and complain that admin had "slapped their hand" because of putting it in the wrong place
(this is even with a super nice note that said something to the effect of "no worries! We move threads around all of the time...blah-blah")

So.....there are definite downsides either way
We don't want members, especially newer ones, feeling discouraged from posting. We also don't want any member to be inconvenienced or frustrated because they can't find their threads.

We'll keep thinking.

I'm willing to bet new members don't even know they can track their threads. I've been around for a bit and just found out about that last month. I wonder how many new member just think their thread was deleted

Maybe leave a breadcrumb behind for 1-3 weeks.

Where the old thread was, leave a placeholder thread with the old title and just one post:
"This interesting thread was moved to <<LINK>> to increase its visibility to members of other forums."

Or leave the old title in the old forums' list-of-threads, but clicking on it takes you to the new forum.


I agree it's a tradeoff.

Is there any way to monitor what % of active members regularly check the "Ask A Question" forum, or the "All Things" forum? My guess would be that no more than 5-15% of those who regularly watch several topic-forums regularly check the forums where new members mostly post questions.

And I've become slower to "poke" people using the "@name" method. While it's true "they can always just not respond", I'm from New Jersey, so concepts like "polite" and "pushy" are hard for me to keep separate. They both begin with "P".

What was/is the problem with suggesting to new members that they ask their question on a specialized forum? It seems "kinder" to me than just moving it without telling them but we're asked not to do it. Also, I find the moving of threads frustrating when we 're trying to help someone and go back to see latest posts only to find it has vanished. I go up and down the ask a question forum a few times looking for it then I might try the logical place/s it might have gone.

Edited to add, since Rick's post reminded me, I used the @ in the daylily forum but I don't think it worked. I double checked the names and again no notification the people had been alerted and they didn't respond. The latter could have been for various other reasons of course.

sooby said:What was/is the problem with suggesting to new members that they ask their question on a specialized forum?

When a person asks the same question in two forums it splits and dilutes the conversation. For example if someone posts in the ask a question forum and daylilies forum. Some start to answer in one forum others answer in the other forum. Without seeing what is going on in the different threads the conversation will overlap or maybe go in different directions, which can be confusing. The OP will also be getting notices from two different thread with different trains of thought which could be difficult and confusing to them. It's always best to keep conversation on a particular topic confined to only one thread.

sooby said:Also, I find the moving of threads frustrating when we 're trying to help someone and go back to see latest posts only to find it has vanished. I go up and down the ask a question forum a few times looking for it then I might try the logical place/s it might have gone.

Excellent point! This has happened to me a few times. Its a pity

Horntoad said:

When a person asks the same question in two forums it splits and dilutes the conversation. For example if someone posts in the ask a question forum and daylilies forum. Some start to answer in one forum others answer in the other forum. Without seeing what is going on in the different threads the conversation will overlap or maybe go in different directions, which can be confusing. The OP will also be getting notices from two different thread with different trains of thought which could be difficult and confusing to them. It's always best to keep conversation on a particular topic confined to only one thread.

Yes, I can see that, although if it's suggested they do it themselves the person then has the choice of asking in another forum or not. There have been occasions where a question was being well answered on the Ask a Question forum and it disappeared to another forum only to get no responses or conflicting answers without those who were answering originally having necessarily found the new forum location to justify their answers. I guess there's no perfect solution.

But, if you've posted to the thread, and/or you are watching the thread, it doesn't matter which forum the thread ends up in. It will show up on your homepage and your list of watched threads no matter what.

I apologize, and I'm not trying to be obtuse, but I'm not getting why that's causing any confusion.

Trish said:But, if you've posted to the thread, and/or you are watching the thread, it doesn't matter which forum the thread ends up in. It will show up on your homepage and your list of watched threads no matter what.

Yes, it does and I like that. Those threads where I lurk and read the conversation but don't post or flag to watch are the ones that get lost. I don't flag to watch many interesting threads simply to try and keep things manageable. I don't think there is a solution for it since it's a time issue. When a thread where I've posted goes too long or too far away from the origin, you can 'unwatch' it and notifications will stop even if you have posted to the thread. That's also nice. There is so much that is posted every day, it's like trying to read a novel during breakfast and lunch breaks .

sooby said:

Edited to add, since Rick's post reminded me, I used the @ in the daylily forum but I don't think it worked. I double checked the names and again no notification the people had been alerted and they didn't respond. The latter could have been for various other reasons of course.

@sooby, You personally don't get a notification that they were alerted in your system messages, only they do. You only get that initial notification upon posting that those tagged have been notified. The best way to check if you correctly tagged them is click on the tag itself, does it go to their profile? Also, if you edit your post to add the tag, that doesn't work, it only notifies them with the initial posting. If they don't respond, it could also be that some members may just not check their system messages. When that happens to someone I tag, I will often just t-mail then if it's important.

I agree with Donald about so much being posted every day. I no longer can keep up with all the new threads and new members.

Thanks, Calif_Sue, sorry it was the initial notification that I meant. I didn't get the notice when I posted that they'd been notified. Trish I guess it's just the way I use NGA, I don't watch threads and I don't go to the home page. I just have the forums bookmarked. My choice admittedly but maybe I'm not the only one, and I also only recently clued in that I even could watch a thread. I don't find I need to watch threads though for the most part, it only becomes an issue when I want to revisit one that disappeared.

I don't think there is anyone who keeps up with everything on NGA- that would be a LOT of time!

Just like with other technology, we have to figure out the best way to organize it to suit our individual preferences. (As an aside, I've been reading "Getting Things Done" and the technology organization is the hardest!)

Personally, I star things that I want for reference, but I watch loads of things that I just want to keep an eye on. I never (or extremely rarely) look at my watched threads, but I rely heavily on the stars to keep info handy for me.