When a discussion is off topic for a forum and it gets "moved", the original link stays behind in the off topic forum. Is this configurable? I don't mind having the "Moved:" heading for such a discussion (it indicates what happened to it) but if it stays behind in the off topic forum, and you can continue to post to it as if it were "really" there, effectively it's only been "copied".
I'd rather see it either a) disappear altogether from the off topic forum or b) have a link such that when you click on it takes you to the forum it's been moved to. Without one of these - the "move" feature doesn't really do much to reduce the "SPAM".
Discussions that have been "Moved".
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old jasonb
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Alex Bishop
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Re: Discussions that have been "Moved".
JBassford wrote:When a discussion is off topic for a forum and it gets "moved", the original link stays behind in the off topic forum. Is this configurable?
It's possible for a moderator to choose not to leave behind a 'ghost' topic in the old forum.
JBassford wrote:I don't mind having the "Moved:" heading for such a discussion (it indicates what happened to it) but if it stays behind in the off topic forum, and you can continue to post to it as if it were "really" there, effectively it's only been "copied".
A moved topic should only exist in its new location. Ghost links to a topic in the old forum should redirect to the topic's location in the new forum.
Alex
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old jasonb
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Re: Discussions that have been "Moved".
Alex Bishop wrote:A moved topic should only exist in its new location. Ghost links to a topic in the old forum should redirect to the topic's location in the new forum.
While it's true that it does *technically* only exist in the new location, the fact that it, to all appearances and functionality, is listed in the off topic forum and works (reading, posting, replying) just like any other discussion there, means that it's just as "annoying" as if it weren't moved in the first place...
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johann_p
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Hmmmm
Something that is moved to another place but also stays is copied, not moved,
or am I getting something wrong here? Isn't the whole idea of moving to not
have it in the old place (and use that place for something better)?
Just asking ...
or am I getting something wrong here? Isn't the whole idea of moving to not
have it in the old place (and use that place for something better)?
Just asking ...
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old jasonb
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Yes, that's my point. Having it "listed" in the original forum means that it's effectively been copied - not moved. Only from a purely technical standpoint has it been moved (it's now in a different section of the database). But from a user perspective it's only been copied.
BTW: The way I've typically seen this situation handled is one of following:
1. The discussion actually *IS* moved, i.e. without any trace left behind. ("Ghost" is the term used in this case.)
2. Only the portion of the discussion up to the point where it was moved remains. This is then a "true" copy of the first bit of the discussion. No further posts are allowed (it becomes locked) and the last post is along the lines of "This discussion has been moved here...". That way you have some historical reference, and anybody following the discussion has some method of finding its new location, but it actively prevents any further apparent discussion in the off topic forum. The initial "bit" is not an alias, pointer, or "ghost" but actually present. That portion is copied elsewhere, and further discussion takes place in the location to which it was copied.
BTW: The way I've typically seen this situation handled is one of following:
1. The discussion actually *IS* moved, i.e. without any trace left behind. ("Ghost" is the term used in this case.)
2. Only the portion of the discussion up to the point where it was moved remains. This is then a "true" copy of the first bit of the discussion. No further posts are allowed (it becomes locked) and the last post is along the lines of "This discussion has been moved here...". That way you have some historical reference, and anybody following the discussion has some method of finding its new location, but it actively prevents any further apparent discussion in the off topic forum. The initial "bit" is not an alias, pointer, or "ghost" but actually present. That portion is copied elsewhere, and further discussion takes place in the location to which it was copied.
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old jasonb
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I just checked the documentation for phpBB and it seems as if the only two available methods are what we have now (with "ghosting") or deleting the entire discussion in the off topic forum (while moving it to the correct forum).
Since simply moving it without leaving anything behind for the original poster to refer to seems wrong (they'd lose their discussion), and since the Moderator moving it isn't likely to manually create a new read-only posting explaining what happened to it along with a link, I unfortunately have to conclude that ghosting it is the "best" available option here. It's an unfortunate deficiency in phpBB that there is no better method.
Since simply moving it without leaving anything behind for the original poster to refer to seems wrong (they'd lose their discussion), and since the Moderator moving it isn't likely to manually create a new read-only posting explaining what happened to it along with a link, I unfortunately have to conclude that ghosting it is the "best" available option here. It's an unfortunate deficiency in phpBB that there is no better method.
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velociraptor
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Move it!
I think moving without leaving behind anything and a small PM note to the author would be the best.
Not sure if this can be automated or would need to be done manually. Leaving behind even just a pointer
spams/clutters the forum topic list and is therefore only 50% effective (it adds the topic to were it
belongs but does not remove it where it does not belong).
Not sure if this can be automated or would need to be done manually. Leaving behind even just a pointer
spams/clutters the forum topic list and is therefore only 50% effective (it adds the topic to were it
belongs but does not remove it where it does not belong).
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old jasonb
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Something else that might be done (if your suggestion is impossible) is to delete the ghosted topic after a day or two. Leave it in place temporarily, so that the author can find it, then get rid of it after it's served its "signpost" purpose long enough.
Again, though, I don't know if it's possible to automate the task of deleting any "ghost" discussion after X days.
Still, for example, there's no longer any point in having the "Moved: When will the spellchecker be back?" ghost remain in the Builds forum any longer. It's obviously off topic, and anybody who's followed it knows now where it's "really" located (even though they might still be accessing it from the incorrect Builds forum).
As for just leaving a note to the author - what if there's already been discussion and more than just the author have contributed? There'd have to be some way of leaving a note to everybody who posted to it since they'd also be interested in its new location. I doubt that there's any automated way of doing this. Therefore, I think that a "stub" post would be best - but not if it must be done manually...
Again, though, I don't know if it's possible to automate the task of deleting any "ghost" discussion after X days.
Still, for example, there's no longer any point in having the "Moved: When will the spellchecker be back?" ghost remain in the Builds forum any longer. It's obviously off topic, and anybody who's followed it knows now where it's "really" located (even though they might still be accessing it from the incorrect Builds forum).
As for just leaving a note to the author - what if there's already been discussion and more than just the author have contributed? There'd have to be some way of leaving a note to everybody who posted to it since they'd also be interested in its new location. I doubt that there's any automated way of doing this. Therefore, I think that a "stub" post would be best - but not if it must be done manually...