Automatically close threads (outside of #updates) if there has been no reply in a certain amount of time

I oftentimes see threads get bumped in #forum-feedback and #discussion and they usually get locked by a forum moderator. However, this only adds additional work to the moderation team because they have to go through the additional effort of locking it. Furthermore, when I am browsing the forum I want to see new stuff and its annoying when old threads get bumped up for little to no reason.

For some reason only threads in #updates and #collaboration:recruitment auto-lock (as far as I know) and not the other categories. I believe it would have a positive effect on the forums if threads in #discussion, #forum-feedback, and #help-and-feedback auto-locked if there has been no reply in awhile. Another reason is because most of the time there is simply no reason to bump a #help-and-feedback thread that has had no reply in over a month. I would recommend a longer waiting period for #forum-feedback and #discussion post though, such as 3 or 5 months. This is because threads in those categories often encourage longer discussions.

Edit: I am aware that bumping threads is against the rules of the devforum so it already is not allowed. However, I still believe a locking system will help out greatly.

I don’t agree with this. I think it’s always fine to give feedback, locking it wouldn’t be helpful to the OP who is looking for feedback.

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This is already a feature. However, it’s used only in categories like #collaboration:recruitment. And it’s always nice to receive feedback at any time.

I DM’d the community sage group a few months ago regarding meaningless bumping, primarily focused on #discussion. I am not sure if i can share more about the DM but I got confirmation that sages are working on redirecting bump replies to post approval if the post is significantly ancient.

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Thanks for that! I have edited it in to the OP.

Perhaps one month on Help and Feedback is a bit strict. I was actually mostly focusing on threads getting bumped in discussion and #forum-feedback but I added the Help and Feedback in as a final thought. I don’t see threads get bumped as often in Help and Feedback so perhaps we don’t need a locking system there but on the other sub-forums it would help.

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I strongly disagree with this.

Often there are issues, most specifically in platform feedback which get bought up again with he same issue maybe 3 years later. The same sort of goes for discussion.

I disagree with this.

Firstly, if there’s a bug in game or on the website, OP is obviously looking for a solution to the problem rather than the topic to be closed. I’ve had an error for 2 years and there’s still no solution to it but I am waiting to be told it’s fixed.

It’s up to OP, they have the chance to tell any moderators on the DevForum if they want to lock the topic anytime they want.

Disagree.

If there is a 4 year old bug post and I have the same bug, I want to bounce it to the top instead of making a new post. Anything else makes it too hard for triaging engineers because all the info is not in the same place.

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@Shedletsky @LuaBearyGood

I highly doubt a bug report from 4 years ago will still have the same exact repro steps today.

And sages/staff have locked bug reports encouraging to create new ones instead because of this.

This is already solved, 3mo+ bumps by TL1 users go through post approval first in most categories.

TL2+ users tend to bump responsibly in my experience.

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Is it just platform feedback, or other categories like discussion and announcements?

Most categories, yes. Not announcements since it’s auto-locked.