Updating Old Posts November 20, 2001 10:08 AM   Subscribe

What is view on posting updates/new developments/new articles in comments of one's old posts? I searched but could not find. Thanks.
posted by Voyageman to Etiquette/Policy at 10:08 AM (11 comments total)

Go ahead, it is encouraged.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:09 AM on November 20, 2001


Ok. Thanks, Matt.
posted by Voyageman at 10:22 AM on November 20, 2001


I've done it a few times, in various threads (not my own), and will continue to should I find more links to add to threads I was interested in, but have found that such comments rarely (read: haven't yet, for me) prompt anyone else to comment.

It occurred to me, though, that if mathowie puts up that "best of" page he was talking about, then a few of those threads would probably have longer lives, as more people would go back to them and read them and add further links and thoughts....
posted by mattpfeff at 10:53 AM on November 20, 2001


it's also often a better idea than starting a new thread on a very similar toipic, and for those of us who search for "recent comments" we'd still see it.
posted by jessamyn at 11:02 AM on November 20, 2001


and for those of us who search for "recent comments" we'd still see it.

Is there a preference setting for this? Or are you doing it manually?
posted by Mid at 11:10 AM on November 20, 2001


I asked this question early on and never got an answer, so I'll jump in rather than watching your question fall on deaf ears:

"Sort by [recent comments]" is an option on the pull-down menu at the top-right of the MeFi index. It should save your preferred sorting format as a cookie.

(This brings up an interesting point... Neither Mid nor myself ever really saw the pull-down menu. By the time I first heard about the mysterious 'sort by recent comments', I had been visiting MeFi for months, and I then spent a ton of time trying to find the 'recent comments' option on various prefs pages, etc. For some reason, the pull-down menu was kinda invisible.)
posted by Marquis at 11:28 AM on November 20, 2001


note also that the 'sort by recent comments' function does not sort all the posts every posted on MeFi -- it only sorts the last 20 posted to the front page. (I've heard tell you can change that number, but it must not be an option in IE for Mac, like those JavaScript shortcuts for bolding and italicing and adding hrefs you only get on windoz....)
posted by mattpfeff at 11:40 AM on November 20, 2001


It also makes for a great way to set someone up for a big double-post slam when they create a whole new topic with the very same thing a day or so later, since nobody ever reads the follow-up, but everyone is constantly on the prowl for a DP score.

Burying new info in dead topics is a sneaky tactic, but just think of how cool you'll look when you blast some newbie for not reading every single post ever submitted in their entirety!
posted by briank at 11:45 AM on November 20, 2001


re adding new comments to one's old posts: I just found myself periodically looking over my own posts, remembering I had run across a new relevant link, and feeling I should add it to keep the page current.

But now I also find myself every day clicking to several of my "favorite" members' individual post/comment pages, looking for what new stuff they have contributed anywhere on the site. Havent fully thought this through, but it feels like a "My Favorite Members" posts and comments page, or perhaps just an alpha list of members , or a "sort by members" option. Maybe there is something like this already, but I havent been able to find it.
posted by Voyageman at 11:55 AM on November 20, 2001


Marquis -- thanks. I have been hanging out for a few months and never really noticed the pull-down. When I started hearing about "sort by comments" I also kept going to the preferences page.

Maybe there is a web design principle in here somewhere.
posted by Mid at 2:25 PM on November 20, 2001


So why don't new discussion sprout on the one year ago / two years ago threads linked to on the main page -- or am I mssing something?
posted by feelinglistless at 3:34 PM on November 20, 2001


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