No double posts allowed anymore? - This could decimate some of the Music subforum threads.

[2leftears]

Folks,

It looks like double posts are no longer allowed. Instead we are now advised to edit the previous post.

I have asked the admins to confirm this, but if that is the case that is obviously going to be a problem for the many specialised music genre threads here that are followed by many, but only posted in by few.

Since editing a previous post doesn't flag them under the "New posts" page (I think), that would mean many of these threads will go silent/dead.

 

[jonathan c]

Double posts being consecutive posts?

 

[2leftears]

Double posts being consecutive posts?

Indeed. You used to be able to make two (or more) consecutive posts, even though the posting guidelines asked you not to do that.

Now an error appears:

Oops! We ran into some problems.

Double posting replies goes against the posting guidelines. Please use the Edit feature to amend your previous post.

However, this is a problem for many of the threads in the Music forum dedicated to specific/niche genres. Some threads get a decent number of views, but have only very few posters knowledgeable in the genre.

If you happen to be one of relatively few people posting in one of those threads, you can't add a new post to feature a new band like I do in mine (J-Rock), at least not until someone else has posted a reply. And adding them to your last post means the post watchers don't get a notification. For some threads that means they go dead.

I think it is already happening, The list of new post in the Music forum seems to have come down rapidly. But maybe that is precisely what the admins were aiming for; they haven't responded

EDIT: although annoying, I suppose one has to realise Head-Fi is first and foremost an advertising website for the sponsors. So anything that takes up server space/bandwidth but isn't necessarily related to promotion of their products they can clamp down on.

 

[Larethio]

Indeed. You used to be able to make two (or more) consecutive posts, even though the posting guidelines asked you not to do that.

Now an error appears:



However, this is a problem for many of the threads in the Music forum dedicated to specific/niche genres. Some threads get a decent number of views, but have only very few posters knowledgeable in the genre.

If you happen to be one of relatively few people posting in one of those threads, you can't add a new post to feature a new band like I do in mine (J-Rock), at least not until someone else has posted a reply. And adding them to your last post means the post watchers don't get a notification. For some threads that means they go dead.

I think it is already happening, The list of new post in the Music forum seems to have come down rapidly. But maybe that is precisely what the admins were aiming for; they haven't responded

EDIT: although annoying, I suppose one has to realise Head-Fi is first and foremost an advertising website for the sponsors. So anything that takes up server space/bandwidth but isn't necessarily related to promotion of their products they can clamp down on.

Yes this is ridiculous. Music threads are a pain in the behind now I can't post two things one after the other even though they are about different topics/songs.

 

[taffy2207]

See :-

Thread 'Resolved: Unable to reply when quoting in a thread I've quoted in before'

Jan 29, 2025

basically if I try to quote someone in a thread I've quoted someone already in a different reply that was already fully posted, I get this error

"Double posting replies goes against the posting guidelines. Please use the Edit feature to amend your previous post."

• PixelSquish
• Replies: 135
• Forum: Feedback & Bug Reports

• 

 

[jonathan c]

What problem was intended to be solved by barring 'double posting'?

 

[2leftears]

What problem was intended to be solved by barring 'double posting'?

Ask the admins; I haven't received a response yet.

There were problems in the "What Are You Listening To Right Now?" thread where some poeple ignored the moderators' repeated requests to limit posts to one per day and collate everything you listened to in a day in one single post. Maybe an admin is a fan of that thread and got fed up...

If they tried to fix that, then that is fixing the problems of one active thread by pretty much wrecking tens of other active threads in the Music forum.

EDIT: I have thought of a couple of (partial) workarounds for this problem if they don't address it, but the admins aren't going to like it since it will simply mean many more threads being created rather than many more posts.
The alternative is that a few dedicated ones of us gang up together and regularly make simple and otherwise pointless comment posts in each other's threads (even if they are genres we have no interest in), just so we can all keep posting (I'm sure the admins won't like that either).

 

[streetbeat]

I thought it's me marked as rule abuser or something lol. This one is of a less thoughtful decisions of course. Topic starter described "why" really well. Hopefully admins revert that enforcement soon.

 

[2leftears]

I thought it's me marked as rule abuser or something lol. This one is of a less thoughtful decisions of course. Topic starter described "why" really well. Hopefully admins revert that enforcement soon.

I'm afraid we have to live with the enforcement from now on; we have had no indication that this enforcement is going to be reversed.

TBH, I'm relieved they didn't decide to remove all threads that have violated this guideline in the past. I have thought of a couple of different solutions for my own thread(s); imperfect but it is an (allowed!) work-around at least, and not something the administrators would frown upon nor does it go against the spirit of the rules.

 

[Davidzak64]

This explains why I received this message. Thanks for the info.

 

[number1sixerfan]

I don't know where to amplify this, but this is an awful change. Just completely awful in how it's implemented. At least put a timestamp on it so it limits egregious double posting without harming threads that it's genuinely more natural in occurrence. A simple day limit should impact the obvious double posting for post counts and not impact the unique threads in which it just more naturally occurs.

 

[ericj]

I have a hard time believing that there was an actual problem that was solved by this.

 

[Edric Li]

Let's help each other: Niche thread self-help group

 

[balvan]

Folks,

It looks like double posts are no longer allowed. Instead we are now advised to edit the previous post.

I have asked the admins to confirm this, but if that is the case that is obviously going to be a problem for the many specialised music genre threads here that are followed by many, but only posted in by few.

Since editing a previous post doesn't flag them under the "New posts" page (I think), that would mean many of these threads will go silent/dead.

Can you explain this please? What does it mean? how do I get out of it? I can't even post "test" in a certain thread, like I'm blocked.

 

[2leftears]

Can you explain this please? What does it mean? how do I get out of it? I can't even post "test" in a certain thread, like I'm blocked.

The admins have started to enforce a posting guideline that always existed: if you are the last poster in a thread, you cannot then add another post in the thread; you have to edit & amend your last post instead.

The first problem with amending your last post is that posts will get unreasonable long, with all sorts of potentially unrelated stuff forcibly collated in one giant post.
The second problem with this is that post amendments do not get flagged under "New posts", nor do watchers of a thread get notified of the new content.

So yes, if yours was the last post in a thread then you are indeed blocked from adding additional posts in that thread until someone else has posted in the tread. Needless to say this totally sucks if you are one of only a handful of sporadic contributors to a thread.

The bad news is that you can't get out of it, it applies to every member except the sponsors who fund this forum. So you can start an audio gear venture and become a Head-Fi sponsor, then you can post whenever you want.

With this change the admins are shooting themselves in the proverbial commercials IMO, since Head-Fi has many music/gear/review/DIY threads for which this change is near-fatal; threads that help attract non-member views.

But with only a small number out of 529k members having complained so far, I suspect they won't budge on this. Which probably also indicates the majority of members are simply brand fanboys and advocates, completely aligned with Head-Fi's commercial rationale.