'Hot' threads: maybe raise the threshold?

[Blue Velvet]

Over the past few months, it seems that due to increasing traffic and forum activity that the majority -- or a sizable minority -- of threads are becoming 'hot' with their red little icons.

Is it worth considering raising the thresholds or points at which these become threads of special note?

I would have thought that 'hot' threads were something special but when they are almost on the verge of outnumbering less-frequented threads the label of 'hot' becomes a little overcooked.

I'm not entirely sure what other purpose the label has. Are these the threads that get linked to from the front page?

Anyway, just a rambling thought in an idle moment...

 

[Mudbug]

what threshold would you suggest?

As far as I know, they "hot" threads have no meaning other than to show at a quick glance which threads are full of lots of posts.

 

[PlaceofDis]

yeah i dont see any point to the 'hot' threads either. no point really in raising the threshold either because i dont think its all that important of a status marker

 

[~Shard~]

To be honest, I never actually even new this feature existed until I read this thread. Once again, you learn something new everyday!

 

[thomasp]

Hot thread icons seem to serve to label popular threads which have had a lot of replies and/or views. On this forum, a thread seems to get that label after 10 posts or 100 views, whichever is sooner.

Out of the 30 threads in the "Site and Forum Feedback" subforum (page 1), only 6 are not hot, and compared to other areas of this forum, this subforum doesn't get as many views.


I think the hot thread thresholds should be set to something like 100 replies and 1,000 views, as this would balance out the hot/not threads a bit better. Or maybe even 500 replies and 5,000 views?

 

[emw]

This looks like a job for Doctor Q. Do an analysis of the distribution of thread replies, and identity the average number of replies for threads, and then set a threshold somewhere above that where threads would be labeled as "hot."

I don't think there's a way to label it based on posts/time period, so it would just be total posts. My thought is that "hot" threads would be threads in the top 90th percentile of all threads in terms of post count, as well as those (if possible) that have been replied to within the past 48 hours or something.

But then again, I don't reply based on the "hotness" of a thread (I'm not that shallow) as I prefer quality over quantity (yeah, this thread isn't hot, but it's got great personality).

Except when it comes to the content of my posts.

 

[840quadra]

Sorry a side question

dosen't this version of forums have a feature (an arrow) to show you what posts you have replied or posted to?

Is it possible to turn that on, or is it hard on the server?

example from an other forum I frequent.

I try to help new members with questions on this site quite often, but I often forget what posts I replied to, and end up having to search under my username to find them. With such an active forum, it can be hard to remember what posts you read, and didn't reply to, as opposed to the posts you actually did reply to (connfused yet ?) Having an icon to show what posts replied to, would be a great help, and would quite possibly reduce forum search traffic.

Just a question / idea.

840

 

[thomasp]

There's this icon:

on the right of any thread in the forum list (eg here: https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/site-and-forum-feedback.66/ ). That shows any thread you've subscribed to. However, if you have e-mail subscription turned off, this may not show.

 

[emw]

There's this icon:

on the right of any thread in the forum list (eg here: https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/site-and-forum-feedback.66/ ). That shows any thread you've subscribed to. However, if you have e-mail subscription turned off, this may not show.

It works even without e-mail notification. But you have to be subscribed to the thread.

 

[redeye be]

I'm in favor of raising the stakes for 'hot' status. It would be nice if it actually meant something meaningful

840, if you click 'User CP' in the top left, you should get a list with all the threads you posted in that showed some activity since your last visit. If you click 'list subscriptions' on the left of that page, you get all your subscribed threads. (you probably know this, just making sure ).

(OT) As for subscriptions, can one subscribe to a thread without posting?

 

[emw]

(OT) As for subscriptions, can one subscribe to a thread without posting?

In the "toolbar" select Thread Tools > Subscribe to this thread

 

[redeye be]

In the "toolbar" select Thread Tools > Subscribe to this thread

obvious
Thx!

 

[840quadra]

I'm in favor of raising the stakes for 'hot' status. It would be nice if it actually meant something meaningful

840, if you click 'User CP' in the top left, you should get a list with all the threads you posted in that showed some activity since your last visit. If you click 'list subscriptions' on the left of that page, you get all your subscribed threads. (you probably know this, just making sure ).

(OT) As for subscriptions, can one subscribe to a thread without posting?

Thanks for the info, though what I am talking about is actually not the same, I will try out your suggestion.

The other fourms using this software, will put a check box on the Left side icon were the normal envelope is located, in addition to this software, My froum software (InvisionBoard) has this set to default also.

I will try to remember to subscribe from now on so I see the icon on the Right hand side.

 

[emw]

I will try to remember to subscribe from now on so I see the icon on the Right hand side.

You don't even have to remember - in User CP, go to Edit Options and then go down to Default Thread Subscription Mode and select something other than "Do not subscribe."

You will then automatically subscribe to every thread you reply to. It's a little non-intuitive.

 

[Platform]

I think it should be raised....so many thread that are "hot" you can hardly see if it is really "hot" or not"

 

[Savage Henry]

I think it should be raised....so many thread that are "hot" you can hardly see if it is really "hot" or not"

I now tend to overlook the colouring because there doesn't seem too much of a coherent logic to the average forum browser. I just rely on the thread title ... if somone uses lots of exclamation marks then more often than not I doubt I'd consider reading it.

Red or Blue doesn't affect me, nor would I think having fewer reds.

Instead of having a folder icon, having a piccie specific to the folder type (iPod, OS X, politics etc) would be cool, alternatively.