An interesting forum option?

[default]

hey guys, i just signed up with another forum for cigars, and the forum seems to be identical in layout and function. but i did just see a really cool feature that i think could be put into use here.

when i typed a title to a new thread i wanted to post, it popped a list of similar threads.

i think if that could be done here (and if there is a way to do it under a certain post quantity) that could possibly cut down on some redundancy's and provide noobs with info right off the bat. just a thought!

[Jazilla]

Oh man do I second that one. I have been guilty of it myself but I notice a lot of redundancy to the point of almost pulling my hair out... that is if I had any to pull.

[NCPatrick]

That's a good suggestion, and one that we will consider as we upgrade our software.

[Beast 71]

Posting the same answers to the same questions for different noobs, is just the cost of association for such an informative forum. That being said, an improved search function can't be a bad thing.

[default]

the cool thing about this "upgrade" is its not an improved search, but when you type a title to a new thread the website tries to find similar and displays that in a box between the title and the main body of where you can type, just in case there are some things you may have overlooked. its not 100% perfect, but **** its nice for a new guy to type why____? and have 6 example threads pop up. less cluttered boards too.

[backpackingZombie]

metafilter does a similar thing when you post a question. Before it actually posts the question it uses the tags you associated your question to and some keywords and asks you if any of these other questions might already be pertinent. People are pretty strict on double-posting over there, so it's also an environmental thing.

[MAD777]

I generally comment "leave well enough alone" to most forum suggestions, but I think this one is at least worth exploring. Not that I want to prevent someone from posting a question, but I think it will actually help the potential poster in one of two ways. One is that they might easily find the answer to ther question. The other is that they gain more insight into the topic which could help them ask a more specific question about it.

[Pitch]

That does sound like a really cool feature... I'd +1 to see that.

But to be fair re: redundancy - have you ever picked up a text book or older magazine to find the information obviously out of touch with modern innovation?

Same things happens with Hammocks - the gear is evolving, the uses expanding and the methods are being refined every day. Sure - we see the same info over and over but every so often while reading one of these threads we find a new gem (new to us and perhaps everyone!) - which I think is why we keep reading!

So... yes... redundancy for it's own sake is wasteful by itself... But it can serve a purpose when 1) it provides inspiration to continue looking and 2) sometimes houses those hidden gems.

Wow that sounded stiff but I'm hitting reply anyhow

p.s. beware high MySQL loading if we do go down this route - I'd suggest getting some baseline load data and then test data with this installed.

[angrysparrow]

p.s. beware high MySQL loading if we do go down this route - I'd suggest getting some baseline load data and then test data with this installed.

Yeah, I'm aware of that.

I was also already aware of this mod before this thread. The software-addon in question is unfortunately no longer supported by its developer, so it would not be updated for future versions of vBulletin.

We'll look into alternates, but there is another vBulletin upgrade that we are going to do before any more addons are put in place.

[profotoiam]

isnt this why google and all the other search engines are at each others throats.