We Need An "Automatic-Search and Response to New Posts" Function
Its not that I don't like seeing posts from new forum members and new furries in general, but seeing the exact same question posted for the umpteenth time starts to get tiresome. I know there is a "Related Topics" area on the left-hand menu and sticky posts for FAQ's and "Read this First", and I'm sure they help reduce the redundancy. But, I think it's time for a more pro-active approach.
I was wondering if it would be possible for the forum software to search each New Topic's post and return an abridged list of prior messages that may answer the person's question. Then, if they felt this was insufficient, they could go ahead and post the the new topic.
just a thought
rech
Okay, so I did a bit of googling, joined a user group or two and i was directed toward this:
Interesting! That's not a Drupal module, but that does give me some ideas for a future module. Thanks!
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Possible? Sure. Do I have the time to write something like that right now? Not likely, because I'm up to my eyeballs in our 2009 registration system.
Do you speak PHP, by any chance? Drupal is fairly modular, and it wouldn't be too difficult for someone to create a module that does what you describe, then I could drop it into our current installation.
Incidentally, I think the "related posts" block will be going away soon, because it has the unfortunate side effect of pulling up posts from past conventions, which is kinda non-optimal...
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