Maybe pruning?

[zompist]

I worry about the phpBB database size... possibly wrongly, but it does feel to me like we start to get technical problems after a certain point. And now we have over 70,000 posts, about 1/3 the number on the old board.

The pruning up to now has been simple: there isn't any. That of course is why we have 26,000 posts in Ephemera.

I'm thinking of doing some manual pruning... mostly Ephemera topics that are at least 2 years old.

So I dunno, if you feel we really must preserve everything the board said about Trump, do say so.

[bradrn]

I'm thinking of doing some manual pruning... mostly Ephemera topics that are at least 2 years old.

I don’t love the idea of pruning, but this seems a reasonable compromise. If it’s manual, perhaps you could also focus on pruning disproportionally long threads (e.g. viewtopic.php?f=5&t=37) while saving any more valuable ones (e.g. perhaps viewtopic.php?f=5&t=60, viewtopic.php?f=5&t=206).

[zompist]

Oh, just for a bit more context: the old board (now preserved in amber, thanks to brad's work, at incatena.org) did have automatic 1-year pruning on Ephemera.

I would also trim but not eliminate some very long threads... I don't think we need 250 pages of Random.

[bradrn]

Oh, just for a bit more context: the old board … did have automatic 1-year pruning on Ephemera.

But it also had a separate ‘None of the above’ subforum, which (IIRC) experienced very little pruning, so it wasn’t entirely comparable. Current ‘Ephemera’ subsumes both of those.

I would also trim but not eliminate some very long threads... I don't think we need 250 pages of Random.

That’s not a bad idea. I do worry about losing anything of value which might be in there… but on reflection, I guess there really isn’t all that much worth keeping in Random.

[xxx]

in my opinion, everything should be erased as we go along,
to allow us to find as new, lost ideas, at random in our conversations...
anyway the future of each one is the rambling of the old man...

[alice]

My wife is a gardener; I'll ask her to recommend some good pruning shears.

[Raphael]

Thank you for the heads-up, zompist. Could you give us another heads-up if you should ever start to prune C & C or L & L?

[zompist]

Thank you for the heads-up, zompist. Could you give us another heads-up if you should ever start to prune C & C or L & L?

Well, I will be looking for off-topic stuff there. But I want to keep almost everything.

Your periodic reminder, though: don't make the ZBB the only place you keep your conworld/conlang info.

(Backups are on my mind today because my Mac backup drive has failed. I've gone to two stores which couldn't provide a new drive that works. I bought this Mac less than two years ago, and Apple doesn't support its USB-A ports any more.)

[xxx]

nothing survives for long except life itself...
use your brain and the brains of others if you have something that would exceed the life of a man...
let the dross that is already dead perish, and rely on your living memory...
and know how to perpetuate life, the only thing that matters...

[Ares Land]

Thanks for the heads up; I backed up what I wanted to keep, so you can prune away.

[bradrn]

Your periodic reminder, though: don't make the ZBB the only place you keep your conworld/conlang info.

Alas, I’ve been remiss in this… I should probably mirror my conlang descriptions onto my website. (I’d probably develop my conlangs on my website entirely, if it weren’t for the fact that doing it iteratively here is nice.)

[xxx]

I’d probably develop my conlangs on my website entirely, if it weren’t for the fact that doing it iteratively here is nice.)

The conversations of this club of explorers, should they be archived
or fade away in the air like the smoke of good cigars and imprint only the spirits intoxicated by the brandy of ideas,
while comfortably relaxed in upholstered leather sofas we abandon ourselves to confidences on our secret vices...

[bradrn]

I’d probably develop my conlangs on my website entirely, if it weren’t for the fact that doing it iteratively here is nice.)

The conversations of this club of explorers, should they be archived

I don’t know about you, but this particular explorer would prefer to make his explorations known to the world (insofar as the world is at all interested, of course).

[xxx]

um, I'm afraid that the world for us is reduced to the members of this club,
or others in which we participate,
but never mind, any wood makes fire...

[Raphael]

FWIW, I'd be a bit sad to see the Confusing Headlines Thread and the Quote Thread gone. Also the Mexica thread.

One problem with pruning Ephemera might be all those threads that are "all there is to discuss with respect to a particular topic" threads, which probably take up a fairly big share of all posts in the database. Would it perhaps be possible to prune a thread like that partly? Or would that be too much of a hassle, or outright impossible?

[bradrn]

FWIW, I'd be a bit sad to see the Confusing Headlines Thread and the Quote Thread gone. Also the Mexica thread.

He said:

mostly Ephemera topics that are at least 2 years old.

So all three are probably safe.

One problem with pruning Ephemera might be all those threads that are "all there is to discuss with respect to a particular topic" threads, which probably take up a fairly big share of all posts in the database. Would it perhaps be possible to prune a thread like that partly? Or would that be too much of a hassle, or outright impossible?

But how much of those threads is really of value? We can preserve anything good in the Quote Thread if need be.

[Raphael]

One problem with pruning Ephemera might be all those threads that are "all there is to discuss with respect to a particular topic" threads, which probably take up a fairly big share of all posts in the database. Would it perhaps be possible to prune a thread like that partly? Or would that be too much of a hassle, or outright impossible?

But how much of those threads is really of value? We can preserve anything good in the Quote Thread if need be.

But if pruning only hits threads that weren't posted to in a while, then those really large threads are unlikely to be pruned automatically. Which might be a problem if they take up so much of the database.

[Ares Land]

I like xxx's image of some sort of Victorian era club. Do I get to smoke a pipe?
In a way I sort of agree. The comparison is probably too bold, but it's probably for the best we don't get a transcript of the Inklings' pub conversations. (I don't know, though, the Tolkien estate would sell 'JRR Tolkien's Collected Angry Pub Rants' if they could and I'm not sure I wouldn't buy them.)

Like bradrn, though:

(I’d probably develop my conlangs on my website entirely, if it weren’t for the fact that doing it iteratively here is nice.)

the threads of mine I've backed up and would like to keep around owe much of their value to the format and the conversational style. (Having a conversation about the Mexica, with people asking questions or correcting mistakes is a lot more interesting than yet another essay on the subject.)

[Torco]

my first reaction is to prune-and-archive, but tbh I don't know how big the DB is.

[zompist]

One problem with pruning Ephemera might be all those threads that are "all there is to discuss with respect to a particular topic" threads, which probably take up a fairly big share of all posts in the database. Would it perhaps be possible to prune a thread like that partly? Or would that be too much of a hassle, or outright impossible?

I've done this before, with things like the Random Thread. It's easy to split the thread at a particular post, and delete the earlier posts.