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| | | Author: | Timothy_Smith  | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 09:10 | | Subject: | Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 337 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | | Status: | Open | | Vote: | [Yes|No] | |
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| Back in the day, when hard drives were measured in millibytes, it made sense
to purge Forum posts from time to time. But modern servers have vast storage
capacity. All the typing every member could ever do in their lifetimes won't
fill a hard drive of even modest size.
Purging discussion threads destroys 'institutional knowledge' and as a result
we have the same discussions over and over.
Currently there's a thread about sending plastic toys to Italy.
This comes up about once a year, and each time the previous discussion has been
lost and has to be recreated from scratch. This certainly uses more server resources
than simply linking to an existing discussion, but more important is the loss
of knowledge.
We have institutional amnesia, deliberately induced. It's a set back.
Thanks for reading. 
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| | | | | Author: | poobaloo | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 09:18 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 78 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| I'll bet you don't purge your email either. An IT nightmare. Just like not
deleting email... yes it does not waste physical space... And you're only taking
up invisible bits on a hard drive... And hard drives are cheaper today than
ever before. But you make a database bigger, backups bigger, and an entire system
more cumbersome by not being prudent and keeping only data that is relevant to
the function of the site -- that being to make money.
In Suggestions, Timothy_Smith writes:
| | Back in the day, when hard drives were measured in millibytes, it made sense
to purge Forum posts from time to time. But modern servers have vast storage
capacity. All the typing every member could ever do in their lifetimes won't
fill a hard drive of even modest size.
Purging discussion threads destroys 'institutional knowledge' and as a result
we have the same discussions over and over.
Currently there's a thread about sending plastic toys to Italy.
This comes up about once a year, and each time the previous discussion has been
lost and has to be recreated from scratch. This certainly uses more server resources
than simply linking to an existing discussion, but more important is the loss
of knowledge.
We have institutional amnesia, deliberately induced. It's a set back.
Thanks for reading.
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| | | | | Author: | Brickwilbo | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 09:30 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 55 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Timothy_Smith writes:
| | Back in the day, when hard drives were measured in millibytes, it made sense
to purge Forum posts from time to time. But modern servers have vast storage
capacity. All the typing every member could ever do in their lifetimes won't
fill a hard drive of even modest size.
Purging discussion threads destroys 'institutional knowledge' and as a result
we have the same discussions over and over.
Currently there's a thread about sending plastic toys to Italy.
This comes up about once a year, and each time the previous discussion has been
lost and has to be recreated from scratch.
|
There are many other members contributing to the forum compared to 6 months ago.
We already know the search option is often unused before something pops up.
Visions change. 
| | This certainly uses more server resources
than simply linking to an existing discussion, but more important is the loss
of knowledge.
We have institutional amnesia, deliberately induced. It's a set back.
Thanks for reading.
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| | | | | Author: | cptnruthless | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 09:37 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 55 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Timothy_Smith writes:
| | Back in the day, when hard drives were measured in millibytes, it made sense
to purge Forum posts from time to time. But modern servers have vast storage
capacity. All the typing every member could ever do in their lifetimes won't
fill a hard drive of even modest size.
Purging discussion threads destroys 'institutional knowledge' and as a result
we have the same discussions over and over.
Currently there's a thread about sending plastic toys to Italy.
This comes up about once a year, and each time the previous discussion has been
lost and has to be recreated from scratch. This certainly uses more server resources
than simply linking to an existing discussion, but more important is the loss
of knowledge.
We have institutional amnesia, deliberately induced. It's a set back.
Thanks for reading.
|
Although it's true that server space isnt an issue these days, as someone in
the IT industry I am curious if this would effect the Server in other ways.
We have a current customer who is constantly complaining of how the server is
sometimes slow. Just discovered that they have not purged data for 10 years.
Uh, yah that's gonna make things slow!
Perhaps there could be a compromise - a forum separate from the site's servers
as not to impact the business side of things, or maybe up from 6 months to 1
year.
-Ruth
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| | | | | Author: | AndersPaludan | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 09:47 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 44 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, Timothy_Smith writes:
| | Back in the day, when hard drives were measured in millibytes, it made sense
to purge Forum posts from time to time. But modern servers have vast storage
capacity. All the typing every member could ever do in their lifetimes won't
fill a hard drive of even modest size.
Purging discussion threads destroys 'institutional knowledge' and as a result
we have the same discussions over and over.
Currently there's a thread about sending plastic toys to Italy.
This comes up about once a year, and each time the previous discussion has been
lost and has to be recreated from scratch. This certainly uses more server resources
than simply linking to an existing discussion, but more important is the loss
of knowledge.
We have institutional amnesia, deliberately induced. It's a set back.
Thanks for reading.
|
Yes please.
But wait. I believe this has been brought up before. 
http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=497432
Anders
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| | | | | Author: | MikeS | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 10:00 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 62 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| I'm on the fence on voting for this one either way.
On the one hand, I can’t tell you how many times I have re-written the same information
to a Forum question year after year – after searching for my old posts (already
deleted). Newer members may not think to search past posts for an answer to
their question.
But on the other hand, let’s face it – there is a lot of “crap” that is posted
that does not need to be saved. BL store sale notices, inventory change requests,
post about (old) sales at retail stores, etc.
What about a compromise? Have a “forum mod” decide on which posts are significant,
useful information, or answers to questions that come up every six months or
year - and archive them in a sort of “library” for posterity (… or until the
information is no longer valid).
Instead of saving ALL the posts (useful and the crap), archive the good stuff
so it can be recalled – and if the same question is asked in the future by a
member, they can be redirected to the archived post (which would be locked /
not added to after the six months).
It would make searching for those same answers easier – saving all of us re-typing
all the same information we’ve answered over and over – and probably cut down
the number of future replies since they can be directed to the ONE archive post
and it's replies and have all their questions answered.
If a post was no longer valid, like Italy got rid of the ban on imported toys
– then the mod could delete that archived post.
Anyone think this might work?
MikeS, Owner
BRICKMART
In Suggestions, Timothy_Smith writes:
| | Back in the day, when hard drives were measured in millibytes, it made sense
to purge Forum posts from time to time. But modern servers have vast storage
capacity. All the typing every member could ever do in their lifetimes won't
fill a hard drive of even modest size.
Purging discussion threads destroys 'institutional knowledge' and as a result
we have the same discussions over and over.
Currently there's a thread about sending plastic toys to Italy.
This comes up about once a year, and each time the previous discussion has been
lost and has to be recreated from scratch. This certainly uses more server resources
than simply linking to an existing discussion, but more important is the loss
of knowledge.
We have institutional amnesia, deliberately induced. It's a set back.
Thanks for reading.
|
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| | | | | | | Author: | Grego | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 10:31 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 45 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, MikeS writes:
| | I'm on the fence on voting for this one either way.
On the one hand, I can’t tell you how many times I have re-written the same information
to a Forum question year after year – after searching for my old posts (already
deleted). Newer members may not think to search past posts for an answer to
their question.
But on the other hand, let’s face it – there is a lot of “crap” that is posted
that does not need to be saved. BL store sale notices, inventory change requests,
post about (old) sales at retail stores, etc.
What about a compromise? Have a “forum mod” decide on which posts are significant,
useful information, or answers to questions that come up every six months or
year - and archive them in a sort of “library” for posterity (… or until the
information is no longer valid).
Instead of saving ALL the posts (useful and the crap), archive the good stuff
so it can be recalled – and if the same question is asked in the future by a
member, they can be redirected to the archived post (which would be locked /
not added to after the six months).
It would make searching for those same answers easier – saving all of us re-typing
all the same information we’ve answered over and over – and probably cut down
the number of future replies since they can be directed to the ONE archive post
and it's replies and have all their questions answered.
If a post was no longer valid, like Italy got rid of the ban on imported toys
– then the mod could delete that archived post.
Anyone think this might work?
MikeS, Owner
BRICKMART
In Suggestions, Timothy_Smith writes:
| | Back in the day, when hard drives were measured in millibytes, it made sense
to purge Forum posts from time to time. But modern servers have vast storage
capacity. All the typing every member could ever do in their lifetimes won't
fill a hard drive of even modest size.
Purging discussion threads destroys 'institutional knowledge' and as a result
we have the same discussions over and over.
Currently there's a thread about sending plastic toys to Italy.
This comes up about once a year, and each time the previous discussion has been
lost and has to be recreated from scratch. This certainly uses more server resources
than simply linking to an existing discussion, but more important is the loss
of knowledge.
We have institutional amnesia, deliberately induced. It's a set back.
Thanks for reading.
|
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Or alternatively to trying to save some or all or the posts ...
1. Do a similar thing that Craig's List does: A best of BL forum posts as voted
by the readers
2. Do a F.A.Q. so that the common questions of newbies and oldies alike are saved
under a seaparte tab.
Just a thought
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | crazybirdman | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 17:59 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 34 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| I fear people would ignore those, just as much as they ignore the search option.
Although it would save people the trouble of re-typing the most popular ansewers
to questions
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| | | | | | | Author: | Timothy_Smith | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 10:35 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 52 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, MikeS writes:
| | I'm on the fence on voting for this one either way.
Anyone think this might work?
MikeS, Owner
BRICKMART
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Manually marking which posts to keep seems tedious.
But purging some of the sub-forums is reasonable. Sales announcements certainly.
| | keeping only data that is relevant to
the function of the site -- that being to make money.
|
If that's an issue, we wouldn't have Off Topic posts at all.
Yes, the site exists to make money, but the Forum is a social function.
| | I'll bet you don't purge your email either.
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Certainly not. I delete spam and ads, but email from actual people I keep.
Why would I purge it? There's absolutely no reason. I have room to store it and
a fast processor that mostly sits around idle, just waiting for a challenge.
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| | | | | | | | | Author: | renhoffman | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 11:04 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 47 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| | | Manually marking which posts to keep seems tedious.
But purging some of the sub-forums is reasonable. Sales announcements certainly.
|
I would be in favour of keeping more topics for longer, like the suggestions
topic is currently. Topics like "sales" and "off topic" certainly don't need
to be saved for more than 6 months. Others that maybe don't need to be saved...
"announce"
"Buying"
"contests"
"coupons"
"events"
"Media"
"New sets"
"New stores"
"Trades"
"wanted"
Darren
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Timothy_Smith | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 11:16 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 49 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, renhoffman writes:
| | Topics like "sales" and "off topic" certainly don't need
to be saved
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They don't 'need' to be saved.
Nor do they 'need' to be purged.
It's a style choice, not a choice of necessity.
There's no reason forum posts need to be purged at all, ever.
Back in the day, purging made technical sense. It no longer does.
Now it's just about one person's view of what is tidy.
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| | | | | | | | | | | Author: | Brickwilbo | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 11:20 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 51 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| In Suggestions, renhoffman writes:
| | | | Manually marking which posts to keep seems tedious.
But purging some of the sub-forums is reasonable. Sales announcements certainly.
|
I would be in favour of keeping more topics for longer, like the suggestions
topic is currently. Topics like "sales" and "off topic" certainly don't need
to be saved for more than 6 months. Others that maybe don't need to be saved...
"announce"
"Buying"
"contests"
"coupons"
"events"
"Media"
"New sets"
"New stores"
"Trades"
"wanted"
Darren
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Perhaps move old posts to an archive subforum.
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| | | | | Author: | D.Rae.McCormick | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 10:52 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 48 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| Yes!! However, it might as well wait until BL 2.0 because the
current search function is totally inadequate for retrieving such
valuable "institutional knowledge" threads.
Keyword only, not being able to use phrases, etc. just doesn't cut it.
Searches pull up *way* too much information, and not what is wanted,
most every time I have tried to retrieve a valuable thread even from
just the last six months.
~Rae
In Suggestions, Timothy_Smith writes:
| | Back in the day, when hard drives were measured in millibytes, it made sense
to purge Forum posts from time to time. But modern servers have vast storage
capacity. All the typing every member could ever do in their lifetimes won't
fill a hard drive of even modest size.
Purging discussion threads destroys 'institutional knowledge' and as a result
we have the same discussions over and over.
Currently there's a thread about sending plastic toys to Italy.
This comes up about once a year, and each time the previous discussion has been
lost and has to be recreated from scratch. This certainly uses more server resources
than simply linking to an existing discussion, but more important is the loss
of knowledge.
We have institutional amnesia, deliberately induced. It's a set back.
Thanks for reading.
|
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| | | | | Author: | akunthita | | Posted: | Dec 14, 2012 10:59 | | Subject: | Re: Please stop purging forum posts | | Viewed: | 44 times | | Topic: | Suggestions | |
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| Definitely voted yes on this (although it doens't seem to matter what we vote
on since Dan's passing). There has been so many valuable and significant posts
here that are now gone. 
I like the suggestion of keeping some of the topics purged, like sales announcements
and the off topic category, and archive all the other ones. I know on Brickset
forum they have pretty strict rules to not start a new topic if a similar topic
already exists. New posters are required to do their homework and first check
if something similar has been posted before by doing a simple search. It seems
that members are pretty good at keeping this rule, but if someone does start
a double topic by accident a moderator merges them. This keeps the forum tidy.
Perhaps something similar can be implemented here?
In Suggestions, Timothy_Smith writes:
| | Back in the day, when hard drives were measured in millibytes, it made sense
to purge Forum posts from time to time. But modern servers have vast storage
capacity. All the typing every member could ever do in their lifetimes won't
fill a hard drive of even modest size.
Purging discussion threads destroys 'institutional knowledge' and as a result
we have the same discussions over and over.
Currently there's a thread about sending plastic toys to Italy.
This comes up about once a year, and each time the previous discussion has been
lost and has to be recreated from scratch. This certainly uses more server resources
than simply linking to an existing discussion, but more important is the loss
of knowledge.
We have institutional amnesia, deliberately induced. It's a set back.
Thanks for reading.
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USA, Colorado
Netherlands, Gelderland
Denmark
Canada, British Columbia
