[cyclopsshooter]

Why is it that THR members who have been here since time began- constantly harp on re-posts? yes, the search engine is fine but why prevent new members from taking part in a lively discussion?

would you rather read a stale history book written in the 1950s or a new one with new ideas and interpretations?

EDIT ADDITION 20 existing posts at time of edit-

done to death threads: i have seen them before but this one is mine :) a little irony...

there are threads that i too have thought, "uhg, not again..." but earlier today i was reading a thread and enjoying it quite a bit when someone chimed in, interrupting the thread with a long winded rant about using search- kinda took away the innocence

i like what one member said here about seeing some new humor in done to death threads- threads like glock vs 1911 are the kind of threads where THR member can lighten up and goof around in-

serious threads about new questions or help are not always the place to do that-

[scythefwd]

cyclopsshooter,
Did you use the search function to see if we have already posted our reasons why we recommend the search function?

Most of the time we recommend the search function is because the data hasn't changed on that topic. .45 v 9mm - same data set as when the argument started, is the .22lr suitable for grizzlies - same data set, same conclusion etc.

I don't mind a lively debate, but most of the time... the thread isn't looking for debate, it is looking for an answer based on data sets that haven't changed in the last three threads had been started. Right now my favorite is the 270 or .243 for a guy that is recoil shy AND has rods in his back. All the data is out there in the low recoil for hunting threads, but his situation was almost different enough to start a new thread. It has been fun arguing in that one though. I have enjoyed myself immensely there.

[HardShell]

I just recently joined, and I haven't started any new threads... only participated in existing ones so far. Just my way, I guess.

If I start/author a thread anytime in the next year or so here it will likely be a specific question, and you can bet it'll be one I have searched about before asking. Again, maybe that's just me.

If I hang around and participate on this site as long as I have at the only other two sites that have held my interest, eventually I may share something of general interest to the members here (and by then I'll have a better idea of what that might, or might not, be). I have many thousands of posts on one of those sites and I think I was there for 2 years + before I authored a thread other than a specific technical question... ;)

[Ron James]

How ever, I see nothing wrong to advise someone to use the search feature to research a " done to death " thread:)

[Gryffydd]

What we really need is another thread on birdshot for self defense...Or maybe an Open Carry thread.

The problem with reposts is that there's just not any new ideas or interpretations available for most of them. I've had literally hundreds of things I wanted to know since I joined THR. I've started maybe 5 threads. The rest of them were solved by searching, both through Google and the built in engine. It's so easy, why NOT do it?

[CoRoMo]

Which 1911?
.45acp vs. 10mm
.223 & 5.56
Which is the best AR manufacturer?
Who makes the best/cheap _________?
870 vs. 500
Recommend a pistol for my wife





To list a few.

:)

[2RCO]

I don't really mind if an old topic is reopened in a new thread. But having hundreds of threads on the same topic is stretching it a bit.

Which gun for SHTF has to be the most overdone of all.

Search Matchlock SHTF to see my personal opine on the situation.

Raleigh

[Sam1911]

CoMoRo, surely you know how many, MANY times folks have posted the list of thread topics that have been done to death!

If you really need to find out which thread topics have been hashed out too many times already -- use the search!

Sheesh!

-Sam






:evil:

[Mike J]

I'm with the don't open threads if you don't want to crowd. Yes many topics get rehashed time & time again. But a caliber war can be both entertaining & informational. Especially if someone (don't ask which thread I don't remember) posts data to prove their position which actually disproves their position. I usually don't post in 'em but I still like to read 'em. Besides if no one opened new threads we wouldn't have anything to read or post to. We'd just have to sit at our monitors mumbling to ourselves-if it's gonna be her gun let her pick it out, shoot both pistols then decide which to buy, I'd rather have six for sure and on and on.

[DougDubya]

The overwhelming vote seems to agree with me.

Leave the newb posts alone.

[Black Dime]

Been a while. Look once in a while. A while back, I was hopped by the "senior" members complaining that they were not my personal tudor. Was getting into trap and skeet. A little ignorant. Asked a bunch of questions.

Another question.

Those of you who think a question is ignorant, redundant, boring, juvenile, or just plain stupid, why do you read it and discern that it is ignorant, redundant, boring, juvenile or just plain stupid? Why waste precious time telling us to go and.....................?

See you in another four or five months.

Good post, OP.

[content]

Hello friends and neighbors // Does anyone know how to close a thread youv'e opened, when you have gotten the info needed?

[jim in Anchorage]

Ahh the bickering. You have two options-open a new thread-or use search to open a old one. If the latter it will be filled with remarks like"zombie thread" "will this thread ever die?" No way to keep every one happy.

[Straight Shooter]

When I post a new thread I use the search feature first and I think it is a good idea to do so. That being said, the search feature on this board is very lacking.

As far as the original question... Just don't read the repeats.

[3pairs12]

Which 1911?
.45acp vs. 10mm
.223 & 5.56
Which is the best AR manufacturer?
Who makes the best/cheap _________?
870 vs. 500
Recommend a pistol for my wife

Exactly the ones I was thinking about.

[Larry Ashcraft]

Moving this to Tech Support.

The way I see it, this is called a forum because we discuss things. So what if we discuss the same thing time after time?

The alternative is like reading an encyclopedia; educational, but not very sociable.

[sohcgt2]

Quote:
Which 1911?
.45acp vs. 10mm
.223 & 5.56
Which is the best AR manufacturer?
Who makes the best/cheap _________?
870 vs. 500
Recommend a pistol for my wife

Exactly the ones I was thinking about.

They have certainly been done, but oddly they seem to be 3 pages long before they're closed. Seems like someone must be interested in rehashing the s.o.s.

[thebaldguy]

If you don't want to read another thread about the same old topic, don't read it. Tired of 9MM vs. .40 vs. .45 vs. .357 Mag posts? Skip them. Although I will say that currently high ammo prices does give the advantage to...lol

I have seen posts where the reply is "use the search function". Sometimes it comes across as a bit rude and intimidating to newer members who do have some very good questions. We have all been there before. After all, almost EVERY post can be answered with "use the search function" when you think about it. Be nice, don't be rude, and skip the post if you're tired of the topic.

[chuckusaret]

How ever, I see nothing wrong to advise someone to use the search feature to research a " done to death " thread

Why is it that THR members who have been here since time began- constantly harp on re-posts yes, the search engine is fine but why prevent new members from taking part in a lively discussion?

In other words they want me to research a subject each and every time before I make a post. Naw, if that bothers the members so much I'll just find another forum, and I am sure many of the other members feel the same as me and will also go elsewhere.

I was very active on a survivalist forum until I got suspended for 30 days for saying the car had "Gangsta Wheels". Two moderators agreed that the remark was racist and canned me for 30 days. I did e-mail the owner of the site/forum who stated he would not overturn a moderators action(s). I no longer visit that forum nor does many of my friends........

I am sure the moderators feel differently about this subject than the members who complain.

[wep45]

we are all here to learn. none of us were born with all the knowledge we need/want.

open the door and let the information flow.

[Gryffydd]

open the door and let the information flow.

click the search button and let the information flow.

Fixed that for you :D

[Mags]

What about all these annoying shortage threads going around now? The same thing where is ammo, where are the primers, I am not prepared, stop hoarding, let's blame Obama. Ughhh makes me sick.

[KenWP]

What bothers me about all the threads on the same subject is there is a certain group of posters that have to add their two bits worth over and over. Even when a new member says it they have to say it all over again as if it only means anything if they say it. I suspect that the reading ability of some members is suspect to extremes sometimes.

[Mags]

Not to mention when the same thread topic is posted like three times in a day.

[jbkebert]

Now I get tired of the zombie threads and the what caliber to cut a tree down thread. Those can go away. I thought the whole purpose of having a forum about guns, hunting, safety, and so on was to discuss these topics. If there is a question by either a newbie or a vet who cares. Ask the question and if someone does not wat to discuss it. Don't open it.

I'll start that with my hunter ed students, or hell even my kids. When they ask me a question I'll roll my eyes and tell them to research it themselves and not to bother me. Your brother ask me that last week go ask him.:scrutiny:

[Pun1sher]

dudes need to chill out, don't get an aneurysm over the revival of an old thread. If it bothers you that much, don't open it.

[Mags]

From the THR Primer on Courtesy (http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=370999):Searches: The search engine exists for more than one purpose. If you have an exciting news article to report or you are looking for information on a particular subject, the chances are very good that the article has been posted or the information you seek is already available. Try a search before posting if there is any chance that the information already exists on THR. Never assume you are the first to the forum with a fast breaking story.

On the other hand, if by chance another member does post an old article or asks a question that has been answered a thousand times in the past, please don't be so rude as to simply say "Try a search". If you don't have useful information for the member such as a link to the old info, simply don't post.

Much of the above can be summarized by our simple slogan: "Think twice, post once."

So maybe we should just follow the rules already in place.

[jim in Anchorage]

Which 1911?
.45acp vs. 10mm
.223 & 5.56
Which is the best AR manufacturer?
Who makes the best/cheap _________?
870 vs. 500
Recommend a pistol for my wife





To list a few.

Actually the currant hot thread is who makes the worst AR. Oh the variety.

[chuckusaret]

I would suggest that all members review the THR Rules/Code of Conduct from time to time.

Over the years, the senior members who have been around since this forum started, the seniors believe seniority evolves into ownership and poles of this type are required to emphasize the fact that we all share the same rights and privileges.

If I become irritated by some members constantly banging on the FNG's, I'll dump this forum ASAP. We are here to share information, knowledge, experience and most of all enjoy ourselves in doing so. :uhoh:

[jimmyraythomason]

Add "what gun for snakes" to the list.

[Sam1911]

Personally, I think that THR is one of the most friendly and welcoming forums on the 'net.

I find that the ratio of "Use the Search" replies to the number of thread topics where that reply is probably appropriate -- is very low.

There is no reason to deny that certain topics are so overwealmingly answered at this point that one more discussion can't possibly help anyone. A polite suggestion to that effect, along with a few links to one or two (or thirty-seven) previous threads on the topic is not an inappropriate answer.

No one wants a vibrant, engaging forum to devolve into an encyclopedia of dusty facts and figures. But I don't see that happening. There is enough new (or newly-rediscovered) tech, enough legislative shenannigans, and enough interesting discussion meat that really does qualify as new or worthy of revisitation to keep us happily chatting away until the end of time. WITHOUT endlessly debating whether a .270 or a .30-'06 is a better deer rifle, or what have you.

I do not think that we should value our forum entirely on the VOLUME of posts, but on the QUALITY of them. Another dozen re-hashings of "9mm vs. .45" certainly will drive up everyone's post count. But it's the discussion equivalent of junk food -- empty calories! :D

If you want to see why our forum is GREAT, look at the (heated but respectful and incredibly insightful) debates we've had on OC near presidential appearances, or a few months back on CCW on private land. Or, look to our great dissections of technical issues like the relative qualities of the 6.8 or 6.5 rounds in the AR platform. Or the doctoral-thesis level information Zack and others have shared about long-range shooting -- where they're sharing with us the findings of their practical experimentation and testing in real-world field conditions. OR, the assistance that is freely available over in "Legal" in deciphering the proper understandings of laws, both federal and state -- sometimes well in advance of those laws even going into effect! OR, the practical and extremely studious discussions on situational awareness, safety, and self-defense over in S&T -- information gleaned from, and sometimes given directly by, some of the great defensive trainers in the counrty, and beyond!

And on, and on. Some of this information would be neigh impossible to find anywhere else. Not in a book. Not (and the idea is even laughable) in one of the popular gun magazines. Not elsewhere on the 'net, unless you LIKE reading pure dross and belligerant school-yard swagger as you try to retrieve the nuggets of gold from the gutter.

In light of all that, I don't see a small handful of "use the search" posts to be inappropriate or belligerant to the new folks. It isn't elitism. It isn't dogging down the newbies. Rather, I see it as a gentle effort to tune back on the "signal-to-noise" ratio, and keep this forum operating at the expert level of discourse of which it is capable.

Let the new folks come! If they ask a question that is already baked to a crisp, suggest a few links where they can find their answers. Be polite, brief, and encouraging. Show them that they've stumbled upon the "halls of higher learning" at THR, and that they may become a valued member of that community, as their understanding and experience grows. And that someday, someday, they too can truly comprehend whether an SKS is better than an AK.

-Sam :D