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When and Why are Forum posts locked? RRS feed

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    On occasion I find MSDN forum posts that appear to be relevant developer questions, but are locked. I went to FAQ and found no policy on when or how posts are locked.

    I would suggest that even old posts can have relevance, particularly in topics like SQL. 

    A locked post that is asking a question is a waste of time.  Suggestion - indicate reason a thread has been locked OR just delete/move the post.

    I expect at least a silver award for this simple, but effective timesaving change....

    Thanks in advance.

    .

    Wednesday, August 10, 2011 6:47 PM
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    My main aim in locking threads is to indicate to forum readers that a question has already been answered to the satisfaction of the original poster. With some MS forum moderators marking posts as answers purely because the original poster has not replied in the thread within a week to a suggestion, something is needed in order to indicate a *really* closed thread.

    My second aim is to avoid thread spread. Sometimes if a thread is left unlocked the Original Poster will ask a completely different question in the same thread. This second question then has nothing to do with the title and the thread can through several such additional questions extend into unusability with threads of over 50 posts not uncommon.

    Similar to the above but worse imo is when someone completely new to the thread uses it as a handle to ask (again) a completely different question in it (with the same consequences). Often this happens in threads from 2010, 2009 and even 2008 or 2007 that were closed (i.e. marked as answered) several years earlier. In such cases I delete the new, off-topic post and then lock the thread to ensure this old thread is no longer available for new, off-topic (sometimes about a completely different product or product version) questions.

    What I don't lock are new threads where a MS moderator has marked a post as answer without there being anything from the OP to say that that reply did in fact answer his/her question.

    Summary: Locked (1) if the OP has confirmed (words or by himself marking a post as answer) that his question has been answered. Locked (2) if the thread is not a recent one but one marked earlier as an answer where someone has revised the thread with a new question.

    Mike Walsh

    P.S. When locking an old thread, I do try to tidy it up by removing posts that are no longer relevent (bumps; I have the same problem etc.). This sweep is also intended to catch unanswered (second) questions but doesn't always. It very much depends on my time available and the length of and level of confusion in the thread.

    SP 2010 "FAQ" (mainly useful links): http://wssv4faq.mindsharp.com/default.aspx
    WSS3/MOSS FAQ (FAQ and Links) http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com/default.aspx
    Both also have links to extensive book lists and to (free) on-line chapters
    • Edited by Mike Walsh FIN Monday, August 15, 2011 6:45 AM P.S. added after original post re-read.
    • Marked as answer by Brent SerbusEditor Monday, August 15, 2011 5:56 PM
    Monday, August 15, 2011 6:40 AM
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    Example url would help, there are various reasons for locking a thread. I usually only lock threads if they aren't going anywhere or heading towards any meaningful resolution but users are piling on with opinions instead of helpful input, it doesn't happen very often though. I would ask the forum you see this in as to why they are doing it.
    Community Forums Program Manager
    Thursday, August 11, 2011 5:38 AM
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    Answerer
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    My main aim in locking threads is to indicate to forum readers that a question has already been answered to the satisfaction of the original poster. With some MS forum moderators marking posts as answers purely because the original poster has not replied in the thread within a week to a suggestion, something is needed in order to indicate a *really* closed thread.

    My second aim is to avoid thread spread. Sometimes if a thread is left unlocked the Original Poster will ask a completely different question in the same thread. This second question then has nothing to do with the title and the thread can through several such additional questions extend into unusability with threads of over 50 posts not uncommon.

    Similar to the above but worse imo is when someone completely new to the thread uses it as a handle to ask (again) a completely different question in it (with the same consequences). Often this happens in threads from 2010, 2009 and even 2008 or 2007 that were closed (i.e. marked as answered) several years earlier. In such cases I delete the new, off-topic post and then lock the thread to ensure this old thread is no longer available for new, off-topic (sometimes about a completely different product or product version) questions.

    What I don't lock are new threads where a MS moderator has marked a post as answer without there being anything from the OP to say that that reply did in fact answer his/her question.

    Summary: Locked (1) if the OP has confirmed (words or by himself marking a post as answer) that his question has been answered. Locked (2) if the thread is not a recent one but one marked earlier as an answer where someone has revised the thread with a new question.

    Mike Walsh

    P.S. When locking an old thread, I do try to tidy it up by removing posts that are no longer relevent (bumps; I have the same problem etc.). This sweep is also intended to catch unanswered (second) questions but doesn't always. It very much depends on my time available and the length of and level of confusion in the thread.

    SP 2010 "FAQ" (mainly useful links): http://wssv4faq.mindsharp.com/default.aspx
    WSS3/MOSS FAQ (FAQ and Links) http://wssv3faq.mindsharp.com/default.aspx
    Both also have links to extensive book lists and to (free) on-line chapters
    • Edited by Mike Walsh FIN Monday, August 15, 2011 6:45 AM P.S. added after original post re-read.
    • Marked as answer by Brent SerbusEditor Monday, August 15, 2011 5:56 PM
    Monday, August 15, 2011 6:40 AM
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