meritez
There could be benefits to that, but it will only help if there’s a strict rule against starting a second thread on the same subject. Otherwise, you just get multiple threads repeatedly discussing the same subject over and over again, yet rarely contributing anything new. There would also needs to be a rule about bumping a thread without adding significantly new material, otherwise threads would be bumped just to stop them closing, and that would defeat the purpose.
Equally, there’s merit in also having the opposite rule – that for certain subjects (eg rollover data, which has already been declared “not for us”) there is one single thread which never closes, and nobody is allowed to post a second thread on the same subject.
This takes us to the point that we then need to set up a discussion about which subjects initially go in the “one thread only” classification and which subjects go in the “start a new thread” classification.
We currently have a standing strict rule that each Help and Support must be to discuss one problem for one member only, and that rule needs to remain. Help cannot fulfill its purpose properly if it were operated any other way. And most certainly, every help post should automatically close after 30 days without a reply from the OP. In rare cases, the OP might ask an educator to re-open a thread so they can continue discussion in the same place. But there are other subjects which need handling differently.
And finally, there’s even bigger merit in saying that Announcements is for announcements only and doesn’t allow discussion. If a staff member wants discussion, they should post in Contribute not in Announcements – and only when there’s a proper conclusion to the discussion should there be a post in Announcements which should automatically be read-only except to staff.
