On past forums I've been exposed to very different rules concerning "necro" and what it means to the Moderators. The usual definition is bumping an old thread for a sub-par reason, nothing good was added to the conversation or the discussion in the thread had already ended.

The reason I'm posting this is to ask what is tolerated at the Chase Lounge since it largely involves a series that ended a few years ago and many threads are old but also still very intriguing to some newcomers of Sopranos and other Chase-related projects.

Is it alright to post in an old thread if you have something you'd like to say or add to the discussion? (and by old I mean over a year)

Sorry if this was listed somewhere already!

losteden, first welcome to the forum, if I haven't said that already (I don't think I have!) I'd just like to compliment you on being so interested and determined to abide by forum "rules". That consideration is much appreciated.

As founder and administrator of the forum, I think I've been pretty relaxed when it comes to formal aspects of posting. Now that the series is nearly 4 years off the air, that relaxed posture is even more pronounced. Whenever a topic has currency, or back when the show was generating a lot of discussion, I tried to encourage and enforce rules that had folks use pre-existing threads where possible, i.e., when what they wanted to discuss was truly redundant to an existing thread. But a LOT of leeway was given to a considered judgment that a topic was distinctively nuanced enough for a new thread and also a lot of leeway to take existing threads in offshoot directions, related but clearly tangential.

I also have no objection to trying to revive interest in old threads. The success of that will clearly be determined by how many people happen to see it, what their interest level is in the subject, and whether they want to make the time to engage. Most of the folks that still visit the forum are "old timers" that were here when it first started and have talked through most of these things. But we just still like to breeze in and out to see if anything really pops up to rekindle the fire.

The number one, immutable rule here has always been respect and courtesy to fellow posters, and as long as that's adhered to, you'll never find yourself in hot water for any decision to either start a new thread or add to an old one. The worst that would happen is it would be merged, moved to another forum, or split off, and there would be redirect links guiding you to the new location. Good faith effort to stay within a few degrees of the original topic and to use existing threads where possible is all that is required on formal matters.

Thanks for your inquiry. I was going to post a link to the forum announcing rules and posting guidelines, and I just realized that the post with that information has mysteriously disappeared! I have no idea how or when that happened. I should have an archived copy somewhere, but it will take some time and patience to access as I think its in a comma delimited file that's probably also compressed somewhere on my hard drive. When I get time, I'll try to locate and repost it.

Hah, yeah I also noticed the empty forum which is why I made the inquiry, thanks for such a well-written, fast response and for the welcome. I'll have to write an introduction later on when I have time to read through some more of the threads. I've visited the Chase Lounge many times in the past and have come to really respect and appreciate the words I've found here. I find myself reminiscing on things written here and in a way the words provide me with a sense of closure. Everyone here has done an amazing job at explaining the more complex ideas behind a show I've come to love and after visiting so much I finally decided to sign up, maybe now I can stop watching the Sopranos for the tenth time, lol.

FOMW, if i may add one other courtesy that can be extented to fellow posters. With the number of posts dropping, can we please be aware of when a previous post was dated and not bump it too soon after it's origin. I had it happen the other day about 20mins after i posted. Again, with so few new thoughts and bits of news, i value seeing every one. Leaving a post up a couple of days seems like a fair amount of time before bumping it for another topic. Let me know if i'm wrong.

Hi bloodshot,

If I understand correctly what you're talking about (and please correct me if I'm mistaken), a thread is only bumped off the front page when there has been more recent activity in another thread in the same forum. The thread you're looking for will still be in the forum and still near the top. You just have to click on the forum itself to see it.

Forum software is designed to work this way. I don't think there's any way around it, and it exists at every forum I've ever visited. I'm trying to recall from the forum setup if there was an alternative to have the front page choose "showcase" threads at random from each forum. But, even if there is, I would be very reluctant to choose that because it makes much less sense to me. The thread with the most recent activity is the one that is showcased on the home or front page. But that changes immediately as new posts are added to other threads. It may seem now like there's some kind of deliberate advertising for a thread on the front page because there's so little activity these days that a new thread is likely to stay on the front page for days if not weeks. But back in the day, the featured front page thread for a forum would change by the hour if not by the minute.

I recall you being (justifiably) disappointed that your recent thread about the FBI mob arrests was bumped by another thread commenting on the same thing. The problem there was the redundancy of the second thread, not the bumping itself, which is why I merged the second thread into your existing thread, which also had the effect of putting your thread back on top, so to speak.

The best way to make sure you don't miss new posts without having to click into each forum where there's a new post indicated on the front page is to simply click the "New Posts" link in small bold print at the top of the page (part of the headliners that include Members List, Calendar, Search, Quick Links, etc.). That is how I personally visit the forum anytime it's evident from the front page that there have been new posts since my last visit, which is indicated by the little sideways arrow being enclosed in a sphere/colored circle on the icon next to the most recent post.

Hope this clarifies how the forum works and why.

Hey Fly, Your close. When the forum was buzzing, the way it is set up was certainly the most efficient way to catalog and highlight the steady stream of threads and posts. Now that days go by without a new post, i usually get a chance to see anything new. Since it's new it will sit for a few days and/or someone will comment on it holding it on top a bit longer. What happen to me the other day was something that use to happen a bit more as we were going through the transition of the Soprano's salad days to the current more reflective era. I'd post something in the morning and it would get bumped by a different topic that afternoon. Then there wouldn't be another post for a week or 2. The example the other day was a classic. I had posted the mob story at about 1 pm (again there hadn't been a post in several days) but about a 1/2 hour later, someone had bumped the post with a different topic. Now here's the uncomfortable part. It was a new poster, who of course you don't want to alienate. I appreciate you arranged to place my post back and by no means felt scooped by Harpo. I guess it's more of a pet peeve of mine that at this point with the limited amount of posts we see, not to leave a new one up for at least a couple of days seems, for a lack of a better word, rude. Of course i can use the "new posts" that frankly i never considered before. When it's all said and done it not a big deal. Thanks for taking the time to respond to a trivil matter

I recommend using the way that FOMW describes in the last paragraph, just click the "New Posts" link at the top, I believe it's what most forum posters do anyways so any new posts will always be read through. What is on the front page is sort of irrelevant since it's the thread that really counts. Unfortunately with the small amount of traffic I can see how this would bother some people since posts that aren't on the front page don't get as much attention. The jury is out on this one.

Bloodshot, I hear what you're saying, and, no, I don't think it's trivial, especially because it was bothering you. I just don't know of a more desirable alternative.

But do remember that if your thread gets bumped because of an uncharacteristic "flood" of activity and you feel that it's gotten lost in the shuffle and ignored because of that, you can always post your own reply to move it back on front. I'm not advocating that except when you have genuine reason to believe the lack of front page exposure cost it getting noticed at all. You could post a reply like, "Just making sure those that might be interested saw this" or something similar.

There's obviously not a real high incentive right now for folks to post. It will probably take something like the imminent release of Chase's next film or a new season of one of the other shows with strong Sopranos connections or even some event/news related to The Sopranos itself to revive any real posting impetus. I know that I rarely feel the desire to reply, even though I usually read through and always at least skim everything new about the Sopranos that's posted.

FYI, Harpo is not really a new poster. He was definitely around since at least the second part of season 6, possibly before. But he doesn't post much and evidently didn't read any of the posts in the forum before posting his own link about the mob arrests. Obviously I'd prefer that posters do that and not post redundantly, but because traffic is so light, I don't mind just quietly doing the merger. If it happened more often, I'd definitely call the attention of the offending posters to the matter. Hope this helps.

Thks Fly. Always the stickler making sure everyones happy here. It actually wasn't Harpo, who i've read for years now, but someone who signed up last week who bumped me. it's actually the sort of thing i'll laugh at a bit as well. After she intially bumped me, i actually did what you recommended, reply to my own post. Son of a gun if she didn't bump me again with a different subject. within minutes. I was glad to see harpo managed to get the link up for the story at that point. JJust one of those things i'll forget when it gets busy agin w/ Chase's new film release, i hope