NEW POST OR DREDGE UP AND ADD TO OLD

[VANDOO]

WHEN I COME ACROSS SOMETHING INTERESTING THAT HAS BEEN COVERED IN A OLD POST, IF I REMEMBER IT. I OFTEN LOOK UP THE OLD POST AND ADD IT THERE RATHER THAN JUST MAKEING A NEW POST.
THIS SERVES TO KEEP LIKE INFORMATION AND MATERIAL TOGETHER FOR EASIER AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE REFRENCE AND PROVIDES A CHANCE FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT TO SEE IT. THIS THOUGHT CAME UP DUE TO ADDING A PICTURE TO THE "BIG GUNS" POST IN THE EUROPEAN FORUM IT NOW HAS BEEN VIEWED 94 MORE TIMES SO SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN WORTHWHILE. THIS POST WAS STARTED BY ME BUT I DO THIS WITH POSTS BY OTHERS AS WELL ,I HOPE NO ONE HAS BEEN OFFENDED BY THIS AS I AM NOT TRYING TO HIJACK A THREAD BUT ADD TO IT. MANY THREADS COULD BE COMBINED INTO A MORE COMPACT AND EASILY ACESSIBLE FORM OF REFRENCE, BUT SEARCHING THE ARCHIVES CAN ALSO BE FUN.
OPINIONS ON WHICH WAY IS BEST NEW POST OR ADD TO OLD POST IF AVAILABLE???

[Rick]

I think you've got the right idea, Barry .
Just because a thread has dropped off the front page in no way means it has been retired ... people just stopped commenting .

When there's more to add to a thread old or new, then it should be added .

[VANDOO]

A MYSTERY HAS BEEN REVEALED. I WAS WATCHING THE ABOVE MENTIONED POST "BIG GUNS" AND WAS SURPRIZED AT THE NUMBER OF NEW VIEWS. I HAVE OFTEN WONDERED HOW SO MANY CAN BE CONTENT JUST TO LURK IN THE FORUMS WITHOUT PARTICIPATEING.?
THE ANSWER IS SOME FORM POSTS SHOW UP AS REFRENCE ON WIKI AND GOOGLE. SO I GUESS WE HAVE MADE THE BIG TIME.

[ThePepperSkull]

I usually do the same -- post new information, questions, or pictures if it relates to the topic of discussion in hopes of generating more discussion

[fspic]

Originally Posted by VANDOO

WHEN I COME ACROSS SOMETHING INTERESTING THAT HAS BEEN COVERED IN A OLD POST, IF I REMEMBER IT. I OFTEN LOOK UP THE OLD POST AND ADD IT THERE RATHER THAN JUST MAKEING A NEW POST.
THIS SERVES TO KEEP LIKE INFORMATION AND MATERIAL TOGETHER FOR EASIER AND MORE COMPREHENSIVE REFRENCE AND PROVIDES A CHANCE FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT TO SEE IT. THIS THOUGHT CAME UP DUE TO ADDING A PICTURE TO THE "BIG GUNS" POST IN THE EUROPEAN FORUM IT NOW HAS BEEN VIEWED 94 MORE TIMES SO SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN WORTHWHILE. THIS POST WAS STARTED BY ME BUT I DO THIS WITH POSTS BY OTHERS AS WELL ,I HOPE NO ONE HAS BEEN OFFENDED BY THIS AS I AM NOT TRYING TO HIJACK A THREAD BUT ADD TO IT. MANY THREADS COULD BE COMBINED INTO A MORE COMPACT AND EASILY ACESSIBLE FORM OF REFRENCE, BUT SEARCHING THE ARCHIVES CAN ALSO BE FUN.
OPINIONS ON WHICH WAY IS BEST NEW POST OR ADD TO OLD POST IF AVAILABLE???

On a non-related site I once made an extended cultural observation about a point of sub-interest in a post with handsome photos. All comments to date were on the order of, "that's nice" or "good this-and-that". The posts petered out after perhaps five were made. I made a long entry which was informative and related to the subject. Someone decided I "stepped" on a post or the thread. Maybe someone else joined in with a similar comment. I defended myself in a spirited matter. Someone else had an ego problem and no sense of humor and needed correcting. This got into an extended battle involving other people who sided with me. Eventually the originator of the thread asked me to leave. I let loose with both barrels and an extended philosophical defense. (Imagine a blade swinging fight at a sword show after an argument over whether cow dung is better than goat dung as packing for a wootz billet.) I pointed out the complaint against me and the issue of "posting purity" would intimidate posters. It did. Fear of criticism and separate restrictions on political posting killed the site and it slowly petered out to a small group of locals. Then it disappeared as it became uneconomical to support by sponsors.

I saw this happen at a related site. The site had new rules by the owner to calm member disputes. There were other changes and that place lost its character and membership. I am receiving notices of activities as they are trying to dig up members gone over five years.

Let's look at your need to post in a place where it is informative. On a Filipino kris the points of interest are the blade, scabbard (if any) and grip, plus incidental bits and pieces and points of style familiar to all. Let's assume several people here had a showpiece kris orgy and were waxing eloquent over their fine historical blades, grips, and sheaths. The site peters out in a month after many posts. A day after the last post I drop by with an interesting battlefield pickup (I guess) which is quite unglamorous but graceful. A shorter straight blade, like a double edged straight razor, original scabbard, and a plain roundish expanded flat pommel grip wrapped with woven cord which is now quite dirty. There are points of interest in the piece which make it more interesting to me than a painted exhibition harlot. It happens to show a particular type of hammer mark from forging which I've never seen before. I found that when I cleaned the blade. The scabbard also shows a particular American type of "defacement" done around 1910-1925 in my opinion.

Now someone could get excited about my dropping a "wood chopper special" into the thread. The issue is comparing simplicity, function, and actual use for the intended purpose. I wouldn't dump this into the middle of a roaring active fine blade thread unless there were a reason such as hammer techniques which someone else brought up. Or maybe an issue of practical grip shape. Then again we shouldn't fear someone's ego and perceived status. That shows up at gun shows where whatever you own is dirt and someone else has the best guns. Remember, it's the kris and not someone's ego. People come here to teach and learn. The material here can be organized and presented for reference decades from now.

A totally organized a Filipino kris site would have to be divided into straight, wiggly-squiggly blades, various types of line engraving, inlays, gold and silver work on blades, all the fittings, types of scabbards and woods, grip shapes, materials, carvings, metal overlays, and finally, "rattan" and cord styles of grip wraps. This would require a librarian just for that purpose. But it would be worth it and there would always be a specific place to post.

[Lee]

Originally Posted by VANDOO

... OPINIONS ON WHICH WAY IS BEST NEW POST OR ADD TO OLD POST IF AVAILABLE???

It comes down to a personal judgement call; my personal philosophy is very much like your own, if a considered post is relevant and contributory to the material in an existing thread, it is best to keep it together by adding to the existing thread. But, starting a new thread is always an option. When necessary, the moderators have the tools to split threads and move posts.

Originally Posted by fspic

...Then it disappeared as it became uneconomical to support by sponsors... The site had new rules by the owner to calm member disputes. There were other changes and that place lost its character and membership.

I fully sympathize, fspic, and have had some similar experiences over the years that have led to my largely withdrawing from forums participation. It is interesting how each forum community develops its own personality and mores; probably a minority of these actually come from the operators. If a site is generating revenue by renting participant's eyeballs out to advertisers, then mild flame wars can really increase page views, and thus revenue - as long as, as you have observed, it does not kill the community. Here, flame wars are viewed purely a disruptive influence, wasting database storage space and bandwidth. If someone here feels their thread has been hijacked, they are well advised to privately raise their concern with a moderator, as publicly posting a personal criticism of another member does lead to a period of unplanned vacation for contemplation. Harsh and mildly unreasonable, perhaps, but it keeps discussions on topic and reduces unjustly bruised feelings.

The moderators regularly receive suggestions that 'someone' needs to create organized index and recommended threads stickies. Good ideas, but pretty much entailing endless janitorial work in the Aegean stable. So we are left with search and Google, which actually work pretty well. If a member does wish to lay out a detailed illustrated classification, I continue to offer assistance in presenting such material on the non-forum ('static') indexed pages on the site.