question for moderators re: merging and splitting threads

[dr. zooeuss]

Hi Mods, (or anyone else who wants to explain this with a minimum of sarcasm or cynicism )

I've been here a few months and generally love the forum- btw, thanks for the work you do to keep the place running smoothly.

Wanted to ask a few questions because I'm still puzzled sometimes by this thread splitting and merging thing... (I skimmed the FAQ section and did not see these Qs addressed)

1) When a thread has " "MERGED" -----> " at the beginning of the title, does that mean it's the original thread, or it's a combination of multiple threads?

2) For this type of thread, how do we know at what point in the thread the "MERGE" occurred?

3) When threads are merged, do the former originals disappear, or do the titles remain in their respective section with a notice (as per a "moved" thread)

4) I have the same basic questions about a SPLIT thread, just in converse form, if that makes sense.

thanks-

 

[U2girl]

1) Combination of several threads.

2) I think you can only tell if you know all the threads involved in the merge.

I only ever saw 1 SPLIT thread so I don't know about those, and sometimes the original titles in merged threads stay together, or it could be just titled something like "All ______ discussion here".

 

[waynetravis]

2) In the merge thread, look for something written in the subject area above a post.
Usually its a similar title, or look for a smiley icon there.

3) I think they dissapear and merge with the super thread.

And only split thread I've ever seen is in Pleba.

 

[dr. zooeuss]

Thanks to you both, that clears most of it up perfectly.

Mods or anyone else feel free to offer any insights on SPLIT, guess that doesn't happen as often though.

(WT, the only time I've been to PLEBA was from following a link someone posted to your photos with U2 in Dublin, *congrats again* and I still don't understand why you don't have one of those as your avatar) haha..

 

[lazarus]

We just had a split in Bang & Clatter, but one part was immediately locked because it was way off-topic and nonsensical, just a few of us amusing ourselves.

 

[dr. zooeuss]

...if you're talking about the radiohead boxed set thread, that may be part of what made me realize i still don't understand how it all works, exactly.

... so the SPLIT thread always gets relegated to the archive folder of that respective forum?

 

[indra]

Split threads happen occasionally in FYM (where angels fear to tread, btw). Usually it's when a side discussion takes place and threatens to drown out all discussion on the original topic. If the discussion in both thread remains fairly reasonable they both stay open and continue on their merry way. I think it just depends on how the discussion progresses.

 

[Sicy]

The posters above pretty much answered your questions.

Split threads dont happen nearly as often as merging threads.

 

[dr. zooeuss]

thanks everyone

 

[Bonochick]

Just a little more info about split threads:

When a mod goes to split a thread, the screen will display every post in a thread with the option to move it to a new thread or leave it. Once you have the posts selected that you want to split off to form a new thread, that new thread is created in the same forum with the same name as the original thread. Mods can edit the thread title though and/or move the thread to a different forum, as I'm sure you guys know.

To echo what indra said, a split thread may not necessarily be locked though. If there is a decent discussion going on that has a good reason to continue, it could remain open, despite having been split from another existing topic.

 

[dr. zooeuss]

interesting, thanks for the further info, BC.

 

[yolland]

3) When threads are merged, do the former originals disappear, or do the titles remain in their respective section with a notice (as per a "moved" thread)

If it was in the same subforum, it disappears, but normally we retitle the thread we merged it into so as to indicate where it went, as much as space allows (e.g. "MERGED--> Why Are Threads Merged? + What Happens If A Thread..."). As waynetravis mentioned, you can see where the new addition joined the thread by looking for its title in a subject line (for example, this post I'm typing right now has this thread's title in its subject line because I'm quoting the original post--which automatically carries the thread title in its subject line, unless the thread starter chooses to delete it). However, we don't choose where within a thread the merge "starts"--that's done automatically based on when posts were made.

If the threads merged had extremely similar titles, we might not bother to retitle the one merged into beyond adding "MERGED-->". The same might apply if the 'disappeared' thread was moved in from another subforum before merging, since its original title will still appear in the original subforum, along with a 'moved' notice.

Split threads happen occasionally in FYM (where angels fear to tread, btw). Usually it's when a side discussion takes place and threatens to drown out all discussion on the original topic.

There's a certain thread in there I probably should've done a split on a couple days ago, only I kept foolishly hoping the tangent would grind to an exhausted halt on its own.

One thing I would add about splits is that if the thread is very long and the "tangent" posts thoroughly intermingled with the on-topic ones, the splitting procedure can become a royal pain, and we may occasionally decline to do a requested split for that reason.

 

[dr. zooeuss]

Re: Re: question for moderators re: merging and splitting threads

There's a certain thread in there I probably should've done a split on a couple days ago, only I kept foolishly hoping the tangent would grind to an exhausted halt on its own.

One thing I would add about splits is that if the thread is very long and the "tangent" posts thoroughly intermingled with the on-topic ones, the splitting procedure can become a royal pain, and we may occasionally decline to do a requested split for that reason.

Thanks, Yolland.

I think another reason this question came up for me was in regards to the "Case against Pop and Rock" thread we have in B&C- for a little while there I wasn't sure if it would get to a point where it would be better to split it up, but that doesn't seem to have become an urgent issue.

cheers, Jay

 

[indra]

Re: Re: question for moderators re: merging and splitting threads

However, we don't choose where within a thread the merge "starts"--that's done automatically based on when posts were made.

All this time I actually thought you guys were really good at blending the posts in merged threads. My illusions have been shattered.

There's a certain thread in there I probably should've done a split on a couple days ago, only I kept foolishly hoping the tangent would grind to an exhausted halt on its own.

Ah! You've peaked my interest! I should go look.... I've been both scattered and grumpy lately (a lovely combination I assure you ), so have been trying to stay out of most FYM threads lately lest any comments I make are stranger than normal for me.