Your Feedback Needed: A Plan for Old Sales Threads

[Echo]

Hey guys! Just seeing this . omg late! But here I'm

The thread prefixes are IMO the best for this ocation. Why? Because is attached before the thread's title so everyone will read the prefix first.
Adding prefixes as : Closed or Locked for Old threads will prevent users to click into the thread.
That worked well in the FRC section. I have noticed that.

Additionally we can select multiple threads and just apply a prefix to those old sales threads. That's an easy solution for the staff and a convenient and smart way to inform the users without deleting or replacing their threads.
Besides this is quite easy to do in the ACP, just by modifying the template.

That's an interesting suggestion. The prefixes do work. However, they are basically like a tag. Yes, it will show us visually which thread is open and which one is closed, but it doesn't deal with the core of our dilemma - we want to clean up the MP from archived threads and CTAs to preserve the integrity of the Marketplace and prevent members from buying services from sellers who no longer have an active BST or Membership.

The prefix is just a nice touch to it that also helps with filtering. It's a nice idea Thank you for mentioning it

 

[Echo]

Friendly reminder that this thread will be closed later today. Now it's your last chance to vote and/or express your thoughts

 

[Echo]

Since this is a significant decision, we decided to reopen the thread and allow sellers and community members more time to express their opinions on the matter.

 

[ivo1017]

I voted for deletion.
To me, there is no logic in SEO threads from 2012 being active, especially from members who are banned or no longer active on the forum.
Additionally, this involves content pruning, which will benefit the website from an SEO perspective.
If some old threads have good links or organic traffic, you will redirect them with a 301 to some of the main BHW sections.

 

[Deleted member 752298]

Option 1: otherwise BHW will loose a lot of SEO traffic.

 

[Echo]

I voted for deletion.
To me, there is no logic in SEO threads from 2012 being active, especially from members who are banned or no longer active on the forum.
Additionally, this involves content pruning, which will benefit the website from an SEO perspective.
If some old threads have good links or organic traffic, you will redirect them with a 301 to some of the main BHW sections.

Option 1: otherwise BHW will loose a lot of SEO traffic.

The traffic of those archived (or is soon to be archived/deleted, depending on the approach we take) will definitely be checked.

Thank you both for the thoughts and opinions here

 

[vezoneseo]

The SEO impact alone makes me vote option 1.

 

[TheMarquis]

Option 1 makes sense from the SEO's perspective (deleting the old threads may affect the site).

 

[davids355]

Personally I think it would be good to keep the content in place and add a clear notice at the top and bottom of the opening post about it being out-dated, this way if people check the opening post they will know its no longer active. They also cannot reply to the thread as it is locked.

I prefer this over deleting or editing the content because I feel like its sometimes important to retain history of events on the forum rather than removing information. A little bit like if you had a reference book and some facts in there turned out to be wrong, it wouldn't feel eliquent to just rip those pages out of the book but would make more sense to leave that information in place, because even when its wrong, its important as a historic reference.

 

[aoto]

I Would go for The Options 1. That's just looks better to me.

 

[Virtualine]

I don't know much about SEO, but as a marketplace seller, I definitely agree that the old mp threads are confusing, and I chose option 2 because I don't think editing only the first message will be enough to solve this.

 

[grant26]

If the thread author is still active, they should be allowed to edit or reopen their old thread.
This would:
– keep threads up-to-date without creating duplicates
– preserve the history of feedback and discussions
– reduce the moderation workload from manual archiving and deletions

For truly abandoned threads, an automatic deletion rule could be applied for example, if there’s no activity for a year.
The SEO loss here isn’t critical - what matters more is transparency and user trust. Old threads usually bring low-quality traffic.
Google itself doesn’t favor “dead” or archive pages filled with outdated or duplicate content.

As a result, people will spend less time filtering outdated information and will be more likely to use the Marketplace.

 

[Gogh Studio]

Option 1 works for me, considering the SEO impact.

 

[Juicify_digital]

Option 1 is the most sensible choice. It preserves the history/reviews, while removing outdated CTAs to prevent confusion.

 

[sam.hunt0710]

I will go with Option 1 .

 

[eden9691]

I choose Option 2, because if a thread is no longer active, it means the seller is no longer maintaining it, so there’s no need to keep its content. This way, other members can find the services they’re looking for more quickly.

 

[NachoMan]

I will go with option 1, Don't delete the stuff, Thanks!

 

[IM Dude]

Option 1, small suggestion: archive thread should not appear in search results. I don't know if the option 1 will automatically take care of that.

 

[Steptoe]

Against the popular vote, but I go for Option 2 - if you're not paying for a sales thread you shouldn't be able to get business from it.

 

[washingtondc]

Replace Old Opening Posts I think it's a good decision.​