Many people are worried that if their thread falls of the first page, that people will not see it, so they “bump” it repeatedly. What they don’t realize is that this is usually counter-productive, and often actually
reduces the chances that their thread is viewed and answered!
Why is this?
The biggest reason is because of the “
Zero Reply Posts” menu selection (which appears in the middle of the top menu). This list shows all recent threads with zero replies. Many users use this list to look for unanswered questions. However, once a reply is made to a thread, it falls off of this list. So for those who use this list to look for unanswered questions, they will not see any "bumped" threads.
Combine that with the fact that this is an international forum with experts all over the world logging on at different times during the day, many experts may never see your question because it is no longer on “
Zero Reply Posts” list, whereas if it were not “bumped”, it would still appear on that list and they may see it.
Another reason is that excessive bumping may make posters look impatient, demanding, or overanxious, which may turn off many potential helpers, thus decreasing your chances of getting a reply.
Our advice, as it applies to “bumping” your own threads is as follows:
- Wait a full 24 hours before bumping. This will allow experts all over the world to see it as an unanswered question. If posting on the weekend, you may want to wait even longer, since traffic is a lot lower on the weekends (many users do not log in on weekends)
- “Bump” your threads no more than once a day
If you find you are not getting responses, it may be because your question isn’t clear. You can respond back to your thread with clarifications. See the following two links for tips on posting complete and clear questions:
Guidelines for Forum Use
Help Us Help You
Also, please be aware of our rules referenced here:
Forum Rules, especially as it pertains to re-posting your questions (rule #12) and posting the same question on other forums (rule #13).