Suggestion: Locking and editing your own threads

[Sonata]

I think it would be pretty great if when you make a thread you could edit the title or lock it on your own.

I would say for the title editing it would be like kind of a suggestion type thing next to the thread when you're viewing the forum that it's in and then a mod would be able to look at it and decide whether a change would be okay or not. There would be a limit on the title changes, probably one time. When you would say that you want a title change then you would have to put a couple of words/sentences/paragraphs or whatever you need so that a mod can see your reasoning behind the request. And only the thread creator or a mod would be able to use that option.

And then for the whole locking business it would just allow for people who have created threads to close them before things got out of hand or for like if they have an idea that is supposed to come in parts they would be able to close one part so nobody goes in there and does anything and then open a new one without bothering anyone.

I think these would be pretty helpful especially for people who want to do things at the most random of times or who don't like bothering mods with petty requests. Mods also wouldn't have to feel obliged to do little things for people when they could just do them for themselves. I know it'd be pretty useful for myself since I don't like messaging and bothering mods and then I do stuff when there's close to nobody online and then realize I've made a silly mistake or my thread title is too inappropriate.

 

[Oryx]

You can already edit your title by either going advanced on editing or double-clicking it in the thread index.

I don't think PC would fall apart if users could lock their own threads. In fact, I bet it would hardly be used. Not sure if it's just a setting like the titles was; if so, it might be a good idea to turn it on. I bet the only people that would use it would be non-mods running contests and people who make a question thread and it gets answered.

 

[Nathan]

I think it would be pretty great if when you make a thread you could edit the title or lock it on your own.

I would say for the title editing it would be like kind of a suggestion type thing next to the thread when you're viewing the forum that it's in and then a mod would be able to look at it and decide whether a change would be okay or not. There would be a limit on the title changes, probably one time. When you would say that you want a title change then you would have to put a couple of words/sentences/paragraphs or whatever you need so that a mod can see your reasoning behind the request. And only the thread creator or a mod would be able to use that option.

And then for the whole locking business it would just allow for people who have created threads to close them before things got out of hand or for like if they have an idea that is supposed to come in parts they would be able to close one part so nobody goes in there and does anything and then open a new one without bothering anyone.

I think these would be pretty helpful especially for people who want to do things at the most random of times or who don't like bothering mods with petty requests. Mods also wouldn't have to feel obliged to do little things for people when they could just do them for themselves. I know it'd be pretty useful for myself since I don't like messaging and bothering mods and then I do stuff when there's close to nobody online and then realize I've made a silly mistake or my thread title is too inappropriate.

We can already edit our thread's title as of now.

Edit : Oryx is a ninja.

 

[Sonata]

Did not know that we could already edit our titles...I should explore more.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

Honestly I don't think that regular members should be able to lock their own threads. While unlikely, it could be abused a little bit. Let me explain why, if the discussion in the thread is not going as the OP wanted such as people not agreeing/going off topic they would have the power to become minimods in a way which is against the rules. If a member really wants their thread locked they can just ask the moderator of that section to do so. Not saying it's a bad idea just not something I think is needed.

/2cents

 

[Oryx]

Honestly I don't think that regular members should be able to lock their own threads. While unlikely, it could be abused a little bit. Let me explain why, if the discussion in the thread is not going as the OP wanted such as people not agreeing/going off topic they would have the power to become minimods in a way which is against the rules. If a member really wants their thread locked they can just ask the moderator of that section to do so. Not saying it's a bad idea just not something I think is needed.

/2cents

I mean, lots of things have potential for abuse. Editing your OP has potential for abuse - I remember someone that was in charge of an important thread but wasn't a mod, and they got angry and edited the first post so it was just blank. Despite the obvious abuse potential for editing the OP based on that example we still allow anyone do it, you know?

That would raise the question of what's appropriate to be locked though. There would have to be a new rule describing what can be locked by members and what can't. Another thought - can you separate the lock function from the unlock function? If you can't, then it really can't be done because members can't be allowed to just unlock their threads if a mod locks them. SO MANY QUESTIONS.

 

[Sonata]

I don't think there would be an unlock button for just plain members or supporters. You would have to be a mod in order to unlock, except for certain sections. I could see allowing the lock and unlocking of threads by members in Forum Games but unlocking doesn't seem important anywhere else. And then if a member were to try to abuse their locking privileges then they would be blocked from locking things.

 

[Oryx]

I don't think there would be an unlock button for just plain members or supporters. You would have to be a mod in order to unlock, except for certain sections. I could see allowing the lock and unlocking of threads by members in Forum Games but unlocking doesn't seem important anywhere else. And then if a member were to try to abuse their locking privileges then they would be blocked from locking things.

I'm thinking of whether or not it's something built-in. The editing titles was, all they had to do was change a variable in the admin panel. My question is if you give someone lock privileges in the admin panel, do you inherently give them unlock privileges? I presumed this wouldn't be something custom-coded because...how often will it really be used? The question isn't really whether members should be allowed to unlock, but whether it comes with locking privileges by default.

 

[Honest]

Honestly, I'm seeing the whole "lock your own thread idea" pointless, when there's no issue whatsoever with asking a moderator to do it. I'm not saying it's a bad idea, don't get me wrong; you have rights (to a certain extent) as to what happens to a thread made by you, so the option of closing it is something that is inherently yours. But is it really necessary for members to have that ability? I like customization as much as the next person, but I see this sorta... unnecessary. I'm more or less neutral on this, cause I don't see it being abused much. I mean, you can only abuse it so much. Create a thread, then lock it for whatever reason, and bam. That's all she wrote.

I do think, however, if we were to implement this, having members be able to unlock their own threads is something we should avoid. Again, I don't think it'd get abused much, except for by, perhaps, new people who are misguided. The whole idea itself is meh.

Although, to be completely honest, when do we even lock threads? When they've been necroposted in, or when they break rules. And then there's the off chance someone wants a thread closed. I suppose the whole thing is a little situational. But the world wouldn't end if it came into existence, the anility to lock your own threads.

 

[Belldandy]

It'd be useful in places like Trade Shop and Quick Trade to be able to lock and unlock at will. That way, if you're not available or temporarily closed, you can close and reopen at will rather than waiting for Keiran or an SMod to do it for you.

That's really the only forum I can see it being OK, though. Otherwise, people will (as someone mentioned) just lock when they're peeved at a curbed discussion.

 

[Nolafus]

I think these would be pretty helpful especially for people who want to do things at the most random of times or who don't like bothering mods with petty requests. Mods also wouldn't have to feel obliged to do little things for people when they could just do them for themselves.

It might be just me, but I love doing these kinds of things. It's really no bother.

I don't think I really like the power to lock your own threads. I mean, it's a good idea , but I'm concerned how you would balance it out. If you can unlock it, then that's probably going to create some work on the admin's part on preventing members from unlocking threads the mods have locked. And, would this really get used? I don't frequent the trade section, so I don't know how that works over there, so maybe someone can enlighten me on that, but I don't see this getting used a lot outside of there.

 

[KorpiklaaniVodka]

I'm fine with this as long as you meet some conditions (e.g. have at least 200 posts). Otherwise it would probably be abused.

 

[SuperEspeon]

No, I really dont see how locking a thread would be abused^ also why prejiduce people by the amount of posts? I can see that for maybe requesting a graphic (because they might take the GFX and run), but for locking threads? Im sorry that makes no sense.

Locking threads needs to happen.

 

[curiousnathan]

Other than in maybe the Trade corner I don't really see the need. Just message a mod and they can lock it for you, it's no big deal.

 

[Zeffy]

Why would you need to lock a thread anyway? Last I checked, threads are only locked if it broke the rules, was necrobumbed (technically, reviving a month-old thread is against the rules, but I felt that it needed to be emphasized in this case), or was requested. The first two are, of course, part of a moderator's responsibility whilst the last one doesn't happen most of the time. I'm not saying that I'm against this suggestion, but I guess my only qualm with it is that it's too unnecessary. If you posted a thread and realized that it's already been done before, then let the moderator know so he/she can merge it with the appropriate topic. If you posted a thread and realized that it was rubbish, then that's kind of your own fault.

It's not really bothering for a mod to close a thread (or be asked to do so), you know. It is their responsibility to take care of the forums after all.

 

[El Héroe Oscuro]

I am in agreement. With a busy section like the trade corner only having one mod and a s-mod, I sometimes feel bad asking them to do things( and trust me that is a decent amount) so this would help ease some of their hard and wonderful work.

I feel this will only be temporary. As the sudden and unexpected leave of numerous mods from that section came drastically at once, it's going to take awhile for staff to accurately choose replacements (as it rightfully should be done so.) While yes, it may seem helpful at this very moment to be allowed the ability to lock their own trade threads to dwindle the amount of moderating that these two staff members need to do, it's not going to be an issue once full staff for that section has been restored.

I personally don't believe that members should be given the ability to lock or unlock their threads. Specifically relating to the Trade Corner, I'm trying to think of a good situation in which one might have to lock their thread. The only thing I can think of is if they are going away for a few days and don't want the added business or if they permanently want to shut down their shop for good. For the first part, given that regular members are allowed to edit the titles of their OP, a simple side note that they'll be gone from x date to x date solves that problem. Or, you put a small annotation at the top of your OP indicating that you'll be gone. For the latter point, you are not hassling staff in anyway by requesting a thread to be locked. Literally, it takes only 5 seconds and a simple click to lock a thread, so trust me when I say we're not going out of our ways or expending a lot of energy fulfilling a request. Plus, when you eventually get the normal amount of Moderators back in the Trade Corner, then you'll have a multitude of sources to have your request fulfilled.

This is derived from my prior years running a successful shop in the days of the Trade Center, so hopefully you'll understand I'm not pulling these solutions out of thin air.