Wouldn't it be even nicer...

[Redclaw]

If people didn't use thread titles like these!

I noticed they were on the increase in the dex forum, so I'd like to ask if we can nip it in the bud now before this forum goes the same way.

Thread titles like:

What do you think about...
So do you think I should...
I've discovered a great...
I'm looking for a...

Titles intended to get people to enter the thread out of curiosity without actually saying what they're about. Well, if you have to trick people into clicking on your thread, then maybe it wasn't worth posting in the first place.

[MiCo Games]

Yes, definitely. It is a waste of everyones time to not write a proper title.
And sometimes I want to go back and read a certain thread, and find myself staring at the titles thinking "hmm, which one was it now..."

[Reactor]

While we're at it, let's also ban/fix imperfect posts, and anything with a spelling error in it! Come on guys... that kind of titling comes and goes in phases. Relax a little. Extreme moderation to curve a fairly innocent quirk is also a waste of people's time.

[Linusson]

The moderators/administrators should ruthlessly rename poorly titled threads.
I agree, but at the same time I don't think that the moderators should have to do that, maybe they should delete the threads instead so that people learn how to write a proper title or stay out of the forum. I know this isn't a perfect solution either, but as long as there isn't a lot of valuable posts in the thread they could as well delete it.

[Reactor]

It seems like an overreaction to me. I've been on internet forums for years, and I've never been to a forum so strict it deletes the posts of people who don't make perfect explanatory titles. There's nothing wrong with mentioning it, but... yeesh guys, it's a little sad you're getting worked up over something that next week most probably won't be happening at all.

[stan]

I know I've already spent some time searching for a thread and not finding it (on the dexterity forums) because the topic had nothing to do with the contents of the thread. These forums will certainly become a great documentation source, as the dexterity forums are/were, and as such it's important that the topics are adequates if we want to be able to find what we're looking for.

Deleting the threads might not be a good idea, at least not when it's the first time(s) the poster makes that mistake, but renaming the thread and notifying the poster would be nice IMHO.

I'm also sure the moderators have better things to do than, well, moderating, so hopefully not too many newbies will do that. A good idea might be to write this in the forum rules and/or FAQ: "Set meaningful topics when you start a new thread. Don't use topics like 'Question', 'Help needed' or 'Wouldn't it be nice...'" :)

[Reactor]

That's a good idea, but I doubt many people would read them. Anyway, why don't you just use the search function?

[Linusson]

Yeah, deleting threads wouldn't be such a good idea, it was just me that got a bit enthusiastic about not having to guess what a thread's about.

[chanon]

A little tip: Next time you see a post like this, instead of clicking to open the thread, try hovering your mouse over it and a tooltip alt-text will popup with the beginning of the post. It's a pretty cool feature of vBulletin :)

[Applewood]

It's a pretty cool feature of vBulletin
Funny thing, this business of different people having different ideas.

I absolutely *hate* this with a passion. As I move my mouse over the new posts screen all I get is annoying boxes popping up obscuring the text of the thread below. And what is this text that's obscuring the thread below and distracting me so ? An exact copy of the title above!

Maybe this is for the eye-sightly challenged or something, but I'd like to see just one copy of each bit of text, and all of them at once instead of some stupid yellow box distracting me and making me move my mouse out of the window.

They're almost as bad as pop-ups.

</grumpy>