Talk Template Removal

[Andymii]

From Template:Talk and Category:Unresolved talk pages, respectively:

If a question gains no reply within six months time, it is recommended that the template be removed so as to only categorize recent questions.

The template may be removed from discussions that have gained no input within a period of six months, so as to only categorize recent questions. However, this is up to user discretion on a case-by-case basis.

This guideline is rarely (if ever followed). We have questions from 2013 still tagged with it. There were earlier ones, but I removed them en masse a couple of years ago. However, I remember that doing so would inevitably be frustrating. I also recieved a few messages about it. Since a lot of people seem against template removal, should this "rule" even exist?

The thing is, we do have a lot of resolved / no longer important questions still tagged with the talk template. Personally, I think that outdated talk templates should be removed – no one will decide to answer a three-year-old question even if they know an answer to it, and they just clutter Category:Unresolved talk pages and prevent more relevant questions from being answered.

"Case by case" basis is also very vague. I can certainly think a question is no longer necessary, but if for whatever reason someone is still waiting for an answer years later, there's no way for me to know.

Of course, removing old templates as they expire would be very tedious. We could facilitate removals through a bot, although I'm not sure how easy that is. Bots would also not delete templates through a case-by-case basis.



So basically,

1. Should this guideline exist in its current form?

and

2. If yes, how can we adhere to it effectively?

 

[Time Turner]

I'm fine with scrapping it entirely. Sure, if you're answering a five-year-old question, then the original asker probably isn't on the wiki anymore, but if one person had a legitimate question to ask, then it's very likely that someone else currently has that same question as well. If, through your actions, you can provide insight into something that doesn't have it, I don't see why you shouldn't go for it.

Besides, I've been on this wiki for plenty of years, and a few of my questions occasionally slip through the gaps and go unanswered. I'm still around to hear the response.

 

[Shoko]

I believe I originally suggested this rule. From when there was a huge and overwhelming backlog of categorised pages, the easiest option to prevent it from becoming that way again seemed just be dismissing old and outdated questions. If it doesn't work in practice, then I'm happy to scrap the rule too. It's not as though after six months, the issue that was raised is no longer an issue.

 

[TheFlameChomp]

I'd support removing the rule. I've seen multiple questions tagged with the template from over six months ago that still need answering.

 

[Binarystep]

I'd support removing the rule just because of how many questions I've asked that took a long time to get any sort of reply.

 

[Andymii]

Ok then. I'm going to go ahead and remove the guidelines from the appropriate pages.