Merging threads into existing threads

SugarSpun

Browntoa wrote: »

BOARD GUIDES
The Board Guides are volunteer users who help to keep the forum running smoothly. They do not deal with abuse - and are totally separate to the forum team.

Brief Role Description

• They focus on a few boards - not the whole forum
• Keep threads on topic and boards running smoothly (including moving non-MoneySaving related discussions to Discussion Time/MoneySaversArms where appropriate)
• Delete spam and report the poster to the Forum Team
• Help newbies find their way around
• Point site users to relevant main site guides/news stories/blogs
• Merge/link together duplicate threads
• Sticky the best threads to the top of the board
• Lock contentious threads and report to the Forum Team.

I think the bit I highlighted is the important bit here, and Browntoa thank you for posting this. The problem as I see it is the bit where it says "where appropriate", because everyone has different ideas as to where and how the merging is appropriate. IMO merging is something that should happen but the way it is currently handled with regard to the Parents' Club thread seems to not be working for multiple reasons:

- posts are merged in time/date order and go several pages back so the OP becomes just a post in a massive thread and is easily overlooked
- many people may not see it if they've read the thread after the merged post was posted because it appears in the middle of things they've already read and won't go back to, so people who have valuable insight may miss it
- the lack of a courtesy "I merged" post is new and has made the problem worse because thread regulars don't know to go back and check for merges
- when people read the thread and see that a post is made and gets no response it makes the parents' club look cliquey, which in turn gives it the sort of reputation that meritaten has shown above and then means that more and more non-moneysaving threads appear in Moneysaving, Relationships and Families because people aren't comfortable just dropping their post into the Parents' Club thread because they think it will be ignored - because as far as they are concerned and as far as it appears it has been

I think the suggestion of following the OS model where a post has about 24 hours' grace to get some replies before it's merged makes sense, and perhaps a quick "I merged a post" post into the main thread would mean that as soon as we see that post we could go back and find the merged OP and comment more if necessary.

SusanC_2

And given the tirade directed at us by meritaten who is neither a poster on the parent thread or the OP of the merged thread, it is clearly not just the so called cliquey parent thread who think the thread merging is a problem.

Fitzio

I very rarely post on the Parent Thread anymore, but I used to find it a valuable resource, and somewhere I could post a question. I was also aware that if I wanted it to be directed to a wider audience, I could start a new thread, and invite comments and advice from others.

By merging other threads into the Parents Thread, nobody is benefitting. Most posters are aware that the Parents Thread is there, and occasionally people choose to post there, knowing they are asking their questions to parents who regularly post. However, if they choose to start a new thread, inviting opinions from everyone in the forum, they are being penalised by the thread being merged and their responses limited.



I have noticed on previous Parent Threads that people have been confused and had a moan about the merging, both regular Parent Thread posters, and people who were following the merged thread.

• It makes it very difficult to follow a question and responses.
• It does appear that people have posted a question and other people have ignored it due to the timing differences.
• It makes it so much more difficult to search for a topic and will result in more duplication of questions.

People complain about the amount of merging that occurs in the Old Style forum, but at least the Board Guide lets the thread run it’s course, and states that they will merge it at a later date to keep similar topics together. However, I think that as parenting is such a wide and varied subject, even this wouldn’t work in relation to the Parents Thread. It’s much easier to keep all e.g. “carrot soup” queries together, than it is to group parenting issues.

My suggestion would be that individual threads are allowed to remain individual, but perhaps if a Board Guide notices it, they could post on it, suggesting that the person might get some useful advice if they also post their question on the Parent Thread – therefore providing the option to the individual, and a gateway into the Parent Thread.

I do think that all of the Board Guides do a good job in general and I sympathise with what can be a thankless task. I understand that there are different opinions on what would be best, but I really hope that sensible and amicable discussions occur and some sort of compromise is reached, as there are less and less people posting in the Parent Thread, and MSE is losing an excellent resource.

aless02

Fitzio wrote: »

My suggestion would be that individual threads are allowed to remain individual, but perhaps if a Board Guide notices it, they could post on it, suggesting that the person might get some useful advice if they also post their question on the Parent Thread – therefore providing the option to the individual, and a gateway into the Parent Thread.

I have noticed in the past that quite a lot of people do this already (I noticed more when I was pregnant and you saw millions of "what to buy for baby?!" threads), as a good chunk of regular "club" thread posters read many other threads on the Families board and are quick to notice that if an OP isn't getting a good response, so they jump in recommending the OP should post their question on the TTC/Pregnancy/Parent thread as appropriate.

So it doesn't have to be up to the BG, in case this comment is instantly dismissed as too much work for the BGs. I feel like it happens pretty naturally anyway!

We realise this isn't a democracy, but sometimes throwing out a few different ideas can really make everything run smoother, as there may be 'solutions' out there that the Powers That Be may not have thought of previously.

Fitzio

aless02 wrote: »

I have noticed in the past that quite a lot of people do this already (I noticed more when I was pregnant and you saw millions of "what to buy for baby?!" threads), as a good chunk of regular "club" thread posters read many other threads on the Families board and are quick to notice that if an OP isn't getting a good response, so they jump in recommending the OP should post their question on the TTC/Pregnancy/Parent thread as appropriate.

So it doesn't have to be up to the BG, in case this comment is instantly dismissed as too much work for the BGs. I feel like it happens pretty naturally anyway!

We realise this isn't a democracy, but sometimes throwing out a few different ideas can really make everything run smoother, as there may be 'solutions' out there that the Powers That Be may not have thought of previously.

I agree Aless, I have seen others do it, and have done it myself, which is why I thought of it. I don't know how much work is involved for BGs, but I imagine that making the odd comment (only if they notice it), would be less work than merging threads.

Former_MSE_Andrea

I like Fitzio's idea too. I think pointing people to relevant threads that might help will also help them learn how to navigate around the forum if they're new to it.

Let's give it a go.

Andrea