Why do some threads automatically close, others in an amount of time that counts down, and others "3 months after the last reply?"

Meta
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Continuing the discussion from Upcoming Change to Add Location:

It is, indeed, off topic, so I started this new thread in the correct category.

Many Moons Ago, the Forum Gods elected not to use the Universal Feature that automatically closes topics. Recently, the Forum Gods changed their mind and enabled this feature with a fixed (3 month) time period. Then, the Forum Users raised their pitchforks that some topics should last longer, whereupon the Forum Gods changed the time period to “3 months after the last reply.”

Topics that show no closing message were created before the Forum Gods enabled the feature.

Topics that show a fixed time (that if you watch, becomes shorter as time goes on) were created in the interregnum between feature enablement and option modification.

Topics created since the latest show “… after the last reply”.

So a thread that you see as closing automatically in “14 Days” will show “13 Days” tomorrow, and was created 3 months less 14 days ago.

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It appears the Forum Gods have struck again!

Recent posts in the Technical Problems category are now showing “This topic will close 6 months after the last reply.”

6 Months, not 3 Months!

In other categories, recently created threads are still showing 3 months after the last reply.

This sentence is a sacrifice to the @moderators and @admins to draw their attention to this thread.

Are there any categories other than “Technical Problems” that have an expiration term that is longer than 3 months after the last reply?

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Thanks for the post, I’m not sure why the Add Location post wasn’t honoring the 3 months since last update but I went and forced the timer to be 3 mos after the last post.

The Technical Problems topics have a 6 months after last post because they’re typically used for tracking bugs which have a longer life than many of the day to day back and forth type topics. Everywhere else should be honoring the “Since Last Post” behavior (except where it doesn’t… which I’ll try to address when I see it.)

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OH NO! The forum has become sentient and is making it’s own decisions about topic lifespan!

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We are Blessed! The Forum Gods Have Spoken Yet Again! And They Seem Welcome To Suggestions! So Here Goes!

Jody,

Based only on my general understanding of forum software configuration - not specific to Discourse - I’d guess that when you made the changes, they only applied going forward for new topics. If I’m right, then you’ll need to find some sort of batch procedure to apply the same changes retroactively.

Hope this helps!

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This topic was automatically closed 91 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.