Why unsolved threads are marked as solved.

[thomassisson]

Can someone tell me why threads are closed as solved when they are not solved. Sometimes issues in previous Ubuntu versions continue in newer versions. It seems obvious to reply to a matching thread rather than creating multiple threads with the same topic. (Something that is rampant in many forums of this type.)

Additionally, I think it would be helpful if there were a way to select a me too option rather than commenting on a thread when no helpful information can be added. This would subscribe someone to the thread and keep it open if there is some automatic timer that closes threads when they have been inactive.

Thomas Sisson

[QIII]

Hello and welcome to the Forums!

It is often the case that the originator of a thread will mark it solved without indicating the solution found.

Those threads may stay dormant for some time, only to be resurrected by someone with a similar problem much later. We close those threads as we find them in keeping with the Forums Code of Conduct at http://ubuntuforums.org/misc.php?do=showrules

If a post is older than a year or so and hasn't had a new reply in that time, instead of replying to it, create a new thread. In the software world, a lot can change in a very short time, and doing things this way makes it more likely that you will find the best information. You may link to the original discussion in the new thread if you think it may be helpful.

In such cases, the thread my show "Solved" and "Closed" without a solution having been presented.


Best wishes!

QIII

[coldcritter64]

....
Additionally, I think it would be helpful if there were a way to select a me too option rather than commenting on a thread when no helpful information can be added. This would subscribe someone to the thread and keep it open if there is some automatic timer that closes threads when they have been inactive.

Thomas Sisson

To subscribe to a thread, without needing to add a comment, use the "Thread Tools" drop down menu in your browser and select "Subscribe to this Thread"; there is no need to add an unnecessary comment just to subscribe.

Edit: there is no "automatic" closing of threads, as QIII indicated, staff close them as soon as resurrected while the CoC asks users not to post in threads older then 1 yo. If users do the right thing and follow the CoC staff wouldn't have to "lock" them. The reason for doing it this way makes sense on a site as large as this one imo, largely because of the huge number of threads here. It should also be noted there are many open (still valid) threads here that go back many years, they would need to be excluded from any "automatic" system; an administrative nightmare ? Cheers.