Whether a thread in a forum is constantly kept at the top is basically not a matter of HTML code, but has something to do with the web script, which pulls out the topics and their contents out of the database. But that would lead us too far into details of Dynamic Web Programming and is not pertinent in this case. Basically there are numerous ways of implementing the feature of 'sticky topics' for a dynamic HTML page and I haven't programmed the forum. Hence, I don't know which way the programmer's have chosen. But that issue is only beside the point.
The original grievance from Sophie is that the proprietors of the forum are allegedly misusing their position to define threads (=topics) of their own which don't get degraded over time and stick at the top ('sticky topics'), while all other threads, commenced by GG users, are getting pushed down according to how often their are frequented. Well-frequented, hence popular threads are pushed up to the top, less frequently visited threads fall down and get eventually shoved to a next page.
I don't think that sticky topics themselves are the problem, rather how and how frequently GG administrators employ them. For some topics, the status of 'always-at-the-top' may be legitimate, such as threads for introducing oneself or latest news concerning GymGlish, while for others it's individually whether they are useful for us the majority of users.
In some departments, the sticky topics may have become too many, depending of course on which device and with which screen resolution you attend the forum: On a desktop computer with a screen resolution of 1280x1024 sticky topics are not big of a problem (except for their being moved to next pages), but on a Blackberry for example they are probably a nuisance. One would be assuredly well-adviced to confine the amount of sticky topics to what is presumably necessary and helpful for users and to, say, 3 or 4 sticky topics at most.
Another issue is whether 'sticky topics' and the GG administrators can be hold responsible for dominating and suppressing certain topics. Basically, topics are degraded due to their popularity. If the original 'Hello People' topic had been often frequented recently, it would have been upgraded and wouldn't have been moved to the 2nd page. One that note, the degradation of the topic resonated with its decreasing popularity and is not compellingly connected to 'sticky topics': Even if they WERE no sticky topics at all, it would have been moved to the next page sooner or later anyway.
Granted, 'sticky topics' are not subject to this kind of rating by popularity, even though not all sticky topics are considered useful and popular by the majority of users. Hence, there is the proposal that only a few topics for which it makes sense to be 'sticky' ought to become 'sticky', such as self-introduction threads. After all, which topics are eligible to become 'sticky' is predominantly for administrators to decide. And
Posts: 253
11 May 2011