Thread:Andrewds1021/@comment-34285079-20181123114019/@comment-9605025-20181123233143

Could you give an example where I am not responding to someone else's necro post?

Yes, having an auto lock would help; in fact, there is a script for it in the FANDOM Open Source Library (I think). However, necro posting is not inherently bad. What is bad is necro posting for no significant reason; like commenting "I agree!".

Sometimes, necro posting occurs simply because new users don't know any better. The most common form I have seen is that they have a question that is only somewhat related to the original topic and just post at the end thinking that a thread is for an entire topic rather than a specific issue. Another common reason is that they have the same issue but don't realize that the cause and/or solution may have changed if the original post was made a while ago.

There are some good reasons for necro posting. For example, if you know the same bug is happening again or if there is critical new information that should be shared with future readers. When I say critical, I don't mean something like "I cleared my cookies and it works."; I mean something like "This extension has been disabled due to security concerns.". Although, the latter case is rarely done as most users have better things to do with their time than comb through thousands of old threads just to provide updates; especially when it is very likely no one is even reading the thread.

Because there can be legitimate reasons for necro posting, I don't think threads should be auto locked be default. Of course, as with anything, if a particular wiki is having a significant problem with a lot of unnecessary necro posting, then sure, they could consider doing it.