Projects Forum Cleanup - Removing Old Threads

The Long Term and Short Term Projects Forums are filled with so many old threads that haven't had new posts in years, and it's really bugging me. I therefore propose that we go through all of these old threads and lock/close/morgue those that are no longer needed.

Edited by JHD on Mar 1st 2022 at 7:53:13 AM

Which specific threads are you thinking about?

Literally every thread in Long Term and Short Term Projects that was last updated in 2020 and earlier.

Several threads from 2021 could also be morgued, IMO.

Edited by JHD on Mar 1st 2022 at 8:06:52 AM

TBH, I'm down for this. We'd need mod consensus and the like, perhaps some crowners, but there are a ton of completely dormant threads floating around. And at the same time, this project can also be used to resurrect those threads if someone has interest in the cleanup.

I am good with doing this honestly. I think getting LPT down to 2-3 pages will help refocus things a bit. I think we can morgue all the thread that have been inactive for over a year or more and see what we have left

A lot of threads on both project forums can be absorbed by broader ones too.

Edited by MacronNotes on Mar 2nd 2022 at 3:16:12 PM

Short Term has a lot more to sift through just because there's less barriers and so many threads haven't been touched since creation.

Ah yeah, I noticed that STP had 8 pages of mostly dead stuff. We can probably clear out 6 pages.

Decided to thumb through some of short term's oldest pages and take a peek.

Well as a start, I don't think anything from pages 6-8 need to be kept, as all of the entries are 3 years old or older, most of them have been resolved in one way or another, and almost all of them are one page wonders.

Agreed. A while back I was looking through old threads and I found an Adventure Time cleanup thread from 2010 that I think was still open. We've got lots of dead threads we could cull. I'm open to doing so.

I also agree with Jay that we could revive some dead threads that need more love (like my Super Smash Bros. cleanup thread that died quickly.)

Edited by themayorofsimpleton on Mar 1st 2022 at 9:14:12 AM

Ok. I just locked and morgued 5 threads on this subforum that were on the bottom of the list. I think I'll lock and morgue 5 more and then I'll call it a day.

Edited by MacronNotes on Mar 1st 2022 at 9:27:56 AM

If a thread in short-term has served its purpose, should we holler it and ask for it to be morgued?

I think that's fine.

We are now down to 6 pages.

Several of these are cleanup threads for tropes that have since been taken to TRS.

Sometimes a trope still needs cleanup, even after TRS. When Deader Than Disco was brought in to TRS and renamed Condemned by History we kept the thread because it still attracted misuse. Sometimes that happens.

Ugh, don't remind me.

Oh sorry. I was just saying that TRS doesn't always solve a trope's problems. The Reality Ensues/Surprisingly Realistic Outcome debacle comes to mind as well.

No, I'm saying I conducted myself horribly during that time. Recall that I was suspended for the shit I pulled back then.

Oh I see. I apologize if I brought up any bad memories.

That said, if the TRS effort was like a year old and the thread has been dormant for five, it's safe to say we don't need it.

I locked a handful of threads at the bottom of STP that were seriously misplaced ("help with this new work page plz"), but I'm unconvinced that a year of inactivity should be the threshold. There's a greater visibility problem for cleanup threads where people who aren't left-side regulars don't know where to take bad examples, and often these are resurfaced through ATT queries and the like.

Plus a lot of the STP threads are just for more obscure works that still do need a cleanup effort to fix anything, so it's a bit more of a gray area.

Should there still be a threshold though? Cuz I think there should be one.

I think threads that have been inactive 1+ to 2 years are unlikely to be resolved but it's easier to not have a specific time limit. Most of the threads we locked were either covered by a longer projects or were resolved already in some way.

I don't think I am going to lock anymore STP threads as of right now.

Also, JHD, another way to clear up threads is to try to find one that you think you can work on.

Edited by MacronNotes on Mar 2nd 2022 at 3:15:31 PM

"Another way to clear up threads is to try to find one that you think you can work on."

If you mean locking them up...I'm not a mod.

If you mean finishing projects that are in-progress, that's not what I had in mind when I made this thread. I made this to lock up unneeded threads, not to continue ones that are still needed.