Bumping old thread message
 

On some forums I am on, if you bump a thread that is over a certain age (120 days on Calguns), you get a message saying "This thread hasn't had discussion in over 120 days. Are you sure you wish to bump the thread?"
On one hand, I wouldn't want duplicate threads being posted every time someone has a non-feeding baby or so forth, and don't want to intimidate anyone from posting if they have something to add. On the other, I think a lot of folks -especially those newer to message boards -find a topic by searching and don't notice the date. I'm not even sure *I* like the idea I'm proposing, just throwing it out there...

I see what you mean. It was cool to see an update of Walter's butter okeetee, but an egg from 2005? Not a chance.

Eight years: http://www.cornsnakes.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22471

So?? Isn't this a DISCUSSION site? What exactly is the harm resulting from someone resurrecting an old thread?

Perhaps THEY want to discuss that topic matter, regardless of when it was first brought up......

Ok. I think in most cases, the poster doesn't realize the last posting date, is all.

Unless some thought comes to mind as to why that would be a bad thing, I'm OK with this. For one thing, quite likely it means the member was using the search function to even find that old thread, and I believe most people will agree that any member using the search to find an existing thread before creating a new one about old topics is generally a move in the right direction.

Can the first/original posting date be added to the "Thread/Thread Starter" column in a similar manner that it is displayed in the "Last Post" column ?

That would require custom coding of vBulletin in order to effect that change. Quite honestly, I doubt most people would even notice it, so the money spent for that custom coding would likely be completely wasted.

Gotcha. I see on the faunaclassifieds home page where the BOI is listed below recent classified ads that they show the original post date. A nice feature for sure in knowing if someone is digging up an old post or it's a fresh discussion.

That is apparently a feature of vbAdvanced, and not really native vBulletin. So I don't believe it would be easily transportable into the actual forum structure itself.