Bug The "Popular Threads Right Now" section isn't working properly

Not entirely sure if it's a bug, but I find it quite misleading and even annoying at times. The said section either doesn't work properly, or the programmer's definition of "popular" and "right now'' is different from the rest of the world's.
Nine times out of ten the popular threads are a decade old, the last post being written anywhere from 6 to 10 years ago. It's mostly outdated and/or irrelevant content, sometimes it's a simple question answered numerous times already. What is the point of this? It isn't helpful in any way and just spams sub-forums with outdated threads.

The bumping system is confusing as well, but that's another question.

Can somebody address this issue? I'm sure that other people share my opinion, too. Thank you.

 

I'm purely guessing here, but I assume the "popular" bit is based on thread views? Which of course can boost old threads, if there is enough people looking at them (people might not be the correct definition - I dunno if it allows for bots to be counted) - what I wish for is that this forum locks old threads - if, for any reason, anyone wants to add to an old, locked, thread, they can (if they're established members) request a reopening of said thread. That way we'd probably see the end of zombieposting inane replies on decade old threads.

 

Something that was posted in the last 24-48 hours, maybe.

PS I completely agree with @Phil S . He's not the first one to complain about this.

 

Well, while "popular threads" might be based on how many human viewers it has at any given moment (which is fine), I still think an automatic lock on old threads (or, rather, threads that hasn't been replied to for X amount of time) would benefit the forum. That way, the threads are still there, show up in search, and may contain answers for others to benefit from, but we'll avoid a bit of the necro-posting that happens quite a bit. Or perhaps have a warning that shows up when someone tries to post to a defunct thread? Especially if there has been a "best answer" awarded, and/or the original post is more than X months old?

 

Newest / popular. 5+ replies in the last 48 hours - make it popular. Granted some threads in General chat would always be among the popular since they tend to get more replies, so be it. In all honesty, who wants to view threads that are 10 years, 5 years or even 6 months old? I don't. I am not interested in the threads per say, I am interested in whether or not the OP and the contributors are still there. Even a thread that's 1+ month old may not be of interest anymore since the OP and the contributors may no longer be part of the forum or they've just lost interest in that thread. I am guessing, but I think very few OPs care about their own threads they started over a month ago.

I would even agree if your newest / popular were up to a week old (with 5+ replies). Anything beyond that is too long in my opinion.

 

Obviously, you will do what you believe is best for the forum, but I am still puzzled as to why random visitors determine what is popular. If a number of people viewing a thread determines its popularity then that thread, more likely than not, will be an annoyance to the members who actually want to participate. What would be popular among the members is a thread that is recent and has a substantial number of posts / participants. At least, that's the way I see it.

 

It may not make sense to you, which is fine, but time after time you have users saying to you: "Your Popular Threads Right Now column makes no sense".

Taking your example, it maybe popular among those 500 people, but it makes no difference to me as a user. If anything it makes it confusing, since when I go to this or that popular thread, I see that they are fairly old / outdated and no one has posted there for a long time.

I guess it will be pointless to go on, because I can see your point of view, but I don't think you want to see the point of view of a user like myself or @Phil S and probably countless other users who wouldn't dare to bring it to your attention for whatever reason. I can live with what you have right now. I just don't pay attention to Popular Threads Right Now anymore since I know what to expect there.

 

What exactly is the idea behind the "Popular Threads Right Now" section on the main page? I tend not to read the "posted on" small print at the bottom of a post (who does?) and in the past have read "popular now" posts, replied to them, and later realised that they were years old. I have even had posts removed by moderators because they are "bumping old dead threads", however I posted on the threads because your board told me that they were POPULAR NOW!!! I think legally that is called "entrapment"!

I've just done it again. Someone posted asking for advice on a flash project, and I replied with the little (very little) that I knew on the subject. Later I realised that they asked for the advice in 2006. I'm guessing their project was finished years and years ago, they have probably finished it, gone onto other things, and totally forgotten about it by now. My advice is useless, a pointless waste of my time posting.

Other boards have "popular now" type sections, but they only display recent threads, or threads with recent posts. It is pointless using it to pull up long dead, now useless threads.

Worse, to pull up an old thread, so to encourage people to post on it, then delete the post for being on an old thread is childish and pathetic. It is basically moderators sitting bored and coming up with ways to feel superior by saying to the board members "Ha ha, fooled you, I'm cleverer than you, you dick."

Not nice.