Identifying merged posts
 

This post is strange. Notice how it points to the very thread it's currently in. I'm sure it was merged from somewhere, yet there is no indication of that. I have also seen other posts where this is less than obvious, and sometimes they just don't seem to fit where they are. A "[merged]" tag for each post would remove some head-scratching when seeing this kind of posts. A "[merged from thread #]" would be even more useful, showing which posts belong to every thread (which might be useful in places like 'shipping delayed', where there is a lot of merging)

PS: sorry if this has already been discussed, i seem to be doing a lot of re-suggestions. I just can't seem to find the old places in this huge maze of topics

EDIT: i noticed that later on sjgadsby posted about the merger and some other things. This solves this example, but i'm not sure it happens everywhere. Also, it would probably be less hassle for mods if this tag was automatically applied (less explaining to do)

Re: Identifying merged posts
 

I apologize for causing confusion.

Four posts down from the post you cite, I posted:
I intended that to help future readers recognize any strangeness they may have encountered in the preceding posts could have been due to threads being merged.

The degree to which I dislike the idea of editing posts would be difficult to overstate. There's ugliness down that path, and I want no part of it.

Even were that not the case, the work involved in adding a little note to every post in a merge would be prohibitive.

Can you think of any alternatives that would be helpful?

Re: Identifying merged posts
 

The idea was never to have mods type (or copy-paste) the tag. We want order-bringing mods, not typists.
I was thinking more about changing the script used to merge so that it automagically adds the [merged] tag. The mod has no extra work to do, but we all get more clarity!
I realize this would imply changing some internal workings of the site, but it's not that big a change. Is it? ;)

Re: Identifying merged posts
 

Ah, that's beyond my ken (not to mention my access level). Changes to vBulletin require Reggie's expertise.

If the thought of working with Bugzilla doesn't leave you trembling beneath your desk, cold sweat running down your back, you could use the "Report A Forum Bug" link at the right to submit a request to Reggie.

Re: Identifying merged posts
 

You're welcome. Confusing people is my hobby. ;-)

Re: Identifying merged posts
 

If you weren't so good at bug-wrangling I'd suggest you find a way to make that other talent pay. :D

Re: Identifying merged posts
 

Sometimes a man's gotta do watta man's gotta do. Bug 6293 submitted.
Now to wait for it to be promptly ignored (or have i read too much dilbert recently?)

Re: Identifying merged posts
 

Sometimes I wonder if some of the posts could be removed from the merged thread, specifically ones along the lines of "This has already been discussed, please see... URL"