|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: Clearer thread titles for Purgatory?
|
Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
|
Posted
I think someone mentioned this a while back but not in the right place. I'd like to mention it again.
Currently in Purgatory on the first page we have quote:
Are these people complete prats?
15 Minutes
You want fries* with that?
and
Satisfied?
none of which give the slightest clue as to what the thread is actually about.
Thinking back a while, What happened to all the fish was a memorable title but one that meant I completely missed the discussion on the mistaken assumption it was about depleting stocks of herring in the North Sea.
Might there be something to be gained by calling for a bit more clarity?
--------------------
Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
Dunno, given what people think is clear and simple, I am not certain it would be much of an improvement.
This used to annoy me a bit, but a quick glance at the first post in any thread doesn't take an incredible amount of time.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
pererin
Shipmate
# 16956
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
This used to annoy me a bit, but a quick glance at the first post in any thread doesn't take an incredible amount of time.
It does if you're creating a new thread, and you're trying to make sure there isn't already one on the same topic lurking under a stupid obscurantist name.
--------------------
"They go to and fro in the evening, they grin like a dog, and run about through the city." (Psalm 59.6)
Posts: 446 | From: Llantrisant | Registered: Feb 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
Given the short portion of the title displayed, I am not certain this is anything other than inevitable, regardless of intent.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Organ Builder
Shipmate
# 12478
|
Posted
Hmmm...if you are opening a thread, I can tell you I'm far more likely to open it and read the OP if I'm not quite certain what the thread is about. It piques my natural curiosity. You could title a thread "Churches paying for publicity access" and I wouldn't give it a second glance. If you title it "What price fame?" I'll read at least the first paragraph of the OP and might click on a link if it's presented well enough.
If we were getting 20 or 30 new threads started each day, a little more clarity in the titles would probably be necessary. I don't know what the averages are, but I suspect we don't average 20 new threads per day on the entire Ship. I'd be surprised if Purg averages more than five new threads per day--and of that five or less, some of them have very clear titles.
--------------------
How desperately difficult it is to be honest with oneself. It is much easier to be honest with other people.--E.F. Benson
Posts: 3337 | From: ...somewhere in between 40 and death... | Registered: Mar 2007
| IP: Logged
|
|
Porridge
Shipmate
# 15405
|
Posted
If we're going for clearer thread titles, why restrict it to Purg?
Personally, I'm happy with the way things are; I have no problem reading OPs if I want to know what a given discussion is about. And much would be lost if we applied the clarity principle elsewhere. I love that the cooking thread in Heaven is titled "Burnt Offerings."
[ 07. October 2013, 16:47: Message edited by: Porridge ]
Posts: 3925 | From: Upper right corner | Registered: Jan 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by pererin:
It does if you're creating a new thread, and you're trying to make sure there isn't already one on the same topic lurking under a stupid obscurantist name.
One person's stupid obscurantism is another's witty allusion. It's like book titles - you want to both attract attention and encapsulate something about your take on the topic.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
|
Posted
That would be an even better standard, but failing that I'd prefer clarity to things along the lines of "satisfied" or "not again" or "what do you think about this?"
--------------------
Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Sipech
Shipmate
# 16870
|
Posted
It's the art of clickbaiting. There can be a fine line between that and trolling.
Make sure it's interesting, but don't be misleading. If someone started a thread called "Dawkins and the gay-friendly mass" I'm sure that would get a lot of curious clicks. I'm not proposing that anyone does that; it's probably unwarranted.
Posts: 3791 | From: On the corporate ladder | Registered: Jan 2012
| IP: Logged
|
|
RuthW
liberal "peace first" hankie squeezer
# 13
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
I love that the cooking thread in Heaven is titled "Burnt Offerings."
Me too. I also love that it has a subheading: "recipe thread, 2013."
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Given the short portion of the title displayed, I am not certain this is anything other than inevitable, regardless of intent.
When you're on the page for Purgatory, you get the entire thread title.
Posts: 24453 | From: La La Land | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Jengie jon
Semper Reformanda
# 273
|
Posted
Suggestion: Start reading the boards through the recent updates link where you will see not just the title but the opening lines of recent posts.
Jengie
--------------------
"To violate a persons ability to distinguish fact from fantasy is the epistemological equivalent of rape." Noretta Koertge
Back to my blog
Posts: 20894 | From: city of steel, butterflies and rainbows | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by RuthW:
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Given the short portion of the title displayed, I am not certain this is anything other than inevitable, regardless of intent.
When you're on the page for Purgatory, you get the entire thread title.
True. I fade back to my original comment of one person's clear is another's murky.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Ariel
Shipmate
# 58
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Jengie Jon:
Suggestion: Start reading the boards through the recent updates link where you will see not just the title but the opening lines of recent posts.
If you do that you only get the most popular/recently posted to threads and they will be a mixture of the "top 10" of the various boards. You can miss out on some potentially quite interesting threads that were posted when there were fewer people around and have since gone dormant. If you go via the standard menu, it's all laid out in front of you and you get to pick and choose. Truncated thread titles are a small price to pay for that, IMO.
Though having said that, the Earwig O'Agen thread title annoyed me a lot (sorry) because I kept on reading it as "Earwig O'Hagan" and wondering who on earth that was supposed to be.
Posts: 25445 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Doublethink.
Ship's Foolwise Unperson
# 1984
|
Posted
Pros and cons wise, there's clarity - and then there are the terrible things that happen to shippie's blood pressure if you fiddle with their carefully honed phrases ...
--------------------
All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome. George Orwell
Posts: 19219 | From: Erehwon | Registered: Aug 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Moo
Ship's tough old bird
# 107
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Though having said that, the Earwig O'Agen thread title annoyed me a lot (sorry) because I kept on reading it as "Earwig O'Hagan" and wondering who on earth that was supposed to be.
That one confused me too. We don't need that much cuteness.
Moo
--------------------
Kerygmania host
---------------------
See you later, alligator.
Posts: 20365 | From: Alleghany Mountains of Virginia | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Og, King of Bashan
Ship's giant Amorite
# 9562
|
Posted
I'm on a home brewing forum that gets at least 20-30 new threads per day. Let me tell you, clever yet somewhat unclear titles are much better than some of the homebrewtalk new brewer thread title greatest hits, such as "Would this work?" "Did I Screw Up?" "Help!" and "I'm an idiot!". I'll happily take the ship's creative license culture.
--------------------
"I like to eat crawfish and drink beer. That's despair?" ― Walker Percy
Posts: 3259 | From: Denver, Colorado, USA | Registered: May 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Porridge
Shipmate
# 15405
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Though having said that, the Earwig O'Agen thread title annoyed me a lot (sorry) because I kept on reading it as "Earwig O'Hagan" and wondering who on earth that was supposed to be.
At the risk of getting myself branded as one who reads with her lips moving, I simply sounded it out when I saw it, realized what it meant, and, with Syria recently in the news, understood what the thread would be about without reading it.
If I had issues with the title, it was that it seemed too light-hearted for such a serious topic.
But different strokes & all that.
--------------------
Spiggott: Everything I've ever told you is a lie, including that.
Moon: Including what?
Spiggott: That everything I've ever told you is a lie.
Moon: That's not true!
Posts: 3925 | From: Upper right corner | Registered: Jan 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
Nicolemr
Shipmate
# 28
|
Posted
I've always wondered why the weight loss thread in All Saints is called Safe from Kidnapping.
--------------------
On pilgrimage in the endless realms of Cyberia, currently traveling by ship. Now with live journal!
Posts: 11803 | From: New York City "The City Carries On" | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
The bicycling thread, "My Chain Fell Off," is most admirably named, to anybody familiar with Charles Wesley's oeuvre.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Soror Magna
Shipmate
# 9881
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Though having said that, the Earwig O'Agen thread title annoyed me a lot (sorry) because I kept on reading it as "Earwig O'Hagan" and wondering who on earth that was supposed to be.
At the risk of getting myself branded as one who reads with her lips moving, I simply sounded it out when I saw it, realized what it meant, and, with Syria recently in the news, understood what the thread would be about without reading it....
Nope, still no clue whatsoever. What do earwigs have to do with Syria?
--------------------
"You come with me to room 1013 over at the hospital, I'll show you America. Terminal, crazy and mean." -- Tony Kushner, "Angels in America"
Posts: 5430 | From: Caprica City | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
no prophet's flag is set so...
Proceed to see sea
# 15560
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Nicolemr:
I've always wondered why the weight loss thread in All Saints is called Safe from Kidnapping.
I had no idea that is what it is about. I thought it was something to do with children and worries for the safety, which some casual reading did not clarify.
--------------------
Out of this nettle, danger, we pluck this flower, safety.
\_(ツ)_/
Posts: 11498 | From: Treaty 6 territory in the nonexistant Province of Buffalo, Canada ↄ⃝' | Registered: Mar 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
The bicycling thread, "My Chain Fell Off," is most admirably named, to anybody familiar with Charles Wesley's oeuvre.
The actual thread title is quote:
"My chain fell off.....": A cycling thread
which is admirably clear as well as witty, along Firenze's book title lines.
--------------------
Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Soror Magna:
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Though having said that, the Earwig O'Agen thread title annoyed me a lot (sorry) because I kept on reading it as "Earwig O'Hagan" and wondering who on earth that was supposed to be.
At the risk of getting myself branded as one who reads with her lips moving, I simply sounded it out when I saw it, realized what it meant, and, with Syria recently in the news, understood what the thread would be about without reading it....
Nope, still no clue whatsoever. What do earwigs have to do with Syria?
Ear - wi - g O' - Agen
Here - we - go - again
The title has naught to do with earwigs or {i[directly[/i] with Syria.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
mousethief
Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Ear - wi - g O' - Agen
Here - we - go - again
That's really lame. And clear as mud.
--------------------
This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...
Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
The 'Safe from Kidnapping' riffs on the idea that whatever the downsides of being overweight, at least it makes you difficult to snatch off the streets.
This may not always be the case.
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Boogie
Boogie on down!
# 13538
|
Posted
I am a member of a (labrador) forum which insists on clear, understandable thread titles.
It's boring!
I love the enigmatic ones - and once you have discovered what it's about you know anyway.
This is a board for unrest after all ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Soror Magna
Shipmate
# 9881
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by lilBuddha:
Ear - wi - g O' - Agen
Here - we - go - again
The title has naught to do with earwigs or {i[directly[/i] with Syria.
"This verbal class distinction by now should be antique." -- Prof. Henry Higgins
Seriously, if a thread title is only meaningful to people with a particular accent, it's by definition meaningless to anyone else. And deliberately so.
Posts: 5430 | From: Caprica City | Registered: Jul 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Adam.
Like as the
# 4991
|
Posted
This is the kind of issue where I'm glad we leave the larger part of discretion to our OPs. Choosing a good title is part of the art of writing a good OP. I'd hate to see that aspect of shiply life taken over by too many rules. On some other boards (I'm not as familiar with purg), the hosts will edit a title if there's an obvious mispelling or if it's far too general (otherwise Eccles would be full of threads entitled "a question"), but otherwise like a title sink of swim on its own.
--------------------
Ave Crux, Spes Unica!
Preaching blog
Posts: 8164 | From: Notre Dame, IN | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
|
Posted
There is no accounting for taste.
If, however, you find a particular Shipmate is annoying you regularly with their thread titles, might I suggest you could always attempt to knock some sense into them by calling them to Hell.
--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Sarkycow
La belle Dame sans merci
# 1012
|
Posted
Bit boring in Hell lately is it orfeo?
Stop trying to drum up trade ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
--------------------
“Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.”
Posts: 10787 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sarkycow:
Bit boring in Hell lately is it orfeo?
I had to act decisively to restrict discussions of car driving and car parking to only 2 threads rather than 3. Need I say more?
--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
JoannaP
Shipmate
# 4493
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
quote:
Originally posted by Nicolemr:
I've always wondered why the weight loss thread in All Saints is called Safe from Kidnapping.
I had no idea that is what it is about. I thought it was something to do with children and worries for the safety, which some casual reading did not clarify.
I think the previous incarnation of the thread had a link to this page.
--------------------
"Freedom for the pike is death for the minnow." R. H. Tawney (quoted by Isaiah Berlin)
"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Benjamin Franklin
Posts: 1877 | From: England | Registered: May 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
St Everild
Shipmate
# 3626
|
Posted
Last years weight loss thread was titled "Fat People are Harder to Kidnap" which might cast some light on this year's title?
Posts: 1782 | From: Bethnei | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
|
Posted
[shamelessly birdwalking]
quote:
Originally posted by JoannaP:
quote:
Originally posted by no prophet:
quote:
Originally posted by Nicolemr:
I've always wondered why the weight loss thread in All Saints is called Safe from Kidnapping.
I had no idea that is what it is about. I thought it was something to do with children and worries for the safety, which some casual reading did not clarify.
I think the previous incarnation of the thread had a link to this page.
wow. from that link:
quote:
Due to the lapse in government funding, this website is not available.
We sincerely regret this inconvenience.
Uncylopedia is government funded? while I'm aware it's probably not true and just making a point, it still makes me REAL CURIOUS where my tax dollars go.
--------------------
Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Porridge
Shipmate
# 15405
|
Posted
**(Raising head too far above handy parapet)**
AHEM, flaming sky-object. Isn't there an existing thread on thread derailment? Or should there be?
--------------------
Spiggott: Everything I've ever told you is a lie, including that.
Moon: Including what?
Spiggott: That everything I've ever told you is a lie.
Moon: That's not true!
Posts: 3925 | From: Upper right corner | Registered: Jan 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
RooK
1 of 6
# 1852
|
Posted
Strictly speaking, comets are icy.
Posts: 15274 | From: Portland, Oregon, USA, Earth | Registered: Nov 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
|
Posted
Although periodically they heat up and things get really spectacular.
--------------------
Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
|
Posted
Is this the point on the thread where I flounce?
--------------------
Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
comet
Snowball in Hell
# 10353
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Porridge:
**(Raising head too far above handy parapet)**
AHEM, flaming sky-object. Isn't there an existing thread on thread derailment? Or should there be?
moi?
yeah. okay. whoops.
(I was going to say "bite me" but the Styx hosts are looking...)
--------------------
Evil Dragon Lady, Breaker of Men's Constitutions
"It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.” -Calvin
Posts: 17024 | From: halfway between Seduction and Peril | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Earwig
Pincered Beastie
# 12057
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Ariel:
Though having said that, the Earwig O'Agen thread title annoyed me a lot (sorry) because I kept on reading it as "Earwig O'Hagan" and wondering who on earth that was supposed to be.
I had a couple of confused days when that thread first started...
[ 09. October 2013, 10:23: Message edited by: Earwig ]
Posts: 3120 | From: Yorkshire | Registered: Nov 2006
| IP: Logged
|
|
Welease Woderwick
Sister Incubus Nightmare
# 10424
|
Posted
Some of us have confused days every day of the week!
--------------------
I give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Fancy a break in South India?
Accessible Homestay Guesthouse in Central Kerala, contact me for details
What part of Matt. 7:1 don't you understand?
Posts: 48139 | From: 1st on the right, straight on 'til morning | Registered: Sep 2005
| IP: Logged
|
|
Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
|
Posted
And, when it isn't a confused day it's just too confusing!
--------------------
Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Adeodatus
Shipmate
# 4992
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
Is this the point on the thread where I flounce?
You could start a thread about curtain making with that title.
--------------------
"What is broken, repair with gold."
Posts: 9779 | From: Manchester | Registered: Sep 2003
| IP: Logged
|
|
Firenze
Ordinary decent pagan
# 619
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Adeodatus:
quote:
Originally posted by Eutychus:
Is this the point on the thread where I flounce?
You could start a thread about curtain making with that title.
I think it would need to be: Is this the point on the flounce where I thread?
Posts: 17302 | From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jun 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Eutychus
From the edge
# 3081
|
Posted
It's curtains for me then.
--------------------
Let's remember that we are to build the Kingdom of God, not drive people away - pastor Frank Pomeroy
Posts: 17944 | From: 528491 | Registered: Jul 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
|
Posted
Just pull yourself together man!
--------------------
It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Alan Cresswell
Mad Scientist 先生
# 31
|
Posted
Time to draw things to a close?
--------------------
Don't cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.
Posts: 32413 | From: East Kilbride (Scotland) or 福島 | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Pyx_e
Quixotic Tilter
# 57
|
Posted
Good Call.
--------------------
It is better to be Kind than right.
Posts: 9778 | From: The Dark Tower | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
RooK
1 of 6
# 1852
|
Posted
I'm blinded by your puns.
Posts: 15274 | From: Portland, Oregon, USA, Earth | Registered: Nov 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Printer-friendly view
