Embarrassingly newbie question, I think... is there a way to order threads on the discussion boards so that they go in order of last comment, instead of last posted?  In other words, I want the most active threads to be on top, and get bumped each time someone posts a response.  Rather than the default order, which seems to be that the thread that was posted last, is on top (which means interesting threads from a few days ago are several pages back where I won't see them, and uninteresting recent threads are there on top).  I didn't find any way to change the ordering, either on the discussion boards themselves, or in my profile.  Am I just too dumb to find it, or is it not an option?

The only options I know of as far as threads go is the tree versus flat layout, but that doesn't speak to your request.

The option has been debated with some worrying that recent threads will get buried by old threads that should die anyways, and that some trolls could keep bringing them out by posting inanities on them thus spoiling the site.

Once in a while TER will "pin" one of their own posts so it stays on top for a few days. The current top thread on the San Fransisco board is an example. Another recent one was when they had the World Cup competition for free VIP days. Other than that, the newest threads will always be on top, and threads do not get bumped because they have new posts.

Thanks guys.   Before I take this to the suggestion forum ... am I the only one who likes the "order by last response" version better than the "order by when first posted"?  I kind of feel like with the first model, the crowd keeps the most interesting threads on top.

For the very reasons mrfisher stated. Normally by the time a thread falls off the first page it has run it's course anyway.

I'm on a few boards where, just like flat/tree, you can choose first-posted/last-response for the ordering, right at the top of forum (or as a default in your profile).  Nearly everyone chooses last-response ordering, but for you guys who like first-posted, you could keep it that way.  I'll try to get used to the board as-is before making suggestions, but perhaps in a few weeks I'll do so.  thanks again

I wonder if the differing views on this are based on traffic ... on a very low traffic forum (which, based on stats just posted, the SF regional forum was until a week ago), first-posted ordering makes more sense to me.  If the pattern holds and the SF forum gets adopted as the de facto forum from the folks from now-defunct site, in a high-traffic forum, you really want the most interesting topics to float to the top (for a number of reasons, including the same questions being asked over and over), and the contributors are the best ones to determine what's interesting.  In any case, I'm on some forums that let users just pick how they want their ordering ... just like you can pick flat/tree right at the top of the forum, you can also pick first-posted/last-response, so if you like old posts to age out of the forum, they will (for you).  I'm going to give the current method a longer try before suggesting anything, though

-- Modified on 6/30/2014 10:50:47 AM

END OF MESSAGE

It has been suggested before. I think TER even tried it a few years ago, but it didn't work out for the reasons mrf stated.  
As you say, the crowd can keep the most interesting thread on top, but also one troll could keep a stupid thread on top. Also think of the ad board. TER allows providers one ad per week. So new ads will always push old ads down, but with your idea, shills could keep a lady's ad on the top by continually posting replies to it. In fact the ads might have been the issue when TER did try your idea few years back.  
 
Anyway, go ahead and post on the S&P. That's what that board is for, but expect the same kind of arguments you are getting here.

If you use the "search" feature and search the default "0-30 days back", the most current comment will be displayed. Of course, you might not know which thread it's attached to unless you read the comment.