[Debate] Archive Board(s)

As a girl who mainly uses PB for RPG, I'd have to say YES. I have an archive sub-board for every RP board, and it helps very much.

There are times when all threads must be closed. However, in the case of RPG threads, you do not want to lose them.

So I personally believe in archive boards. But I much prefer them as sub-boards underneath the board they were originally in, as otherwise it does indeed get cluttered.

I have an archive board. Incidentally it contains more posts than the next leading board. I've found it to be very useful when managing my board. Firstly, it makes threads in all the other boards easier to manage. Since all of them are being posted in, it's better to have them easier to manage, no? It also keeps down some of the threads that really shouldn't be posted in anymore. They've had their day, and they need to go, however they were special, so let's keep them.

I don't really have any negatives with my archive board apart from the size. However most members know that, if they need to find something, all they need to do is do a forum search within the archive. Now, with more than 25,000 posts in my archive, it may be a bit tedious, but from what I have heard, it hasn't been that hard for anyone to find anything really.

I almost never delete anything on my forum. Call me nitpicky if you will. However I believe that even the many smaller threads that get moved have their relevence, so I keep them in the archive in case I want to look back on them later. We've got some good memories in there that I'd rather not lose, and it's good to look back on what was going on in the beginning.

Now, sometimes the threads are looked upon for references, or proof of something. If people are doubtful of something, more often than not it can be found in the archive board. It's visited very often for this particular reason, which also comes in very handy.

I suppose with my style of administration, I don't like to get rid of things. Archives are what I like, since looking back on things and having information handy is nice, and useful for my needs.

I think it mostly depends on what the archive boards are used for...

I mainly use mine boards for old locked threads that can no longer be posted in, but I leave them there in case new members want to read through old chat threads or old weekly poll threads.
(I lock threads after they reach around 50 pages because I had a problem a few years back with posts disappearing when threads got too long. Of course, PV4 probably has fixed this, but I've kept the "rule").

Also, in the same line, I have a section for old RP threads, so members/guests can read all the previous pieces of different RP stories.


But, I think it people use their archives as just a way to move over "old" unused threads all the time, I think it'll just clutter the archives instead of individual boards.


I do have a thread in the main archive area where members can post and ask an old thread to be unlocked and moved back to the board topic of discussion. Just because it's locked, doesnt' mean it's completely gone.
I only delete threads that are spam threads, so any locked thread is discarded into the archives.

I don't think that you should use archives for old threads that are no longer inactive, if you move them away, it makes it look like that board is very inactive, and can drive guests from coming. Though I do suggest and recycling bin, which is an archive for threads you don't want your members to see. After I lock a thread, I make sure that I keep it there for a couple of days, then move it to the recycling bin that I have hidden out of view from all of the members.

For moving old threads, say there was a really great thread, you move it to the archive, someone wants to reply, and they find out that they cannot reply, thus making some members irritated. I think it is best to keep it there, like myke about that part.

I thoroughly agree with the above. I have two websites that I run (one is a co-adminship) and the larger website has an archive section. I have found it actually to be very useful and it allows older established members to find a thread they remember from "way back when" if it is relevent to a new discusion (to help them prove a point or what have you) and it allows new members to see what was previously discussed over long periods of time.

The archive section we have still allows members to post.

I see here that many of you feel that it detracts from the look of a board by making the board seem inactive but I guess that depends on the board. On my board that has the archive there is still a lot of activity in the main part of the boards and on occasion someone will find something of interest in the archive section that they want to contribute to but for the most part people stay on the main boards.

I personally have found it to be useful and not detracting in any way from my board.

Well, I used to delete all the old threads when a 3 month term was over. So I wiped my board for the first 11 months it was around (I did an emergency term change once). Well, my members asked that I archived the threads instead because they liked to go back and read through.

So, 2 and a half years later, and the archive board still exists. I don't care either way, but I can see how many people would like to go through their history. Yes, it can be cluttered, but if utilized correctly can be great.