A Plea: Please don't make your thread titles vague

Amy SF

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Maybe it's because of my time as a mod on the "other board", but vague thread titles really bother me. For example, when your thread only says PLEASE HELP ME!, it doesn't tell me what the thread is actually about. It could be about anything. And I'm sure I'm not the only one on the board who doesn't take the extra minute to see which forum the thread is posted in. Clarifying what your thread is about in the title would be a big help. Let's say you're asking for help in choosing which perennials to plant, and I know I can't help you because I have no experience in that area. I won't have to open the thread if you mention that in the title. If you post a vague thread title and you realize you need to edit it, you have that ability. Just look on the screen in the upper right corner where it says thread tools. In the drop down menu, select edit title.

Thank you! :)
 
If people see vague thread titles, you can also report them (there's a button that says report underneath each post) and the mods will change them to something clear. If they're not reported, I for one am unlikely to notice. :)
 
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yes, the 'please help' one always pops out at me, and I wonder if I can help, and then I realise it is just that thread.
 
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Personally, I don't mind them. It piques my curiosity. :D I can see how it can be annoying though.
 
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Yea, I do the same. Every time I see a vague thread title, my first thought is "is this some kind of a trick to draw me in"

Some people do that a lot on some forums.

They cut titles short on my local news paper site, and sometimes I just have to know how the sentence ends....I think that's called click baiting...
 
If this was about the thread I started in the companion animal section, then I apologize if my thread title wasn't specific enough to warrant the attention of readers who would assume that I or any other regular poster would post 'click bait'. I assumed that one would know which section of the forum one was reading, as I always do, and then would have the option of clicking or not clicking on a thread. I pretty much always look at every new thread that people post and then reply if there's anything that I feel I can contribute. I'll be sure to make my titles extremely specific from now on though.
 
I don't think people need to be anxious, or apologise. I think some people go "what's new" to look at threads, where you don't always notice where each thread is, whereas other people browse forums/pay more attention. Clear thread titles are helpful, but it isn't the end of the world, and if one gets changed nobody is in trouble/etc... it's more a matter of preference / difference in browsing styles than anything.

I don't think anybody on this forum ever creates vague titles to purposefully draw people in. Sometimes it's hard to know what to name a thread. :shrug:
 
If this was about the thread I started in the companion animal section, then I apologize if my thread title wasn't specific enough to warrant the attention of readers who would assume that I or any other regular poster would post 'click bait'. I assumed that one would know which section of the forum one was reading, as I always do, and then would have the option of clicking or not clicking on a thread. I pretty much always look at every new thread that people post and then reply if there's anything that I feel I can contribute. I'll be sure to make my titles extremely specific from now on though.

Yes.
 
If this was about the thread I started in the companion animal section, then I apologize if my thread title wasn't specific enough to warrant the attention of readers who would assume that I or any other regular poster would post 'click bait'. I assumed that one would know which section of the forum one was reading, as I always do, and then would have the option of clicking or not clicking on a thread. I pretty much always look at every new thread that people post and then reply if there's anything that I feel I can contribute. I'll be sure to make my titles extremely specific from now on though.

But just because you know what forum you're in doesn't necessarily mean you'll be interested in every topic/discussion within that forum.

That's why people like clear title threads, so they know whether or not to open the post and start reading.
 
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I don't think people need to be anxious, or apologise. I think some people go "what's new" to look at threads, where you don't always notice where each thread is, whereas other people browse forums/pay more attention. Clear thread titles are helpful, but it isn't the end of the world, and if one gets changed nobody is in trouble/etc... it's more a matter of preference / difference in browsing styles than anything.

I don't think anybody on this forum ever creates vague titles to purposefully draw people in. Sometimes it's hard to know what to name a thread. :shrug:
We can't always control what makes us anxious. Thread starting already makes me hugely anxious, as ridiculous as that may sound. So now worrying about naming a thread properly is added to: Which forum should it go in, Is there another similar thread I should just post this in, Oh no why can't I search properly-- someone just pointed out there was a similar topic, Reread prospective title 20 times before posting to avoid typos, Oh never mind I will just skip it again it was a stupid idea anyway. Etc etc anxiety mush.
 
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We can't always control what makes us anxious. Thread starting already makes me hugely anxious, as ridiculous as that may sound. So now worrying about naming a thread properly is added to: Which forum should it go in, Is there another similar thread I should just post this in, Oh no why can't I search properly-- someone just pointed out there was a similar topic, Reread prospective title 20 times before posting to avoid typos, Oh never mind I will just skip it again it was a stupid idea anyway. Etc etc anxiety mush.
:hug:
 
I never know what forum I'm in. :oops:
Thread titles don't bother me either way. If I'm on my desktop (which isn't often) I hover over the title and I'll get a little caption of what the thread is about without having to click on it. But I'm mostly on my phone. I almost always check out a thread if the title isn't clear...heaven forbid I should miss out on something good. :D
 
I never know what forum I'm in. :oops:
Thread titles don't bother me either way. If I'm on my desktop (which isn't often) I hover over the title and I'll get a little caption of what the thread is about without having to click on it. But I'm mostly on my phone. I almost always check out a thread if the title isn't clear...heaven forbid I should miss out on something good. :D

Vague titles are intriguing to me. Titles like "Help!" make me think "OMFG! It's happened! One of us is stuck on a deserted island!"
A deserted island with internet access of course.:p
 
We can't always control what makes us anxious. Thread starting already makes me hugely anxious, as ridiculous as that may sound. So now worrying about naming a thread properly is added to: Which forum should it go in, Is there another similar thread I should just post this in, Oh no why can't I search properly-- someone just pointed out there was a similar topic, Reread prospective title 20 times before posting to avoid typos, Oh never mind I will just skip it again it was a stupid idea anyway. Etc etc anxiety mush.

:hug: I'm sorry, I didn't mean that you should just stop being anxious.

What I meant to do was to reassure that this thread isn't a mod post, people aren't going to get "in trouble" if the threads are in the wrong place/etc. Even if things get moved/changed that doesn't mean they've done anything wrong, it's just sort of, tidying up (and most people/mods have different ideas about what's tidy anyway!).