Suggestion: Thread wiki

[Lensman]

Problem: Super-long threads like the gondola thread get so long that people don't read it to catch up on previously asked questions or concerns.
Suggested Solution: Add a feature like the vBulletin thread wiki feature to allow the OP or an admin to add a wiki at the beginning of the thread. The critical feature is that any registered user can edit the wiki page/post. This allows everyone to contribute and maintain the summary information in the wiki post instead of the original poster having to do all the work in the case where the OP decides to maintain a summary in the first post.

Here is an example of this feature on another board I participate in:
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/uni...ay-travel-change-sdc-fees-questions-wiki.html

 

[nickys]

So anyone can update the wiki page?



Yeah, that'll work! Lol!

In response to your point though, @Mister Penguin already maintains the thread on upcoming changes, which includes all the known facts.

And @danlb_2000 also maintains the first post on the gondolas thread in a similar fashion.

All people have to do is read the first post. But you will never be able to stop people just coming on and posting their comments, however many times we may have discussed it (ad nauseum).

 

[The Mom]

I'm not sure letting just anyone edit someone else's posts would end well - even if only in one specific thread. People already get angry enough because moderators can do it.

 

[Lensman]

Here is the FAQ for this wikipost feature over at the Flyertalk Forum.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/tec...questions-issues-discussion-consolidated.html

The basic concept is that anyone can create the wikipost for a thread but it will be displayed at the top of the thread before the first post. This special wikipost is available to be edited by any user meeting certain criteria. In the case of Flyertalk, it is any user who has 90 posts and who has been registered for 90 days.

And Flyertalk isn't just a fly-by-night forum. It's the largest expert traveler community with 700,000 members, 1.6 million threads, and almost 30 million posts. Discussions there can get very heated and require moderator intervention, just as here. But the quickest way to get banned is by defacing one of the valuable wikiposts.

Go over to the link in my original post and you'll see how it looks.

I did read danlb_2000's original post in the gondola thread and he's done a decent job of summarizing, but I have to believe that there have been updates that are worth pulling to the first post since the last edit on July 20, 2017. Also, I'd recommend having a clear upfront FAQ that addresses the common questions in the order that people repetitively ask them (i.e. with pointers to discussions of A/C linked to. Ha!) Anyway, I'm surprised that helpful posters don't refer new joiners to read the first post more carefully to get answers. Finally, what people found on Flyertalk was that community editing of the summary wikipost is helpful in sharing the burden and in helping when the OP disappears or is not the best person to do all the work of summarization for the life of the thread.

I've excerpted part of the FAQ here:

FAQ

Q. What is a Wikipost?

A Wikipost contains content that appears at the top of a thread, usually used to summarize important information in multi-page threads: "This is a community-maintained wikipost containing the most important information from this thread. You may start or edit a Wikipost once you have been on FT for 90 days and have made 90 posts." (Written at the top of every Wikipost.)


Q. Why are Wikiposts here? What is their purpose?

Threads that have high interest can grow very quickly, making it tiresome to sort through sometimes hundreds of posts to find information. A Wikipost is designed to contain a summary of relevant information, and may contain links to especially relevant posts, related threads and off-site resources. Any member with "90/90" can update obsolete information or update Wikipost information, and of course there's plenty of space to discuss or ask about more specific details.

Q. What are the alternatives to wikiposts in a large forum?

1) Multiple (dozens or even more) threads with members having to search them all for answers, or start a new one out of frustration, assuring information fragmentation and dispersion.​

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2) Mega threads with hundreds of posts to sort through for answers.​