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F-ing with my thread titles
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Re: F-ing with my thread titles
Just curious (since I have nothing constructive to say about this issue), but which threads are you talking about? With all due respect, you have a tendency to create threads with titles that don't make sense or aren't well considered.
Examples:
Olbermann for Connecticut's US Senate!
- Really? Connecticut has its own US Senate?
Abercrombie per Homeless
- I've read this thread title a million times and don't know what it's supposed to mean.
'11 Pro Bowl - anbody care?
- I understand that not everybody cares about spelling as much as I do, but did you even double check before you submitted?
And that's just this month. I don't speak for the board administrator or its moderators, but you have a fondness for creating threads with titles that don't make sense to the reader until he or she actually clicks on it, meaning I have to read your initial posts before I know what they're about. That's not worth it to me, most of the time, so I actually appreciate it sometimes when moderators retitle threads in more meaningful ways.
That said, I've had some of my own threads retitled, and it's driven me crazy, especially when they've been retitled in grammatically incorrect English. Hey, my name is on that thread; please don't make me look like I don't know the language.
I've found it's best just to let it roll. You're going to have threads retitled. It makes more sense to complain about individual titles if you have specific complaints rather than to complain in general about the board policy which has been in place for seven years.But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
GrouchyTeacher.com
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Re: F-ing with my thread titles
Originally posted by scrivener View Postyou have a tendency to create threads with titles that don't make sense or aren't well considered.
Examples:
Olbermann for Connecticut's US Senate!
- Really? Connecticut has its own US Senate?
Abercrombie per Homeless
- I've read this thread title a million times and don't know what it's supposed to mean.
'11 Pro Bowl - anbody care?
- I understand that not everybody cares about spelling as much as I do, but did you even double check before you submitted?
I've found it's best just to let it roll. You're going to have threads retitled.
Abercrombie - what else should it have been? It's about Neil and the homeless! That says enuf to tell you if it's a subject you're interested in.
Pro Bowl - I always dbl. or tri check my stuff, but sometimes even the great me can F-up, sorry. I'm usually doing many things together while I'm on HT, plus I, like most, often tend to see/hear what I wish it were no matter how wrong, which is why eye witness testimony is basically unreliable.
I've repeatedly requested the threads be removed instead of messing with the titles, but no. It's now stradling the border of obnoxious obsession-land when considering there was no need to change them, they were fine.Last edited by Ron Whitfield; January 25, 2011, 08:31 AM.
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Re: F-ing with my thread titles
Originally posted by Ron Whitfield View PostAbercrombie - what else should it have been? It's about Neil and the homeless! That says enuf to tell you if it's a subject you're interested in.But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
GrouchyTeacher.com
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Re: F-ing with my thread titles
A couple of my thread titles have been changed in the past too, and usually I didn't have an issue about it. I did once, but it was too manini a problem to bother complaining.
And actually, I made a typo in the title of the RIP Jack LaLanne thread. I posted a followup asking a moderator to fix it, which they quickly did. Don't know which moderator did it, but thanks to whomever it was!.
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That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
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Re: F-ing with my thread titles
Helen and I both rename threads, though I'm especially grateful to Helen lately, as I've not been able to spend as much time here as I'd like. We definitely don't want to make things worse (which I'm sure we've done more than once), but yes, we will often change thread titles to be simple and succinct.
The threads titles are therefore often less clever and fun, and if overdone, probably makes a scan of latest threads as interesting as a card catalog.
Why? Helping regulars like scrivener know what the topic is without having to puzzle through a post or two is certainly part of it. But the main reasons are:
- To make it easier for people to search for threads on a given topic to reference it in a separate discussion, or to prevent them from starting a new, duplicate one. A thread on Barack Obama's State of the Union speech titled "The Big Guy's Big Talk" is quite likely to leave us with another thread on the same topic.
- To make it easier for Google to index and characterize the conversations on this site. "Justin Bieber Vacation in Hawaii" is definitely much less interesting and fun than "Little B Lives it Up in Paradise", but it's meaningless without context. HawaiiThreads attracts the experts and posters it does (and the traffic it does) in part because it's a decently organized five-year-old repository of what's going on in Hawaii. Or of the popular history of Hawaii. The periodic arrivals of Crater Festival fans and musicians being one "long-tail" example.
The longer this site manages to survive, the more important I think it is that people easily find what they're looking for.
I generally try not to rename a thread title until there's been a reply, so that the original thread title is at least retained within the post as a subject line. And speaking for myself, I'll at least try harder to retain more of the character of the original title when I do change them. I'll ask Helen to do the same.
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- To make it easier for people to search for threads on a given topic to reference it in a separate discussion, or to prevent them from starting a new, duplicate one. A thread on Barack Obama's State of the Union speech titled "The Big Guy's Big Talk" is quite likely to leave us with another thread on the same topic.
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Re: F-ing with my thread titles
As an example of what I tried to do to retain the character of a thread title:
- Olbermann 4 Conn. Senate! - original title - from this, one could get the impression that this might deal with the State Senate in Connecticut as well as the Connecticut's seat in the US Senate
- Olbermann for US Senate (Connecticut)! - First choice, but felt this didn't look right
- Olbermann for Connecticut's US Senate! - I thought this one was better until scrivener pointed out that this might infer that Connecticut has its own US Senate
- Olbermann for US Senate! - Current thread title
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Re: F-ing with my thread titles
I couldn't ask for a better resolution than provided for by these last three replys, thanx.
Concluding on SM's thot, restructuring the title takes away whatever personality is behind the 'bait' and turns it generic, taking away the last remaning bit of human touch behind the black and white print on the screen. That's worse than the lack of an easier search, which are all too fruitless/often any way.
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Re: F-ing with my thread titles
Originally posted by Ron Whitfield View PostConcluding on SM's thot, restructuring the title takes away whatever personality is behind the 'bait' and turns it generic, taking away the last remaning bit of human touch behind the black and white print on the screen.
That's worse than the lack of an easier search, which are all too fruitless/often any way.
Search-engine clicks from visitors may not be useful to you, but they can be to the owner of the website. I make just over six bucks per month on one of my sites, a figure I'm satisfied with (a few more sites like that and I can cover my monthly hosting bill), and if people can find it more easily, that figure could go up.But I'm disturbed! I'm depressed! I'm inadequate! I GOT IT ALL! (George Costanza)
GrouchyTeacher.com
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