Posting in threads >2 years old
 

Every now and then I've seen a moderator close a thread, referencing that threads older than 2 years shouldn't be reactivated, or language similar.

For the life of me, I've not been able to find that rule in the FT Rules or the FT TOS. Am I just having a blind moment, or is this just an unwritten rule?

It used to be a published rule. Looks like they scrapped it in the recent revisions.

https://web.archive.org/web/20140328.../rules.php#q77

Thanks for your help. At least I don't need another eye check just yet.

That was indeed in the Rules, and said threads not posted to in two years' time (essentially) shouldn't be bumped unless the information was current and / or there was a "compelling reason" to do so.

A number of threads I've seen bumped up after two years of inactivity contain obsolete, out of date information; significant numbers get bumped by replies to very old posts or are very marginally pertinent to the original topic.

IMO it's a judgment call and the two year rule didn't make a lot of sense. I think people sometimes do it to avoid the "do a search" reaction.

That's pretty much correct, IMO. Some threads are not problematic when the information is still current. Otoh some more recent threads may contain obsolete information.

This all makes a case for wiki posts (and moderators will often split threads cross-linking and archiving posts with outdated information (or bugle long mega threads that go back years).