How do you deal with very long threads?

[CTXMedia]

http://www.cyclechat.net/threads/tea.39457/page-2236

44711 replies over 2236 pages and still going strong (although of little interest to most of the forum, the regulars who use the Tea? thread appreciate it being there ... )

 

[Stuart Wright]

I'm returning to this discussion as I'm now of a mind not to split threads.
Pros of long threads
SEO
Simplicity for the reader
Can search the one thread for content
Link to it as a 'useful resources' never changes
Moderators don't have to split threads up

Cons of long threads
Performance hit
Can be intimidating

For me the SEO swings it. Long threads stay.

 

[DRE]

I'mma close threads and start a new one after several hundred posts.

 

[Eagle]

So as you see the result is quite clear. No problems and definitely no issues. High performance. Stable. Sweet. Cute. Lovely. Then, let me tell you how it is. Archimedes discovered the buoyancy of water 2200 years ago and he called Evreka Evreka I found it! Today we are in the 21st century as we know, and @Kier discovered the buoyancy of forum 9 years ago for at least the current century and he called XenForo XenForo I found it!, of course together with @Mike, and as a result of this decision, I ❤ XenForo.

 

[RobinHood]

What's the first thread about?

 

[AndyB]

Some of you might like this add-on:

https://xenforo.com/community/resources/thread-reply-limit.6385/

 

[Eagle]

@RobinHood then have a look at the first post, the internet makes things a lot easier, you know.

Hey @AndyB it's a nice idea and yeah, it should be acknowledged that situations will exist like this.

 

[RobinHood]

@RobinHood then have a look at the first post, the internet makes things a lot easier, you know.

You have a thread on your forum with 32K replies and 2M views on "Fetch TV HD-PVR at Tesco from 04/06/2010 - [Part Eight]", damn that must be some PVR!

 

[Eagle]

@RobinHood haha you know, you really make me laugh. It seems that the classical titles but no, never. It's about planning tours. Meeting together. Every day chatting together. As a typical classical thread that united people. That's all. Meanwhile, would you find the most longest thread on XenForo for me? Now, that is what I really wonder.

 

[Walter]

The biggest thread on one of my forums has more than 315 000 posts and started 2012. The second largest one has more than 83 000 posts and started 2017. Both are Chit Chat threads.

 

[tajhay]

We used to cap threads at 100 pages and start a new part x after. However have in the past year merged these threads into one long thread and allow them to goto as many pages as required. Better for SEO imo. None of these threads are general chatter but rather ontopic discussions.

 

[Mendalla]

Our only really long threads are social/chatty ones and I see no issue with length as long as it doesn't impact overall performance of the board (and so far it has not). My record is currently 42655 posts over 2133 pages and still going. We mark the "thousands" as targets to strive for. But it's a "Last Post" thread that is mostly just chatter. Not likely anyone would get any value from actually reading through all of it.

For serious topics, I don't think we've ever even hit 1000 posts save for Bible studies (the board is focussed on religion and faith) and other lengthy topics. The latest Bible study, on The Gospel of Luke, is at c. 740 posts and it's predecessor did break 1000. We also have a book group going on a pop theology book but it's still fairly short.