Should I Have An Archive Board?

[luv2ride801]

I don't have an archive board right now (As my site is new, I don't have any members, and no old threads to get rid of) But, since I am very forgetful, I probably will make an archive board to store all the important threads that I might need to look at again in the future. Otherwise, I forget all the important stuff I need to remember.

[Marilyn]

I think an Archive board is good for the threads that have gone beyond 100 pages in length.
I was a mod of a forum that lost a few thousand posts at one time. We were told by PB the thread had gotten too long.
I can't remember what PB said as to how long to allow threads to get, but I figure at 15 posts per page, 100 pages is approx 1,500 posts and I'd hate to lose that type of info from my forum.

I've seen a forum that locks their threads at 10 pages, and I think that is too few.

I've also seen forums with 150 plus pages on their threads.

So, at what point do you feel the thread should be archived?

[kelendria]

I was helping out someone on their board & he was archiving his topics every few days, moving them to hidden boards.
I said to him what's the point in creating topics on your board then, & he said it was because the forum was going through a newer version.
It was only a few months old & it's like version 3 already
I got fed up with creating topics for him just to hide them again & left.

[Marie-Cris]

I installed one this year', actually. I like to keep a sense of history in the board and no matter how embarrassing the content, it's good to look back and see some of the old conversations we had. I don't actually recall deleting a thread, but I'm certain I did so before; I'm just not sure if I will again. I may end up creating another archive section for staff eyes only if it comes to threads that I don't want members to see, like flaming arguments and such. It's a good system to tidy up a forum too, aside from a mass deletion ((but again, I like a sense of history, so I don't really like deleting old posts and threads)).

[karkarkarei]

Personally, I think an Archives Board is a brilliant idea, ESPECIALLY for roleplay boards. Here's why:

Really, they are a bit troubling to keep up with, especially if you have an active forum. But if you think about it...lock and move a thread, not much work is it? It's always good to make a request for members who have finished a topic to let the staff know so you won't have to go through reading all the threads to see which are finished. Other than that, archives aren't very difficult to keep up with.

[Felicia]

Hmm, I set up an archives board for the first time. I don't know how it'll go over, so I'm just gonna see if I like it or not. I kinda am having second doubts with the 'why bother.' But I haven't had enough experience with one to judge yet!

[lana3k3]

I'm brand new to proboards and still working out how to manage it. But in all honesty, if my boards get too loaded, yes i'll probably archive the threads not in use

[ĻмηøρgûŸ7]

I have an Archive board, but I use it to keep track of spammer's I.P's, notes, to-do list, ect.

[Kami]

Just a reminder to everyone - as per the rules of this board, please keep all responses four, well-thought-out sentences or more; one liners do not generate discussion, and that is what this board is for.

[fantasmic]

I've never understood them on regular discussion forums. I understand them for contests: archive the winners. On role plays, you want to be able to go back and check out an old plot if you forget some finer details of a story line. On writing sites, it clears up space for new submissions with the option to see old work as well. For staff discussions, I like archiving old threads so we can remember what was decided, and when, and remember the original idea if the final decision didn't work out properly.

But I've never, ever understood why people would stash a "What are you listening to" sort of post. One, those are silly to get rid of. They never die, and people are interested. But if it holds no relevance to the site, delete it and make way for better stuff.

[Former Member]

Oct 14, 2007 8:53:42 GMT -8 Enchant said:

Many times when helping out or rating forums, I have come across a forum that has a archive board. For those of you who are unsure what it is, it is a board that is used for storing threads to get them out of the way of active threads. In some cases, they are hidden from guest and sometimes they are even hidden from members that are not staff. Some admins use them for spam storage and some use them for old and inactive threads. But whatever the reason, many admins feel it is necessary to have one.

Yet, some might argue why bother? Why keep them? Why not just delete them?

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

My board is very very new, only 3 weeks old! ;D

One of my GM's asked today if it would be necessary to delete or archive old/inactive threads? I raised this question on the support board here and was told it wasn't necessary. I hadn't seen this thread.

I won't be deleting old or inactive threads as there is no way of knowing how many have been booked marked to use at a much later date.

[I ♥ Adam Lambert!]

The first time I saw a forum with a archive section, I thought it was useful when used in the proper context. The admin of this forum basically moved all threads into it that A) She made a comment or statement and someone disagreed with her and she didn't like it and B) She disliked the thread topic and moved/locked it so the members couldn't discuss it

We have a Archive cat on our forum, with 3 Boards - to archive certain thread subjects. It's a very useful because we get a lot of posts started that die pretty quickly, like when MTV released an interview or article every Twilight Tuesday. We didn't want to delete the threads but thought it would be handy to keep them in a Archive so a member could look through the old TT's if they wanted to look something up.

It's great for keeping a forum uncluttered and tidy. However, unlike some forums, we haven't locked any threads so if the thread became active once more, i.e. a thread on a certain book series which hadn't had much activity and then the latest book in the series gets released and everyone wants to discuss the new book, we would simply move it back to where it came from.

[Capt. Kavanaugh]

I run two RP boards and have been a member on others. I think within the RP genre, an archive board is VERY useful for all involved.

In my main archives, which are viewable to all members at any time, threads that our finished are locked and moved to the archives. This helps keep the main RP boards easier to navigate, without having to permanently remove any stories.

From my own personal experience with RPs, I love to be able to go back and re-read different posts that have already been finished. Sometimes I use them because I need to remember something about my own character, and other times, just because I loved a particular storyline so much.

I also have a two other archives set up on my one board which are only viewable to staff. One is to store old member information in case it was ever needed again, and another is for the staff room itself, so that I can move threads out of the staff discussion when they are no longer needed.

[gimel]

since the only sites i run are role play sites, i almost always have an archive board. sometimes i have an archive board and sub-boards for each section of the site, sometimes i just have a board to throw everything into. i do find archive boards useful for keeping things organized while still keeping plots and history intact for future reference. the archives on my site are just a place where anyone can go read old RP threads if they wish, if i don't have an archive in the beginning chances are i will make one eventually and usually sooner rather than later.

[Rosario Foxx]

It's very helpful. I don't know how many times I've accidently deleted a topic that I wanted back when I used IVF. It was pretty bad.