TheLoveBandit
Retired Never Was, Coulda been wannabe
It's that time again, SPRING CLEANING (if you're in the Southern Hemisphere). For reference on how this went down last time, check the old ANNOUNCEMENT.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Staff,
We appreciate all that the mods and members did with the last PRUNE we ran in mid-2009. However, we are due to go through it again. Luckily that last one was more painful due to several forums having not been reviewed in years and years....this time, we're looking at only trimming back threads without replies before 2010, which is only about 8 months of last years threads.
Stated more clearly - on the chopping block is any thread not replied to in 2010, but still floating in your forum.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Based on our server stats, you'll notice the forums are ranked based on how much server space they take up:
You'll notice half of our top 10 'fatty' areas are archives - fair enough, they were set up with the intention of holding key reference information good for years. However, of those fat archives, several are social in nature....which begs several questions, such as
I'm sure you can come up with some more questions of your own, including the counter question of - "so, why keep social archives at all?" There is still some merit on keeping local archives in social forums (ie, SLR or SO would have some threads good for reference within their archives, which are best kept in a sub-forum for UTFSE moments). But yeah, we're going to ask for a review of the archives as well.
Why? Why are we being so cruel and heartless to not only have you prune your forums, but actually review the archives as well? Because we're bored, and there hasn't been enough whinging from staff lately aside from a few isolated issues. This one can piss everyone off
No, seriously, you guys have probably seen the threads in SUPPORT regarding errors and slow loads, and you have probably experienced these yourself to some degree. We need to trim back the database to improve things, as we seem to be up against the limits of our hardware ![:\](https://bluelight.org/xf/BL_Images/Orig_Emoji/wrygrin.gif "wry grin :\")
But to go one further, we've discussed our pending upgrade(s) and these are much, much easier to do with a smaller database.
To improve our bang-for-the-buck, we'll attack forums according to that listing above on database size (this lets you know when your forum is due to be pruned), but in fairness ALL forums will be reviewed.
Per the process last year, we'd like to follow what worked well by posting notice in ANNOUNCEMENTS as well as forum specific headers when a forum is being pruned. We'll create a temporary 'PENDING DELETION' folder for each forum as it is under review, allowing for the members to pitch in and bump things or ask that they be saved (mods shouldn't have to do all the work).
This thread is here for any questions or feedback as we head into this. Your help and support is essential, so we thank you.
PRUNE COMING NOW
EXPECT AN ANNOUNCEMENT
NOBODY IS EXEMPT
Cheers
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Staff,
We appreciate all that the mods and members did with the last PRUNE we ran in mid-2009. However, we are due to go through it again. Luckily that last one was more painful due to several forums having not been reviewed in years and years....this time, we're looking at only trimming back threads without replies before 2010, which is only about 8 months of last years threads.
Stated more clearly - on the chopping block is any thread not replied to in 2010, but still floating in your forum.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Based on our server stats, you'll notice the forums are ranked based on how much server space they take up:
Code:
[u]Forum Posts % of database[/u]
The Lounge 441831 9.9882
Psychedelic Drugs 357909 8.091
Archive - The Lounge 248500 5.6177
Other Drugs 210065 4.7488
Archive - EADD 184515 4.1712
Archive - OD 171141 3.8689
European &, African Drug Discussion 152946 3.4576
Archive - Australian Drug Discussion 140427 3.1746
Archive - Australian Social 114252 2.5828
Basic Drug Discussion 113940 2.5758
Ecstasy Discussion 104233 2.3563
Archive - SLR 90863 2.0541
Sex, Love and Relationships 77063 1.7421
Archive - DC 76698 1.7339
Film &, Television 75305 1.7024
The Dark Side 74223 1.6779
Cannabis Discussion 73586 1.6635
Drug Culture 71415 1.6144
Archive - CEP 71393 1.6139
Archive - Words 70550 1.5949
Archive - TDS 69495 1.571
Archive - ED 67703 1.5305
Australian Drug Discussion 67171 1.5185
Advanced Drug Discussion 65968 1.4913
Australian Social &, Events 61499 1.3903
Archive - SO 56302 1.2728
Archive - CD 54062 1.2221
Current Events and Politics 51744 1.1697
Archive - TR 51247 1.1585
Archive - NEMD 49440 1.1177
Second Opinion 5454 1.0276You'll notice half of our top 10 'fatty' areas are archives - fair enough, they were set up with the intention of holding key reference information good for years. However, of those fat archives, several are social in nature....which begs several questions, such as
- Isn't 'social' content primarily transient and relative, such that it is important to those at the time, but not so much a reference needed forever?
- If it *is* such an awesome social content thread that it ought be referenced forever....should it not be in BoBL?
- How much of those social archive threads are ones that got filled to 1000 posts and archived? Are they really that valuable? Do the images and links in them still work? Is it feasible to either remove them wholesale or perhaps save the 50-200 good posts from each one and get rid of the rest?
I'm sure you can come up with some more questions of your own, including the counter question of - "so, why keep social archives at all?" There is still some merit on keeping local archives in social forums (ie, SLR or SO would have some threads good for reference within their archives, which are best kept in a sub-forum for UTFSE moments). But yeah, we're going to ask for a review of the archives as well.
Why? Why are we being so cruel and heartless to not only have you prune your forums, but actually review the archives as well? Because we're bored, and there hasn't been enough whinging from staff lately aside from a few isolated issues. This one can piss everyone off
No, seriously, you guys have probably seen the threads in SUPPORT regarding errors and slow loads, and you have probably experienced these yourself to some degree. We need to trim back the database to improve things, as we seem to be up against the limits of our hardware But to go one further, we've discussed our pending upgrade(s) and these are much, much easier to do with a smaller database.To improve our bang-for-the-buck, we'll attack forums according to that listing above on database size (this lets you know when your forum is due to be pruned), but in fairness ALL forums will be reviewed.
Per the process last year, we'd like to follow what worked well by posting notice in ANNOUNCEMENTS as well as forum specific headers when a forum is being pruned. We'll create a temporary 'PENDING DELETION' folder for each forum as it is under review, allowing for the members to pitch in and bump things or ask that they be saved (mods shouldn't have to do all the work).
This thread is here for any questions or feedback as we head into this. Your help and support is essential, so we thank you.
PRUNE COMING NOW
EXPECT AN ANNOUNCEMENT
NOBODY IS EXEMPT
Cheers
Last edited:
