Lack of interest [Suggestion] Allow threads to be posted to multiple forums...

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BirdOPrey5

Well-known member
I know this isn't the most often asked feature but I made a mod to do this for some other forum software and couldn't live without it...

Basically I want/need a way that when a thread is posted (or edited) I can have it show up in multiple forums if I choose.

In my mod I read threads from about a dozen forums and load them all into my 'off topic' forum using a relatively simple if statement in forumdisplay.php that is "if in off topic" get threads from a bunch of forum id's, otherwise just get threads from the requested forum.

I wouldn't care how it was implemented, either my way or with native support for multiple forums per thread, but I wouldn't be able to live without this.
 
Upvote 8
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Allowing threads to be in multiple forums would be very nice. Forum websites will always have threads that fit into multiple areas.
 
Actually this could have some really great uses. It would be invaluable as a way to collect best practices/lessons learned threads too. Maybe have a way for threads that have been voted helpful/"like" a certain # of times to automatically be grouped in a "Best of" Forum?

The basic capability to have threads shown in multiple locations would be excellently useful, as long as the SEO ramifications of duplicate content are taken into account via canonical tags etc?
 
Seems like it could be confusing, especially to users. As long as it is properly managed and doesn't bloat things down too much... :)
 
I would like to ensure threads *don't* get cross posted to multiple forums as it's confusing. If your forums are set up and defined correctly, cross posting will be minimised.
 
I would like to ensure threads *don't* get cross posted to multiple forums as it's confusing. If your forums are set up and defined correctly, cross posting will be minimised.

It's obviously a preference on how things are run and since it's a feature you could never use if you don't want it there is no reason not to natively support this... What actually inspired me to make the mod was seeing how VBAdvanced Links Directory handled 'links' (which basically were new threads) - they could be assigned secondary categories- they would only show in the statistics of their main category but when listing other categories they'd be there as well in proper order as you would expect.

My mod is actually simpler and doesn't add secondary category info to the database but simply treats 1 forum as a "Master Forum" from which all posts of multiple forums (and posts native to the master forum) are viewable, basically making other forums on par with 'thread prefixes' except they are entirely their own forum and can be viewed alone like a forum instead of a prefix.

Anyway the main point was this isn't something I expect everyone would use but those of us who do find it very useful so it would be nice to have this option from the get go. And my forum IS defined correctly, for me, thank you very much.
 
I rarely use this, and when we do, we use an announcement or notice instead. Or .. make the thread, then move it and leave perm redirect link.
 
Perm redirects aren't a viable option for me because they don't get brought back to the top of the forum when someone replies to the thread they are pointing to.
 
Perm redirects aren't a viable option for me because they don't get brought back to the top of the forum when someone replies to the thread they are pointing to.

Create new "hard links" that behave differently-- when the thread gets a new reply and goes to the top, the hardlink does the same. :)
 
If I have a site about cooking, would my brand-new chocolate chip cookie recipe go in the "New Recipes" forum, the "All About Cookies" forum, or the "Chocolate Lovers" forum? Categorisation is difficult because real-world items fit into more than one category. Categories are really only tags or labels with the limitation of only applying one.
 
How to biologists classify animals, start abstract and get more specific.

Living -> Animal -> Kingdom -> Phylum -> Class etc

So it would be

Edible -> Food -> Snack -> Cookie

So it would go in the most specific forum the Cookies forum.
 
For those who are worried that it would be too confusing- that really depends on how it is set up. It can easily be set up in a way that is user friendly and easy to understand (and might even make it easier for the user to decipher what goes where), such as having a little checkbox that allows the user to select what forums the thread should be posted to when he/she is making the new thread. It would be comparable to categories in wordpress, which is simple to figure out and use.

My opinion on it is that it would be a great idea as long as the thread still existed at just 1 location and the different forums all pointed to the same link. It would improve inter-site linking, which would be an SEO plus and I think it would make some forums more organized, especially when the discussions often overlap in terms of content.
 
On another note, wouldn't this create plenty of duplicate threads?
Only if they are physically different threads, which would be a very bad idea since you would have the same opening post with different responses to the same thing scattered around the forum. I think it would be a much better idea just to have all the links redirect to 1 physical location (kind of like how the "thread moved" links are in most current forum software.)
 
Create new "hard links" that behave differently-- when the thread gets a new reply and goes to the top, the hardlink does the same. :)

Yeah I'll just create them... "Let there be hard links that work how I want" hmmm...
How to biologists classify animals, start abstract and get more specific.

Living -> Animal -> Kingdom -> Phylum -> Class etc

So it would be

Edible -> Food -> Snack -> Cookie

So it would go in the most specific forum the Cookies forum.

Why would Edible -> Food -> Snack -> Chocolate be any less right?

I'm all for debating the finer points of forum setup but this doesn't seem like the thread to do it in. If you want to see first hand how I use them you can see the off-topic on my site, either register or use this guest read only account: www.juot.net Username: VB Visitor, Password: visit
 
For those who are worried that it would be too confusing- that really depends on how it is set up. It can easily be set up in a way that is user friendly and easy to understand (and might even make it easier for the user to decipher what goes where), such as having a little checkbox that allows the user to select what forums the thread should be posted to when he/she is making the new thread. It would be comparable to categories in wordpress, which is simple to figure out and use.

My opinion on it is that it would be a great idea as long as the thread still existed at just 1 location and the different forums all pointed to the same link. It would improve inter-site linking, which would be an SEO plus and I think it would make some forums more organized, especially when the discussions often overlap in terms of content.

Creating a thread and having it mirrored in other forums would be fantastic. It would fit into one category but show up in others, but clicking it would all be the same thread so everyone can talk about the same topic in different forums without having two different discussions on the same subject.

I like that approach. :)
 
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