jackal

I'm the one working on the thread wiki proposal. I'll air it here when I get a chance to take a break from Real Life™ and write it.

As I plan it, the thread wiki motion is mostly a resolution encouraging IB to find the most expedient way possible to add this functionality. We don't have the technological tools to call for it to be implemented instantly (i.e. Carol can't just turn it on), but the purpose of this motion will be to a) study the issue and see if it will be of benefit to FlyerTalkers and b) if that's the case, light a little fire under IB and/or the vBulletin development team to bring the functionality into the vBulletin codebase (or find a functional plug-in that accomplishes the task).

Therefore, it will (at this time) be standalone from any motion on any other subject, including that of thread merging.

As for who's responsible: You! As a wiki, I guess I just assumed it would be policed by the community. That's how wikis work, both major wikis as well as similar in-thread wikis on other forums. Seems to work pretty well that way.

oliver2002

Most importantly the wikis should be embedded in a thread that has the option to discuss the topic, not a standalone wiki out somewhere (the current flyerguide solution we use in FT) that doesn't appear in any searches, not even on google

jackal

That's exactly the idea.

Markie

I would draw your attention to this thread:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hyatt...ads-hyatt.html

which is the response of the Hyatt Mods to the complaints about Megathreads. Of course, TB can generate a motion on this requiring other methods of handling them, but as nothing seems to be in the offing, it is hoped this will be a suitable interim solution.

peteropny

No reactions to this at all?

GUWonder

There has been some in the linked thread.

SkiAdcock

My guess is a lot of folk are traveling due to the long holiday weekend in the US, and some big FT Dos the same weekend so might not be checking the thread/forums until early next week.

I'm on the road myself & had internet problems, so just now checking. I actually like the approach taken that is mentioned by Markie. It provides information, but people aren't having to read through info from sev years back that probably isn't current/relevant.

I also noticed in the UA forum they're doing similar things.

Cheers.

travelkid

I fully support the Hyatt mods on this^

RichMSN

I didn't know my daughter's 7th birthday was a national holiday, but I just saw that there's no mail delivery tomorrow and some other people have the day off work. I'll be sure to tell her that it's all about her. She'll get a kick out of that.

Markie

The response in the thread, from the Hyatt users who post, seems to be against the change so far. We're continuing to read and reply to the posts there, and there has been a suggestion of a poll to test the views of those members who might feel inhibited in posting.

Peter and I are meeting up in person next week, and we'll look at options to move the debate and/or the change forward.

Markie

There has been a poll created in Hyatt - for those with views either way please go and express your views on the 4 proposals made.

peteropny

And the poll seems to indicate that the members like the merged REVIEW MASTER THREADS as is (even though some are really lengthy). So we may decide to leave them alone - don't accuse us of not "listening" to our members!!!!

peteropny

Well the poll closed with the majority (well over 50% of those who "voted") saying that they have no problem with the "old" structure and it should be left alone. So we, Markie & I, decided on a compromise, just split those properties with really huge review threads (over 1,000 posts - of which there are only 3) into a "historical" and "current" review threads and see how it goes, if people really prefer them in one thread we can re-merge them easily or if they like the "new" way, we can do the same to more properties (obviously not all - there is no sense in breaking up a thread with 20 posts for example). So, don't accuse us of not "listening" to our members

SkiAdcock

Well done you (both of you).

Cheers.

colpuck

The standard with “mega-threads” should be the following. The thread being merged must be sufficiently germane to the mega-thread that a reasonable person would look for the information requested in the merged thread in the mega-thread.

I.E. if the mega-thread is titled “will my upgrade clear?” you have to ask yourself would a thread asking about the purchase price of said upgrade belong in that thread.

More concerning is the trend where merged threads go like this.
Post 1: OP Q’s
Post 2: Reply, “search is your friend” and a link or two if any.
Post 3: Mod either locking the thread or merging it.

At least to me, the “search is your friend” posts come off as unfriendly and unwelcoming. Next the instant lock or merge by the moderation is a) also unfriendly and b) sometimes not warranted. It seems that the proposal to let threads develop more before merger or lock would let the information flow before the necessary clean up action takes place.

I am sure most of us can agree that the search function on FT is only marginally functional. Demanding that people use it only to find mega-threads that may only be tangentially related to the OP's original topic is a touch hostile.