Locked topic not locked #lock
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Dave,
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How did this happen? Just had someone post a reply to a message in a topic I locked a month ago. Both the OP and the reply-er are unmoderated and the post just appeared this morning. ?
Look in the Topics view of your group's Messages page to see the new message is actually in the locked topic, or started a new topic.
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One of the weaknesses of locking (or moderating) topics is that it is so easy for a member to just create a new one by making a minor adjustment to the Subject text. Or by using the New Topic function in the group's web pages (even if they copy/paste the original Subject text).
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Or, given that a month has elapsed, that is the time limit of the Subject matching algorithm when the received message does not contain either the In-Reply-To or References header field. Some email interfaces don't generate those fields even when the user chooses the Reply function.
Even if for some really strange reason the reply was sent before the topic was locked on August 22 and held up by some quirk of earthlink (the reply-er's email service) shouldn't it have been blocked by the lock on the topic? ?
Yes.
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I don't think that's what happened.
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Shal
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On Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 12:20 PM, David Grimm wrote:
did I just goof up by putting the 'lock' hashtag on my original question, thereby locking THIS topic?No, not unless the hashtag is set to Locked as part of the setup (which it's not here.) Duane -- Help: /static/help GMF's Wiki: /g/GroupManagersForum/wiki Search button at the top of Messages list A few site FAQs: /static/pricing#frequently-asked-questions |
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On Mon, Sep 23, 2019 at 12:53 PM, David Grimm wrote:
How did this happen? Just had someone post a reply to a message in a topic I locked a month ago.?David -- The answer to your question is actually quite involved, but the bottom line is that "subject lines" and "topics" are not the same thing. In groups.io, a "subject line" is a string of characters, while a "topic" is just a number. Topics can be locked, but subject lines cannot. How a message gets assigned to a topic depends on when it is posted, and whether it comes in via email or online, in addition to whether it shares the same subject line. For example, let's say that someone in your group started a topic with the subject line of "Hello." For whatever reason, at some point you lock that topic. Is it your intent that every message with "Hello" in the subject line will forever after be rejected, until the end of time? Such an algorithm for message threading would soon create its own problems. If an incoming email contains threading information ("reply-to" info in the header), this can still be used to head things off. If not, the groups.io threading algorithm looks for a post with a "matching" subject line over the past 2 days (30 days if the subject line begins with "Re:" or other known reply indicator). If it finds none, an email with no reply-to information starts its own topic. The assumption here is that although the new message may have the same subject line as a previous topic -- locked or not -- this was probably just a coincidence. Online, things are different, although not necessarily more straightforward. If you're reading a message in a locked topic online, there is no Reply button. But it is possible to "reply" to a locked topic online using the New Topic button, followed by entering the same subject line as the existing message. In that case, groups.io assumes the subscriber is actually starting a new topic because, well, he clicked on a button that said so.? More details at?/g/GroupManagersForum/wiki/Avoiding-threading-topics---threading-algorithm Hope this helps, Bruce -- The system Help is your friend.??/static/help |
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Dave, And not being familiar with hashtags, did I just goof up by putting the 'lock' hashtag on my original question, thereby locking THIS topic? No. It would only do that if a GMF moderator had checkmarked that option for #lock. We haven't, and if we did we would probably also make the hashtag Use by Mods Only rather than allowing members to inadvertently lock their own topic. In other words, the name of the hashtag doesn't define its function. Only mods (who can edit the hashtag's options) define their extra functions. Shal -- Help: /static/help More Help: /g/GroupManagersForum/wiki Even More Help: Search button at the top of Messages list |
Shal Farley
Duane
Bruce