I've heard it mentioned that eventually stuff "drops off" the forums...but does it really? On a whim, I checked out how far back I could navigate with the page navigation buttons and I could go all the way back (with the posts per page setting that I have) to page 822...and see posts dated Dec. 23, 2001.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/13&page=1

Is it just that older posts aren't searchable/indexed and therefore fade into oblivion as part of the archive jumble with no real way to retrieve it and this has lead to the perception that posts eventually are "lost"?

I dont believe the threads actually get dropped or deleted. They just get lost in oblivion and that members dont read them again.

Yeah.... the're just kinda Filed and forgot.... but stll there...... All the forums should e searchable.......... how accurate searching is, I don't know.......

I think that the only thing that may have affected the exitance of threads could have been a server move way back. Generally, the data does not get removed. They just fall so far behind (age wise) that they are hard to navigate to. The search function in the top right should be able to retrieve anything in the database if you can get the search terms nailed down. For me one time I tried searching for something and just couldn't get the acronym correct.

Scott,

Some of that may be the limitations of the Google search engine/criteria and mapping for the posts? I don't think trying to dig back through 822 pages of stuff one at a time would excite many people, but just the fact that it's all there going back 5 years means there's a wealth of information present...if you can find it. I'm going to have to play with the Google search function here more often I think.

Bill,

the term 'dropping off the forum' refers to it no longer apearing on the 'latest post' page, i.e. it's dropped off the bottom of the list/page. A lot of people don't seem to look any further than the latest post page.

Cheers
Henk