On Hoax Threads...
 

In the past 48 hours, we've seen quite a few of the fake "PR 1.2 is out!!!" threads. Trust me, it's very tempting for me to reply with a personal attack against the perpetrator (the one that comes to mind is something questioning whether they have a social life). Fortunately, the cooler side usually prevails and I report the thread as a hoax. The mods have been doing a decent job in deleting threads once they are reported. In any case, by not replying, other activity on this forum will bury the hoax thread.

Obviously, this is a dramatic update, and I am among those who are really looking forward to get it. However, I would much rather wait a bit longer for it if the result is a better quality release... one that results in a more reliable and responsive phone.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

One thing I hate about the proliferation of hoax threads is that they help bury other threads. I posted someting the other day about changes in the Rhapsody service that was buried almost immediately; then I bumped it and IT was also quickly buried.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

Please vote for solution #17 on this Brainstorm.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

i agree there needs to be a solution but taking away author privileges for new threads until they reach a certain criteria i think that will cause spammers and trolls to hijack already popular threads ruining legit discussions

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

I think that mild punishments like banning for a week will bring most spammers and trolls to their senses. For others, perhaps the electric chair ...

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

How is that worse than starting useless threads?

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

for me this is the only reason I hate those.(both OPs and threads)

I can happily skip any title that implies to that stuff even a little bit. but I am not happy searching real content among those titles.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

Oh come on!

Read the OP.

Think.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

Solution 17 may stop new useless threads from appearing, but it would also cut off people who have recently bought a device, are having issues and want to post a topic in the forum to try and get help...

I lurked on the boards for a long time before posting, I've been reading t.m.o for ~6 months now, signed up with an account after getting a n900 but only started posting few days ago, and the only reason i started posting was I had an issue and was looking for a solution...

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

Thank you Iwa for taking up a discussion before voting the solution down.

I believe that all common issues have been already addressed in one thread or another. Not having the option to start whining about "exchange support" or "portrait mode" for the googolth time will incite people to use the search instead.

I am sure we can have a common thread for new issues.

Everyone that joins and presents her/himself will already have received a couple of "thank you" just for that courtesy. I am not suggesting a very high threshold.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

Not sure how customizable vBulletin is? but what about limiting access to certain sections until 'x' amount of thanks/posts is reached? I've seen other forums where people are limited to certain sections until criteria are met.
ie: 2 'thanks' before you can post in off-topic, 10 before you can create threads in that section....

That way users are 'eased' into the forums.. they can start by posting in troubleshooting sections first, and responding in certain other discussions, then as they contribute more and learn there way around the forum different options are opened up....

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

That sounds like a useful elaboration of my somewhat crude idea. I would vote for such a solution.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

I have no idea what I'm doing with brainstorms... quite content just tackling t.m.o for now, so if you want to use all or any part of my idea in the brainstorm feel free

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

I think there should be a spam button on where you rate the thread and with enough votes the thread gets automatically closed and reported to a moderator...

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

Just use the notification system. A moderator will be along as soon as one if free, and the thread will be closed.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

There are such solutions proposed in the Brainstorm -- you can vote to support them. My proposal (#17) does not contradict them, so you could vote for it as well.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

I have been lurking in TMO for 3 months+ now and have been able to find the answers to every question i could possibly have by using the search options, i think if new users were limited in how and where they could post there would be much less hoax threads as they would be able to get a feel for what is and is not acceptable, also i believe short bans would show people that there are consequences to starting hoax threads, im ashamed to say that the first post i made was to insult the author of one of these hoax threads,
Imo until there are bans/punnishments for starting these threads we will continue to see them.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

ive been using these types of forums for 15 years, april fools jokes have always been happening as far as i can remember, although there a bit annoying i cant really see the harm myself, as long as there deleted and it dont get too out of control!

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

It's not about April Fool's... to my understanding, that was a week ago and even YESTERDAY I spotted (and reported) 2 threads regarding "PR 1.2 released NOW, check!". It's just childish, irresponsable and annoying and such behaviour should not be tolerated.

I understand the April's Fools thing, and indeed, I've seen it in other forums online, but that has nothing to do with the issue we are talking about :).

I'll read the braimstorm post and I'll give it a thought... but maybe there should be restrictions only for the creations of new threads (5 to 8 thanks, or something like that) and no for posting in general.

cheers.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

That is exactly what I proposed (sol. #17). Of course you need to be able to post somewhere in order to receive any "thanks" at all.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

Great to see how fast they got rid of that last hoax PR1.2 thread just now,

fair play mods, keep up the great work!

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

I did a rather excessive One-touch-delete-and-ban on that thread because i didn't have mod rights in the forum it was posted in (this one) and it was a first post and obviously therefore a troll. The most sure way to deal with this problem is for those who have enough experience and reputation in this forum to step forward and volunteer to be mods. A mod's lot is not a happy one at t.m.o. because there's a very strong counter-control movement, and the attrition is high. I don't mod N900 anymore because i just couldn't do my job and keep my sanity: it wasn't worth the headache.

PS This thread should have been posted in Community. The OP is not helping the problem...

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

Oops, my mistake. Go ahead and move it if you want.

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

See my thread: http://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=49617

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

Those kind of thread are mainly for people who want attention and bored

Re: On Hoax Threads...
 

You may want to try decaf. Why stress so much? Do what I do, just ignore them like you ignore an Ad on a computer without Adblock. :-)

Here is a wallpaper for ya:
http://2917287351669236351-a-1802744...wesomeness.jpg