Answering and Subscribing to Threads: General Guidelines

Hope this is the right place to have a discussion about this but I was wondering what other members think about the following:

1. how far back do you go when looking at and responding to unanswered posts? how far back is too far back?

(I usually go back no more than one week but am not sure if this is correct)

1. if you are answering a thread and therefore subscribed to it, how long do you wait for the OP to answer before unsubscribing? For example, I have a thread where the OP has not responded in well over a week. Do you wait or unsubscribe?

Appreciate any insights and input.

Thanks.

I go back more than a week for unanswered posts and when going over two I find if OP is new they often don't come back. They can bump the thread if needed. When it comes support I don't often subscribe and If I see that the user is being aided by a member with more knowledgeable than myself I consider them to be in good hands and bow out. :)

Some times real life gets in the way of fixing a computer problem so, it can be more than a week before some people get the chance to reply. I don't have any specific rules because as you know people often use more than one source to resolve a problem and don't bother to come back and share the solution. There are those who just want a quick solution to a problem and others who want to be part of the community, but that's another topic. The posting style is often telling as to whether a poster will come back.

Thanks for the insights.

I think you make a very good point about the posting style.

Regards.

I do not subscribe, but use Forum's advanced search. And have oldfred as default search criteria. Then every thread I have posted in appears and those I have not seen are first & bolded. Then I typically review new posts, but am in forum regularly.

Sometime some really old thread reappears, but often newer user posting since title somewhat related. But then I often move to own thread.

Fred,

When I used Advanced Search and put my username as search by name I got some odd results, same with as a keyword.

Be that as it may, appreciate the input.

Regards.

I think going back a week for unanswered threads is about right, I automatically subscribe to any thread I post in and I do not remove the subscription at any time except threads that I post in for moderation. It may take a user more then a week to come back for help for various reasons, if he does not come back then there is no harm being subscribed in my opinion, please note that even though you subscribe to a thread sometimes getting notifications come slow or not at all so you may want to check on a thread from time to time.

I just changed oldfred to Rubi1200 and it worked just like my search. https://ubuntuforums.org/search.php?searchid=19704714

If I try to use more than a single work search in forum it does give odd results. I then use google and site:ubuntuforums.org oldfred and then whatever else I want

[COLOR=#000000]I then use google and site:ubuntuforums.org oldfred[/COLOR]

Yes, I use that too. Plus, you can use Tools and refine the results, though it can depend on other search criteria added.