Stop merging posts it's ruining the website

Discussion in 'Bulletin Board' started by Biddy37, Aug 8, 2020.

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  1. andytyke

    andytyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    I have merged very very few posts this whole year maybe 10. I think identical topics should be merged but know folk just cry about it. I do agree that some posts if merged too late don’t make sense as folk start going off on tangents.

    I wouldn’t merge 2 posts of 5 pages and I don’t think anyone does. But if we see it early enough then it’s not really noticeable other than the poster wondering where there thread has gone

    Some folk on here will only post their own threads and won’t add to another. While some probably would add to another thread but don’t realise there’s already a thread on same subject because of the titles

    Eg last week we had a thread titled piggies saying Wednesday had been docked 12 points and A thread titled Wednesday docked 12 points. I merged these as both only had about 3 posts each and kept the latter title. No harm done

    I also find it odd that people say they won’t read through a post of 10 pages on same subject but they are happy to read 5-6 threads of 2 pages on all on the same theme.
     
    andytyke, Aug 8, 2020
    #41
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  2. Loko the Tyke

    Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Just to add, in terms of actual posts that get merged, I’ve never merged anything with ten replies or more as at that point the thread is off and good to go. You’re probably talking about two or three posts in every couple of hundred being victim of a ‘merge’. So around 1%.

    Six people starting threads literally just asking ‘Is the Wigan announcement at 4pm’ should obviously be merged in to the one thread talking about that exact thing and answering that question. Surely you agree on that?
     
    Loko the Tyke, Aug 8, 2020
    #42
  3. Loko the Tyke

    Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Threads have always been merged you just haven’t realised. I must have been merging the pointless ones for four or five years now.

    Which thread or post of yours has been merged that you’re annoyed about? Just so we can understand?
     
    Loko the Tyke, Aug 8, 2020
    #43
  4. JamDrop

    JamDrop Well-Known Member

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    As I say, I’d just leave it or even better, reply with a link to the big thread. Merging it doesn’t give the poster their answer, it makes no sense in the bigger thread to see the same question repeated and the original poster thinks that their post has been deleted. It’d fall off the front page anyway as it wouldn’t get the replies to keep it on. Unless I misunderstand merging, wouldn’t it just have the same question listed 4 times in the thread? I don’t see how that’s better? In fact I think it’s far more frustrating to click and open the Wigan thread 4 times just to read that again and again each time whereas I could just ignore them all if I saw the title on the front page (especially as, as I said, I can just hover and read without clicking).
     
    JamDrop, Aug 8, 2020
    #44
  5. Old Goat

    Old Goat Well-Known Member

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    I can honestly say I haven't noticed any merging, and I'm reading the board several times a day, most days (although not every thread). Perhaps if there is another merging that raises question marks, someone can start a thread asking specifically why Thread X has been merged with Thread Y.

    Tbh, I'm surprised your multimeter doesn't have an Unmerge Threads setting... ;)
     
    Old Goat, Aug 8, 2020
    #45
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  6. Loko the Tyke

    Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Fair, but you’re basing this on your own user experience remember. What you tend to end up with is multiple threads with a handfull of replies each and other threads don’t get the interaction they deserve. And those are the ones that tend to die.

    The example you’ve given on merged threads isn’t really the reality though because you’re not merging anything with a decent number of replies. Like I say, I’m confident you’ve looked through many a thread before and not realised anything has been merged.

    It’s all opinions though. Just like 55% of people wanted politics moving to its own board. The answer to that is to merge every political topic in to a single thread and let the home screen be a variety of different topics - I believe we’ve had that a lot more recently and it’s much better. But again, just my opinion.
     
    Loko the Tyke, Aug 8, 2020
    #46
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  7. JamDrop

    JamDrop Well-Known Member

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    I think that because people as a rule have short attention spans, it seems easier to read 5 short threads than one long one. By the time I’ve got to the end of a 10 page thread, all on one topic, I feel like just closing the board. If it’s multiple ones, I might read about something else in between. I tend to like to read every post (unless it’s cricket) so I start at the top and read everything all the way down until there’s no new posts. It’s satisfying to read a quick thread and go back to the homepage and move on to the next one, it’s a slog to read through a huge one and I find it disheartening when I click back to the homepage and I find that there has been a new comment on it and I have to reopen it before I can move on to the next thread. Posts with no replies I don’t even have to open, I just hover over, read it and move on.
     
    Last edited: Aug 8, 2020
    JamDrop, Aug 8, 2020
    #47
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  8. JamDrop

    JamDrop Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, I get we have different opinions, we’re just discussing what’s formed our opinions now though, right? I get you’re admin and what you decide goes. We’re just having a chat now, it’s not going to change anything but it gives a better understanding behind our thinking which is always worthwhile.
     
    JamDrop, Aug 8, 2020
    #48
  9. Fre

    Freddiel Well-Known Member

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    The only thing that annoys me is the number of duplicate threads about the same thing. There’s a transfer rumour and we end up with 4 threads about the same target. We score a goal during a game and there are 5 posts announcing it. Surely people can see the sense in merging those?
     
    Freddiel, Aug 8, 2020
    #49
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  10. Loko the Tyke

    Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    It isn’t a case of ‘what admin says goes’ though. I’d like to think everyone agrees that it’s never once been like that on here.

    I honestly think this is a storm in a teacup as the amount of merging is so tiny. But if it was continuously being mentioned, with really valid examples, then I’m sure people would hold their hands up and say ‘Yep. I get that’. Knowing the posts I’ve merged recently, they’re all one liners or duplicates and they don’t offer any benefit really - they’re the kind you’ve highlighted in some of your posts in this thread.
     
    Loko the Tyke, Aug 8, 2020
    #50
  11. Por

    PortisRed Well-Known Member

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    I don't like posts being merged and I therefore liked the OP. However, there is one exception. Please, please, please merge (or delete) posts suggesting players that we should sign. 99% of them are either too old, not affordable, completely unsuitable for our style of play, useless, not available, or a combination of two or more of these. This then leads to total frustration when opening the thread. An alternative would be to prefix posts with "Rumour" or "Suggestion".
     
    PortisRed, Aug 8, 2020
    #51
  12. pon

    pontyender Well-Known Member

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    I've had some merged and the point of my posts have been lost as half of it was in the title.
     
    pontyender, Aug 8, 2020
    #52
  13. pon

    pontyender Well-Known Member

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    Surely we should be doing things on here for the majority. The majority don't want threads merging, judging by the reaction to this thread.
     
    pontyender, Aug 8, 2020
    #53
  14. Loko the Tyke

    Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    That is one negative. In some cases I’ve copied the title and pasted it in to the message as I’ve merged but that’s not possible all the time.

    If half of the point is in the title though it’s a short point to be making?
     
    Loko the Tyke, Aug 8, 2020
    #54
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  15. Loko the Tyke

    Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    It’s a pretty split reaction. Hardly an overwhelming majority, and again, difficult when there’s no examples.

    Next time you have something merged ask why. Then people will see what’s being merged, as at the moment people don’t really know it’s happening. It’s a tiny, tiny number of posts.
     
    Loko the Tyke, Aug 8, 2020
    #55
  16. pon

    pontyender Well-Known Member

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    Some of us can say more in 4 words than others do in 4 paragraphs of waffle.
     
    pontyender, Aug 8, 2020
    #56
  17. Thrappo Tyke

    Thrappo Tyke Well-Known Member

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    Personally, I do prefer seeing certain posts merged, otherwise you end up (especially on a match day) with 10-15 posts about the same thing. Very quickly posts disappear off the 1st page and become missed

    Doesn't make sense to me to have numerous posts discussing exactly the same thing
     
    Thrappo Tyke, Aug 8, 2020
    #57
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  18. StatisTYKE

    StatisTYKE Well-Known Member

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    Forget all this merging, we need more submerging. Threads abart whales for instance.
     
    StatisTYKE, Aug 8, 2020
    #58
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  19. Spooky

    Spooky Well-Known Member

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    Glad you are seeing both sides. I prefer it when threads are merged early on. I’ll add my thoughts in here though, rather than starting a new thread.

    I think the OP maybe thought that every new transfer rumour was being merged into the transfer rumours thread? But that doesn’t seem to be the case.
     
    Spooky, Aug 8, 2020
    #59
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  20. Loko the Tyke

    Loko the Tyke Administrator Staff Member Admin

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    Those were the days!
     
    Loko the Tyke, Aug 8, 2020
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