Lack of interest [Suggestion] A feature that allow members to suggest threads that can be merged with the current one

[Chromaniac]

Got this idea from here:
http://xenforo.com/community/threads/support-for-tags.3185/#post-47641

On a rather big forum... there are always cases when a new thread pops up which is pretty similar to something that has already been posted and responded to in the past.

One solution is to close the thread after posting a link to the earlier thread.

The other solution is to merge the new thread with the older one.

I prefer to use the second one...

Users end up using the report button on vB to alert me about duplicate threads...

A system where users can suggest similar threads in the past for merging can come real handy to me and probably more forum administrators here.

Essentially, you can add a new section below named Similar Threads... And members can post relevant links there.

It would be visible to people in the thread. and moderators can be given a quick option to merge them all!

 

[CyberAP]

What if when someone creates a thread the forum does the search of the same title and display a warning before he hits Post button?

 

[Chromaniac]

well i have used such a third party addon on vB in the past. it does not work. newbies and evil people! are unlikely to care about the suggestions. and similar search functionality is not always perfect.

 

[CyberAP]

Maybe when he creates his new post give him an ability to just post into the same thread (using similar search)? Well, if he don't want this he can just click on checkbox and that's all.

 

[Forsaken]

What if when someone creates a thread the forum does the search of the same title and display a warning before he hits Post button?

I made a suggestion for this a while back: http://xenforo.com/community/threads/search-for-similar-threads.1083/

 

[Chromaniac]

right. but this suggestion is largely for cases where multiple threads are created related to a similar topic/question...

i am facing the same problem here on this forum. i searched for my suggestion for tags feature. could not find it. made a new thread. someone posted a link to an earlier thread suggesting the same feature.

the feature i am suggesting would make it easier for mods to merge similar threads. and have a unified place for users to suggest threads that are very much connected and relevant to the current one!

essentially, a manual suggestion for similar threads is always going to be superior to an automated system which is just going to match certain keywords and not the theme!

 

[CyberAP]

Good idea but when someone wants to merge threads he probably will know what threads he is going to merge.

btw, tags really sucks in forums.

 

[Chromaniac]

tags system do not suck in bbpress. they have implemented it really well and with extensive rss support, bbpress really does a great job!

i am just looking for a similar great implementation here. make it easy for users to tag threads. remove senseless tags. and so on. tags can easily bypass the need to conduct searches if properly implemented.

 

[Forsaken]

Good idea but when someone wants to merge threads he probably will know what threads he is going to merge.

btw, tags really sucks in forums.

Tag implementation up to date sucks in forums*

Tags are highly useful if done correctly, just no one has done them correctly up to date.