[wp-forums] Close on Resolve

[Handy]

I think I'm to blame for one of the ideas that was bandied about here
recently.   I had suggested that once a thread is marked resolved, it should
be closed.

I don't recall how the voting went, but I know that I'd now like to suggest
it was not one of my better ideas ever.  In fact, in hindsight it seems
rather draconian.  But no fear!  Being the geek that I am, I believe I have
a better idea to knock around in it's stead.

Problem Statement:  Dredging up old topics (from 6months + ago, for
instance) is just a pain in the rear.  Versions change, solutions change and
some topics get awfully crowded with cruft and tangents.   And then someone
posts with a "Hey, this happens to me too, what do I do?"  And as a
volunteer you look at that and ask yourself "... 40 posts in this one.  WHAT
happens to you, sparky?"

Proposed:  Auto-close based on age.

If a user brings up a thread over x months old, don't even offer a Post
field.  Just display a message saying something like "This topic has been
closed.  No further replies accepted."  Or something friendlier.  Ideally,
this might encourage folks to start a fresh topic.  I'm not even suggesting
the thread be marked as closed.  Just don't give 'em the option to add to
it.

Background:  Yes, this is a bit of a pet-peeve of mine, for the example
mentioned above.

Thoughts?  Dumb idea or worth kicking around?