About a New Birthday Thread

[Asthix]

Hmm. You know, some day, someone should re-compile and update this list.I have just finished doing exactly that! Here's what I did:

First, I went through all the names on Alarra's list, removing any that no longer existed due to name change.

Also at this stage I decided to remove from the list those who haven't been active on the site in over a year. (since I don't want to wish someone a happy birthday that has no chance of seeing it) Those names I have on a separate file. I can add them back in if it's the Giant's, or the majority of poster's / mod's opinion that I do so.

I also made every effort to correct each person's name for punctuation.

Lastly I went through everyone's post in the B-day thread to make sure no one was left out. Sorry, Lord Xavius but your plan to have two birthdays was thwarted.:smallwink:

So. My suggestion is to make a new birthday thread that I'll try to update each day, since I'm a pretty regular visitor. (Right now anyway) I'll use the very top of the first post to display who's birthday it is that day (or week) so that people only need to mouseover the birthday thread to find out who's birthday it is.

Last, two questions for Rawhide. Is it my imagination, or is the 'last activity on' part of a person's personal profile a recent addition, or has that feature been around since before I joined, in Aug '10?

Also, do I have to sign in for my 'Last activity on' to be updated? Or is there a cookie of some sort that keeps track of when I check the site, whether I'm logged in or not? Thanks.

EDIT: Finally, I want a catchy name for the new B-Day Thread but I need some suggestions from people. What I've come up with so far is:

"Birthday's In The Playground!" or "Happy Birthday to... (The Birthday Thread III)"

I posted here to see what playgrounders and mods think about editing out those who haven't been active in over a year as a means of updating the B-Day list. Thanks again.:smallsmile:

[Viera Champion]

I have just finished doing exactly that! Here's what I did:

First, I went through all the names on Alarra's list, removing any that no longer existed due to name change.

Also at this stage I decided to remove from the list those who haven't been active on the site in over a year. (since I don't want to wish someone a happy birthday that has no chance of seeing it) Those names I have on a separate file. I can add them back in if it's the Giant's, or the majority of poster's / mod's opinion that I do so.

I also made every effort to correct each person's name for punctuation.

Lastly I went through everyone's post in the B-day thread to make sure no one was left out. Sorry, Lord Xavius but your plan to have two birthdays was thwarted.:smallwink:

So. My suggestion is to make a new birthday thread that I'll try to update each day, since I'm a pretty regular visitor. (Right now anyway) I'll use the very top of the first post to display who's birthday it is that day (or week) so that people only need to mouseover the birthday thread to find out who's birthday it is.

Last, two questions for Rawhide. Is it my imagination, or is the 'last activity on' part of a person's personal profile a recent addition, or has that feature been around since before I joined, in Aug '10?

Also, do I have to sign in for my 'Last activity on' to be updated? Or is there a cookie of some sort that keeps track of when I check the site, whether I'm logged in or not? Thanks.

EDIT: Finally, I want a catchy name for the new B-Day Thread but I need some suggestions from people. What I've come up with so far is:

"Birthday's In The Playground!" or "Happy Birthday to... (The Birthday Thread III)"

I posted here to see what playgrounders and mods think about editing out those who haven't been active in over a year as a means of updating the B-Day list. Thanks again.:smallsmile:

Well um... sounds cool I guess, and I would support this, but are you sure you don't have a little too much time on your hands?

[Castaras]

Definitely a good idea to update the thread - so many people on there from aaages ago. Makes me feel nostalgic looking through the thread, hehe.

[Asthix]

...are you sure you don't have a little too much time on your hands?Well, it did take 3 & 1/2 months, but this is small time compared to how patient my dad is.


Definitely a good idea to update the thread - so many people on there from aaages ago. Makes me feel nostalgic looking through the thread, hehe.I'm taking this as support for me editing out those names then.

[happyturtle]

Maybe move the old names to a separate list in a spoiler box?

[Lex-Kat]

I don't know if you need to edit out the names. Editing the the changed names, if you can find them, and removing Banned Playgrounders would be good though.

Some of the older people do come back, sometimes.

[Asthix]

I'm almost positive I removed all the names that have been changed. I believe the list is good for banned posters as well. But I like the suggestion about retired posters put in a spoiler, that way people who do come back can see, and hpoefully remind me to put their name back on the list.

Thanks for the input. I wanted to give an authority figure time to weigh in, so I'll wait till tomorrow and then put the thread up.:smallsmile:

[Serpentine]

Sounds great to me! But...
"Birthday's In The Playground!" or "Happy Birthday to... (The Birthday Thread III)"No superfluous apostrophes :smallannoyed:

Otherwise good! :smallbiggrin:

[Lateral]

Umm, it got closed for some reason.

[Castaras]

Umm, it got closed for some reason.

Would be nice for a reply to say why it was closed, considering a new thread to replace the previous thread would mean it's updated much quicker.

[Zherog]

Rawhide did post a reason -- duplicate thread. (At least, his post was there last I looked.)

[Haruki-kun]

I'm guessing it was protocol: The previous thread has not reached 50 pages.

[Rawhide]

Would be nice for a reply to say why it was closed, considering a new thread to replace the previous thread would mean it's updated much quicker.


Rawhide did post a reason -- duplicate thread. (At least, his post was there last I looked.)

As has been pointed out, there was a post explaining the reason.

It's generally not a good idea to post a duplicate thread when we have a "one topic, one thread" rule; the previous thread has not reached 50 pages, is on the first page, has been replied to that very day, is a sticky, and is run/organised by a mod; and you have have been given absolutely no permission to do so.

It should also be noted that you should never "just go ahead and do something" because you have not received a reply yet.

---

As the thread has been run/organised by Alarra, if you have updated the list, you should have waited for her response (a PM directly to her to make sure she saw this thread would also have been acceptable). At most, in this instance you might have also wanted to post your new list to the existing thread. That way she could easily copy and paste it should she decide to use it and others can directly use that post in the meantime.

---

Finally, my thoughts. People who have had their name changed or have been inactive should not be removed from the list. The only people who should be removed are those who have been banned (as they can't request to have themselves removed) or those who have requested their names be removed (and yes, I consider having multiple birthdays a request to be removed).

Changed names should either be updated in the main list (if known) or asterisked (not necessarily with an asterisk) to indicate that the current name is not known.

[Alarra]

I'm happy to allow you to take over running the birthday thread, as I have been a slacker and not updated the old thread in some time. I will be unstickying the old thread and stickying your new one.

I do agree that inactive posters should not be removed. A better solution might be to move inactive posters to a separate spoiler, where they can easily be moved back into the regular list should they become active again.

[Asthix]

Definitely any confusion came from me not waiting for moderator input. So let this show that no matter how excited you are about something, you should still wait for permission if you're not sure.


I'm happy to allow you to take over running the birthday thread, as I have been a slacker and not updated the old thread in some time. I will be unstickying the old thread and stickying your new one.

The torch has been passed.:smallcool: Thank you!

Now, to the issues:


People who have had their name changed or have been inactive should not be removed from the list. Changed names should either be updated in the main list (if known) or asterisked (not necessarily with an asterisk) to indicate that the current name is not known.

The names that no longer exist due to name change are the one part of the old thread that I didn't put into its own list. I'm afraid I just deleted them. I suppose I could go through the old list again (in my spare time of course) and find them. It's just that the reason I updated the list in the first place is because I could see it would really benefit from an update. I don't think I'd have the motivation to track down those changed names. Frankly I don't know what to do about those old names now.


I do agree that inactive posters should not be removed. A better solution might be to move inactive posters to a separate spoiler, where they can easily be moved back into the regular list should they become active again.

I took Lex-kat's (and your) advice and put a spoiler spoiler at the bottom of the birthday thread. The reasons I took the trouble to look at everybody's last activity and separate those who hadn't been active in over a year were:
To cut down on Editing time during daily updates.
I figured the chances of someone who hadn't been on in over a year seeing my efforts was very low.

And finally, don't do what I did.


It's generally not a good idea to post a duplicate thread when we have a "one topic, one thread" rule; the previous thread has not reached 50 pages, is on the first page, has been replied to that very day, is a sticky, and is run/organised by a mod; and you have have been given absolutely no permission to do so.

It should also be noted that you should never "just go ahead and do something" because you have not received a reply yet.

[Rawhide]

The names that no longer exist due to name change are the one part of the old thread that I didn't put into its own list. I'm afraid I just deleted them. I suppose I could go through the old list again (in my spare time of course) and find them. It's just that the reason I updated the list in the first place is because I could see it would really benefit from an update. I don't think I'd have the motivation to track down those changed names. Frankly I don't know what to do about those old names now.

Changed names is one thing I consider very important to remain, at the very least in their own spoiler or asterisked. As does at least one person who has already replied to the thread. If you had asked before starting, you could have saved a lot of time and effort...

[Asthix]

Ok. I'll get on it and make sure that gets put into the inactive posters list.

EDIT: If there's anything else I can do about the birthday thread let me know.

[Roland St. Jude]

...The names that no longer exist due to name change are the one part of the old thread that I didn't put into its own list. I'm afraid I just deleted them. I suppose I could go through the old list again (in my spare time of course) and find them. It's just that the reason I updated the list in the first place is because I could see it would really benefit from an update. I don't think I'd have the motivation to track down those changed names. Frankly I don't know what to do about those old names now...


Changed names is one thing I consider very important to remain, at the very least in their own spoiler or asterisked. As does at least one person who has already replied to the thread. If you had asked before starting, you could have saved a lot of time and effort...
But since you didn't, it's going to take some extra work to make it right. Fortunately, all name changes are recorded here. (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=108349) Part of the reason that we are so strict about posting in the proper format in that so that old names can be linked to new names.

[Lex-Kat]

I took Lex-kat's (and your) advice and put a spoiler spoiler at the bottom of the birthday thread.
:smallredface: This was Happyturtle and Alarra's idea, actually. I just suggested not removing anyone's name, unless they were banned and editting those with changed names. :smallsmile:

[Asthix]

Lex-kat: Of course. Thanks to happyturtle for the suggestion.

Changed names is one thing I consider very important to remain, at the very least in their own spoiler or asterisked. As does at least one person who has already replied to the thread. If you had asked before starting, you could have saved a lot of time and effort...

Gotcha. I should at least make a separate spoiler for them. I could instead integrate those names into the spoiler I already have at the bottom of the post?

Should I do anything else?

[Rawhide]

Gotcha. I should at least make a separate spoiler for them. I could instead integrate those names into the spoiler I already have at the bottom of the post?

Should I do anything else?

If you're going the spoiler route, I'd suggest using a separate spoiler for the old names of people with changed names.

If you want even more work, you can follow Roland's suggestion and use the name change thread to update most of them (delete the old names from the spoiler and place the new name in the actual list).

[Deathslayer7]

if you want to find old posters who havent been active in over a year, print out the birthday list and cross check it with your list. Once all the names have been crossed off that you have, the rest should be the old posters.