Should I Have An Archive Board?

[Timothy]

Well, I've finally deleted my archive boards for ease of posting and to help facilitate new members. The "search" feature will pretty much allow any member to locate what they want, so that was the final straw for these boards...

[1]

i think that they are good but u should hide them so members can get to there posts but there arnt new members posting in there

[Timothy]

Jan 30, 2008 4:34:11 GMT -8 1 said:

i think that they are good but u should hide them so members can get to there posts but there arnt new members posting in there

Well, the problem that I've found with hiding boards is that when threads are moved to said-archive board and hidden, they remove the post count of those threads from the front page. This isn't a big deal if you've disabled the display of post count, but it is rather frustrating.

[HoudiniDerek]

Jan 30, 2008 6:48:02 GMT -8 Timothy said:

Jan 30, 2008 4:34:11 GMT -8 1 said:

i think that they are good but u should hide them so members can get to there posts but there arnt new members posting in there

Well, the problem that I've found with hiding boards is that when threads are moved to said-archive board and hidden, they remove the post count of those threads from the front page. This isn't a big deal if you've disabled the display of post count, but it is rather frustrating.

I am not sure why that should matter. Most members don't care of the post count of the forum, they care about their own. Plus, if you have the threads and they can be shown or revived at some point, I see no reason why the boards can't be hidden to reduce the clutter of the forum.

I have an archive sub-board on two forums. It allows me to move offending or questionable posts to review. That board is visible, but only viewable by staff. To me, I see no need to hide the boards themselves, but I do try and protect the content of the members.

[Cain]

On my forum, being an ongoing RP as it is, I've never liked to delete anything really. You'll find lots of our boards have sub boards that store "finished RPs", "Accepted Character Profiles", and so on. But the main place that we keep ancient RPs and used up ideas is The Vault, which is our hidden archive board. Sure it removes some of our past posts from the forums overall post count, but it's only about 2,000 out of over 50,000 currently visible. Not such a big deal.

It's my feeling that these aren't just old posts and wasted space, but a record of our forum. I can see no upside in deleting them and they do no harm to anyone where they are. So it should go without saying at this point, I'm all for archive boards.

[JenF]

I prefer to have them but usually they are hidden within the staff areas. I like to keep my post count and deleting threads will affect the forums post count.

I don't allow my staff to delete threads for this reason. The only threads I would delete are where they've posted by accident.

[Seppuku]

I'd rather use an archiving board for storing the best threads made. I see how people don't want to make archive boards, mostly because it seems like people tend to use them to place older posts. I see no point in this, because the posts are still there, just moved somewhere else.

I wouldn't use an archive board for that. I currently don't have one, but when I do on other forums I've made, it has been strictly to house the best of the best threads for anyone to view.

That's just my opinion though

[HoudiniDerek]

I have to agree overall. I tend to have an archive board for moderated posts and for old RP threads on the RP forum I am on and help staff. Otherwise, I fail to see the point of them unless they are read-only...and some of them are.

On the other hand, I also have no problem deleting threads after a while, especially character or welcome threads from people that are no longer active or no longer members. Somtimes I will delete "I'm back" threads too just to keep it tidy.

The forum post count should not matter so much that I have to save every worthless post.

[kelendria]

I tend to put archived topics in our staff room which is hidden to members.
I'm not fussed about where older topics go, as people don't usually look past page 1 or 2.
I don't lock my threads either, I encourage postings & people's opinions are still valid.
Most of my archived topics are technical announcements or messages no longer needed.
I know at least if I need to I can put it back if I want to.
I'd rather keep old threads than delete them, perhaps for future reference.
I don't bother to move topics that are older than a certain date either, I'd rather have a fuller looking forum than a HUGE archive board which is dead & no-one feels they are allowed to enter.
Just my two cents

[Michelangelo "Spike" Scarlatti]

I never really saw the point of the archives on a board before then some members suggested I should add one and I actually find it useful so if you dont remember with whats going on or what you said in a previous post you have that to look back on
I now have one on my boards
especially since on my boards we dont have one plot to follow that came in very handy

[Former Member]

In a huge mass forum like ours we need archives we like to review our rps and so on...i make them fully accessible to all and the mod squad can access it and move things around into its correct case file or back where it came from for a continual.

[synthinator]

I don't like the idea of archiving old threads. I feel it's better to just leave them where they are. Theres no harm in keeping them in the appropriate board. By keeping them where they are you give your board the appearance that it has a lot going on and it's not a new start up board. Also it gives new members the opportunity to browse through older discussions and give their views on the topic rather than starting a new thread based on a topic that already exists. This is where merging threads becomes very useful but thats another discussion altogether.
I like to keep my board organized, keep the correct threads in the correct boards and everyone will have a much easier time finding the topics they want to post on. If the thread gets old, it goes to the end of the line.

[Kirsty geek]

I think it is carousal to have one of these, as any member can look at them and view the threads and if they can’t find a role play with a character in no doubts there will be one there and they can see the standard they will get from them.

[Jack]

Personally it all depends on a site. I think that it's a shame to have to delete roleplays which could inspire other members and guests to write their own. It could give them ideas and after all that's what you need on a roleplaying forum.

On a news forum you can also have old news topics in the forum which would be helpful.

However, on a general chat forum I don't really see the need for most of the threads. Most can just be binned!

So It all depends on teh forum

[ombrel]

Do you have a Archive Board and what do you use it for and why?

On my site; I do have an Archive Board! If a thread has gone cold or is finished or is just way too old (like a three month period of nothing added or in the lines of old news) I just shove it to the Archive Board and let it be. I think it is a great way to keep the board looking clean from old things from new things and seeing I keep it open to view; Guest are able to view posts made on the site where they cannot see typically. Plus; If I am brain dead from Roleplaying, I like to reference back to post I made in the past to see if I am starting to repeat myself or get ideas from others post on what to do next.