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Post by Olgrligm on Apr 1, 2022 22:39:22 GMT
The Oatcake is a fantastic message board and I really appreciate the hard work that goes into maintaining it for very little thanks in return. I've been posting on here for decades and this board is genuinely part of the culture of the football club. I don't mean to be critical or disrespectful of the admin team in any way with this post. I've noticed a trend in the last couple of years where the board has moved more towards the model seen on other clubs' forums, where only one thread is permitted on any given topic and all posts relating to that topic even tangentially must go onto that thread. For example, here's a post on West Brom's board about their owner, which has 314 pages and has been rattling on since 2015. If I look at the front page of the Oatcake at the moment, I count 22 of these megathreads compared to 16 normal threads. We've got the official post on anything related to anything in the press about Ryan Shawcross, the official post for literally any other game of football, the official post about Qatar, the official post about England in Qatar, the official post about Watford's manager of the week and so on. It never used to be like this, as the board would largely consist of organically posted topics. Now, if you want to make a post about Chris Greenacre working as Assistant Manager for the New Zealand U20s (no, really) then you need to go back to 2004 and dig up this thread so that it can be resurrected to the top of the board. I might be on my own, but I really don't like this way of organising things. I find that it makes it impossible to keep up with developments in a linear fashion or follow the thread of a conversation. It takes ages to work out what's going on when some breaking news about our imminent signing of Lionel Messi gets tagged onto a 130 page thread from 2013 and generates a subsequent ten pages of posts that you have to wade through backwards in order to find the original news story. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. I might just be a lone nutter, moaning about Oatcake trivia on a Friday night. I just preferred things how they were and, ironically, thought I'd put it in one thread instead of just occasionally moaning in the comments to various other threads. |
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Post by redandwhitetundra on Apr 1, 2022 22:51:50 GMT
From one aspect, I can understand the approach by admin. No one needs ten posts of "James Chester agrees new deal"...
But at the same time, if the last update to the thread was more than three months ago (for example) it doesn't make sense to merge - especially as the old thread can drag up old feelings that may not exist today.
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Post by bucknall67 on Apr 1, 2022 23:10:14 GMT
The Oatcake is a fantastic message board and I really appreciate the hard work that goes into maintaining it for very little thanks in return. I've been posting on here for decades and this board is genuinely part of the culture of the football club. I don't mean to be critical or disrespectful of the admin team in any way with this post. I've noticed a trend in the last couple of years where the board has moved more towards the model seen on other clubs' forums, where only one thread is permitted on any given topic and all posts relating to that topic even tangentially must go onto that thread. For example, here's a post on West Brom's board about their owner, which has 314 pages and has been rattling on since 2015. If I look at the front page of the Oatcake at the moment, I count 22 of these megathreads compared to 16 normal threads. We've got the official post on anything related to anything in the press about Ryan Shawcross, the official post for literally any other game of football, the official post about Qatar, the official post about England in Qatar, the official post about Watford's manager of the week and so on. It never used to be like this, as the board would largely consist of organically posted topics. Now, if you want to make a post about Chris Greenacre working as Assistant Manager for the New Zealand U20s (no, really) then you need to go back to 2004 and dig up this thread so that it can be resurrected to the top of the board. I might be on my own, but I really don't like this way of organising things. I find that it makes it impossible to keep up with developments in a linear fashion or follow the thread of a conversation. It takes ages to work out what's going on when some breaking news about our imminent signing of Lionel Messi gets tagged onto a 130 page thread from 2013 and generates a subsequent ten pages of posts that you have to wade through backwards in order to find the original news story. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. I might just be a lone nutter, moaning about Oatcake trivia on a Friday night. I just preferred things how they were and, ironically, thought I'd put it in one thread instead of just occasionally moaning in the comments to various other threads. You aren't the only one. It pisses me off as well. |
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Post by GoBoks on Apr 1, 2022 23:18:16 GMT
From one aspect, I can understand the approach by admin. No one needs ten posts of "James Chester agrees new deal"... But at the same time, if the last update to the thread was more than three months ago (for example) it doesn't make sense to merge - especially as the old thread can drag up old feelings that may not exist today. Also, some threads are topical. Take for example "Today's other games" I don't want to wade through random comments still ongoing from a week ago, I want to look at TODAY's other games. It becomes an absolute nonsense to merge everything that relates to Michael O'Neill into one thread, etc. I've just given up reading many of the threads because it's too much of a chore. |
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Post by Vadiation_Ribe on Apr 2, 2022 0:05:39 GMT
I find it frustrating and don't bother with some of the megathreads. The 'New' link beside posts helps sometimes but doesn't always work. I think there is a better compromise between megathreads and endless threads about the same thing. And who's going to bump that Greenacre thread?  I just about managed to resist, as I'd have to do some research to make it a worthy bump. |
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Post by heworksardtho on Apr 2, 2022 5:57:27 GMT
And in other news ………
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Post by Admin on Apr 2, 2022 7:28:08 GMT
Of the threads you're complaining about on the main page, most of them have not been merged. People are sensibly posting in the threads and not creating new ones. You *don't* have to go trawling back years to find a thread to post about Chris Greenacre at all...
We haven't been merging threads about games into the big thread about today's games, that's something that posters have been doing themselves and somebody (Fuller Magic I believe) actually pointed out to you the other day that he had posted in a big thread when you accused moderators of merging.
We only really merge threads these days when there is clearly a thread on a particular subject visible on the main page and people have either missed it, blatantly ignored it because they want their own name in lights or posted something trivial like a one word/line comment or a link that didn't really need a new thread.
Edit: We haven't merged the Ryan Shawcross threads because that would mean the RYAN SHAWCROSS RETIRES thread (ironically one which should be a mega thread) would be lost.
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Post by y_oh_y_delilah on Apr 2, 2022 7:32:08 GMT
I find it frustrating and don't bother with some of the megathreads. The 'New' link beside posts helps sometimes but doesn't always work. I think there is a better compromise between megathreads and endless threads about the same thing. And who's going to bump that Greenacre thread? I just about managed to resist, as I'd have to do some research to make it a worthy bump. To save you the bother . . . . On 22 July 2011, Greenacre accepted a player/coaching role with his club Wellington Phoenix. Greenacre already holds a UEFA B coaching licence and will reportedly be coaching the forwards as well as playing when chosen. On 18 July 2012 he announced his retirement from the game and accepted a position as assistant manager at Wellington Phoenix. In October 2012, Due to the absence of Ricki Herbert due to international duties, Greenacre was appointed as the caretaker manager of the Wellington Phoenix for their Round 2 clash with Melbourne Heart.Despite missing 7 first team players due to international duties, and despite playing an away clash, the Phoenix managed to obtain a 1–1 draw with the Heart, courtesy of a Paul Ifill penalty. On 26 February 2013, Greenacre was appointed interim manager of Wellington Phoenix until the end of the season after Ricki Herbert resigned. He was replaced by Ernie Merrick for the 2013–14 A-League season. Following Merrick's resignation on 5 December 2016, Greenacre was appointed as co-coach of the A-League side alongside Des Buckingham, originally as interim coaches, and in January 2017 confirmed for the roles until the end of the 2016-2017 season.[18] Greenacre and Buckingham applied for the role on a permanent basis at the end of the season, but were passed over in favour of Darije Kalezic. On 12 October 2017, Greenacre was appointed coach of Wellington Phoenix Reserves, taking over from Andy Hedge. New Zealand football announced in January 2018 Greenacre would be assistant to Des Buckingham for the New Zealand national under-20 football team for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup cycle. Greenacre would retain his position with the Wellington Phoenix while fulfilling this role. Greenacre began his third period with the Wellington Phoenix A-League side when he was again appointed interim head coach following the departure of Darije Kalezic on 5 March 2018. You’re welcome 😇 |
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Post by crouchpotato1 on Apr 2, 2022 7:43:24 GMT
The Oatcake is a fantastic message board and I really appreciate the hard work that goes into maintaining it for very little thanks in return. I've been posting on here for decades and this board is genuinely part of the culture of the football club. I don't mean to be critical or disrespectful of the admin team in any way with this post. I've noticed a trend in the last couple of years where the board has moved more towards the model seen on other clubs' forums, where only one thread is permitted on any given topic and all posts relating to that topic even tangentially must go onto that thread. For example, here's a post on West Brom's board about their owner, which has 314 pages and has been rattling on since 2015. If I look at the front page of the Oatcake at the moment, I count 22 of these megathreads compared to 16 normal threads. We've got the official post on anything related to anything in the press about Ryan Shawcross, the official post for literally any other game of football, the official post about Qatar, the official post about England in Qatar, the official post about Watford's manager of the week and so on. It never used to be like this, as the board would largely consist of organically posted topics. Now, if you want to make a post about Chris Greenacre working as Assistant Manager for the New Zealand U20s (no, really) then you need to go back to 2004 and dig up this thread so that it can be resurrected to the top of the board. I might be on my own, but I really don't like this way of organising things. I find that it makes it impossible to keep up with developments in a linear fashion or follow the thread of a conversation. It takes ages to work out what's going on when some breaking news about our imminent signing of Lionel Messi gets tagged onto a 130 page thread from 2013 and generates a subsequent ten pages of posts that you have to wade through backwards in order to find the original news story. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter. I might just be a lone nutter, moaning about Oatcake trivia on a Friday night. I just preferred things how they were and, ironically, thought I'd put it in one thread instead of just occasionally moaning in the comments to various other threads. I really don’t get your obsession with this mate at all,it’s common sense when you post to look for a thread on the subject you’re posting about,otherwise you end up with meaningless shit like gingerninja(morningmist) posts on a regular basis. |
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Post by sportsman on Apr 2, 2022 7:54:13 GMT
No little moan from me, a big moan from me. Does my head in. I can understand why it's done, but still does my head in.
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Post by simonh3709 on Apr 2, 2022 7:58:42 GMT
From one aspect, I can understand the approach by admin. No one needs ten posts of "James Chester agrees new deal"... But at the same time, if the last update to the thread was more than three months ago (for example) it doesn't make sense to merge - especially as the old thread can drag up old feelings that may not exist today. I'm not sure anyone wants one post of "James Chester agrees a new deal" after reading the general content of our board posts. |
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Post by Admin on Apr 2, 2022 8:03:48 GMT
From one aspect, I can understand the approach by admin. No one needs ten posts of "James Chester agrees new deal"... But at the same time, if the last update to the thread was more than three months ago (for example) it doesn't make sense to merge - especially as the old thread can drag up old feelings that may not exist today. We wouldn't waste our time trawling back to find a three month old thread to merge it with a new one. If members want to do that, then we can't do anything about it, but people shouldn't simply assume that threads are being merged. |
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Post by Vadiation_Ribe on Apr 2, 2022 8:35:56 GMT
One example of a weird merge for me is "England & World Cup." I had no idea the group draw had taken place until I went on the BBC website just, and that thread starts off on something different so doesn't make sense to merge or post about the group draw in.
I appreciate Admin may not be responsible for that, but to me that seems like the kind of thing that happens with merges. Sometimes I find myself posting in threads when it's not completely relevant because I think it might be merged into something else anyway, so I imagine others do that too.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 2, 2022 8:53:57 GMT
I don't care. Can't say that I even notice, but then again i have a life (a shit one granted) outside of this place  |
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Post by Gods on Apr 2, 2022 9:18:18 GMT
The trouble with over zealous merging is that you miss any real news unless you are an assiduous reader of every thread on the board.
So suddenly the news that say a player is injured and out for the rest of the season is tagged on to Page 17 of a thread with that players name as the Subject which you stopped visiting long ago since it dissolved in to some petty squabble between 2 posters which had been going on since about page 6.
If you see what I mean?!
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Post by Olgrligm on Apr 2, 2022 9:21:55 GMT
Of the threads you're complaining about on the main page, most of them have not been merged. People are sensibly posting in the threads and not creating new ones. You *don't* have to go trawling back years to find a thread to post about Chris Greenacre at all... We haven't been merging threads about games into the big thread about today's games, that's something that posters have been doing themselves and somebody (Fuller Magic I believe) actually pointed out to you the other day that he had posted in a big thread when you accused moderators of merging. We only really merge threads these days when there is clearly a thread on a particular subject visible on the main page and people have either missed it, blatantly ignored it because they want their own name in lights or posted something trivial like a one word/line comment or a link that didn't really need a new thread. Edit: We haven't merged the Ryan Shawcross threads because that would mean the RYAN SHAWCROSS RETIRES thread (ironically one which should be a mega thread) would be lost. Like I say, I really didn't mean to be disrespectful. This is still the best place for everything Stoke related and I know that running it is basically thankless (case in point). I was just observing a recent trend and was wrong about it being the result of merging. Maybe moaning more than observing, but I think in Stoke we're happiest when we've got something to moan about. |
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Post by Admin on Apr 2, 2022 9:54:22 GMT
The trouble with over zealous merging is that you miss any real news unless you are an assiduous reader of every thread on the board. So suddenly the news that say a player is injured and out for the rest of the season is tagged on to Page 17 of a thread with that players name as the Subject which you long stopped opening since it long since dissolved in to some petty squabble between 2 posters which had been going on since page 6. If you see what I mean?! There is no over zealous merging. |
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Post by thevoid on Apr 2, 2022 10:02:35 GMT
I like Megathread. Saw them supporting Iron Maiden at Wolves Civic
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Post by thevoid on Apr 2, 2022 10:03:28 GMT
From one aspect, I can understand the approach by admin. No one needs ten posts of "James Chester agrees new deal"... But at the same time, if the last update to the thread was more than three months ago (for example) it doesn't make sense to merge - especially as the old thread can drag up old feelings that may not exist today. No one needs ONE post about Jester agreeing a new deal! |
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Post by walrus on Apr 2, 2022 10:20:45 GMT
It sounds like predominantly posters choosing to add to old threads rather than Admin merging threads.
But perhaps Admin could be more proactive in updating the thread titles so they reflect the latest development that’s being discussed on that thread.
A lot of us use the Oatcake as a source of Stoke and wider football news and having thread titles that are static over months or years makes it harder to do that.
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I just about managed to resist, as I'd have to do some research to make it a worthy bump.
