Old talk threads

DMS General
#1

Has DMS ever automatically closed old threads, if so, what was the policy reversed? Once a thread is nonactive for a period of time, why wouldn’t it be closed? Rules and procedures often change over time and it can be somewhat confusing to new members to parse through a thread spanning multiple periods of time. Why shouldn’t a new question be asked and a timely thread be established?

Just asking

#2

We haven’t automatically closed old threads because there’s very little need/cause, and it interferes with our “anything goes, you’re your own person, be excellent” ethos we traditionally attempt to foster at Dallas Makerspace.

We shouldn’t be looking to Talk for rules & procedures, anyway. Those are stored in our Rules & Bylaws pages.

Absolutely nothing preventing this from happening, which kind of goes back to that “anything goes, you’re your own person, be excellent” ethos.

#3

New members tend to search Talk for information. They know nothing of the resources which you speak. I don’t even know where to look half the time. Discussions from years ago that are no longer relevant are dragged up by Talk’s wonderful search engine. Many times the results are full of inaccurate information that only clouds the issue. Anyway, I’m speaking of active committee information, which does change often and isn’t always in our rules and bylaws, new members have no idea even exists. When these narco threads are refreshed, they then show up as recent information and the circus makes another lap.

This is what I was referring to. :slight_smile:

#4

Let’s change that.
Direct members to the source, and nowhere else.

I have no idea how one joins an organization without having read the rules/bylaws, but I am certain you are right, that many do. We can fix that. Committees can keep their rules where the rules are kept: the source
and the organization already does that, so simply refer members to the source to brush up.

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#5

I see your point. When you are bored sometime, take a few moments and peruse the Source. Then check the wiki, the doorways in the hall, get clarification in the common room, etc. This is exactly why have old policy threads on talk that are still appear active is an issue. One day we might have a single source of truth, but that isn’t reality today. The best we can do is to nudge people in the correct direction and notify members that information is probably stale.

In reality, Talk is DMS’ version of Google.

BTW, everyone appreciates you wrangling Talk,

#6

Same way EUA are read and signed.

#7

The search function for talk has always sucked. I know I have searched for old pm’s and older threads I knew was there. But no avail.

#8

It behooves everyone to check the date on threads before assuming they’re still relevant and/or replying to them.

2 Likes
#9

The bylaws in DMS are actually human-readable for the most part. Some of the legalese in EULAs are so obtuse that you probably need a law degree to parse the true intent. That’s why I appreciate sites that offer a “human readable” version of their EULAs.

#10

This is pinned to the top oa TLAK…

READ FIRST: Welcome to the Dallas Makerspace

Announcements!

.
.
.Preformatted text
This is the official site for online discussion of the Dallas Makerspace. You’ll find topics on projects, events, classes, governance of the organization and more. Please be sure to follow our Code of Conduct:

  1. All members are required to “Be excellent to each other”.
  2. Don’t catch on fire or set others on fire or set anything else on fire which has not been designated or designed to be on fire.
  3. All members are expected to maintain a safe and clean environment at all times.
  4. All members are expected to follow all posted notices.
  5. It is the responsibility of each member to enforce the Code of Conduct. Failing that, a Grievance or Complaint may be filed.

For the full list of Dallas Makerspace Rules, please see our wiki:
https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Rules_and_Policies

We also have a set of Bylaws, which dictate the overall structure of our organization:
https://dallasmakerspace.org/wiki/Bylaws

#11

Speaking of hallways, we still have a lot of old information up. I believe the volunteer sheet outside of the woodshop’s emergency exit hasn’t been updated in years. We have some whiteboard with information that’s over half a year old, etc.

I’m not sure who to contact to see if this is being worked on or if I should take the initiative myself.

#12

Didn’t get the whole thought…

This is pinned to the top of TALK. There it states where the rules and By-Laws are in wiki.

I joined in March of last year, and did not know about Source.

So can we get that pinned message changed??

I went back to https://dallasmakerspace.org/. (my bookmark for all things for DMS), and reading that homepage, a lot of the “Featured Posts” are from 2019. I’m still not familiar with Source.

#13

Yes. Though they’re effectively the same presently, that does need addressed. The move to “the source” is recent. I’ll get that done. Thank you for the reminder.

#14

Somehow I must have missed the conspicuous and probably pinned announcement of THE SOURCE.

#15

I think we’re more passive aggressively needling those who are not in the know that the source™ (aka confluence) is the going concern, and the wiki is being migrated into a historical role.
https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/search?q=source%20confluence%20order:latest

#16

While nothing auto-closes, one can request that any given thread can be closed by the Moderating team. One thing I do (since I acquired this power somewhere along my “reads everything” journey) is edit the header so that it contains its actual original date.

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