A finer-grained variant of this that matters for most discussion groups (not just Q&A) is:
“Show me topics with no reply that are from n00bs”
Making sure n00bs get a fast reply to their first two-three topics goes a long way toward encouraging them to become regular participants. Some of these folks are taking their first foray into posting in an online forum and it’s important their posts don’t get lost in the noise or they’re reasonably likely to think that the forum is a waste of time and never post again.
So having some way to highlight these topics to my senior/helpful users would be great.
Options:
- Search query: “topics with no reply with authors with a post count of less than 3” (could also use trust levels to identify n00bs)
- Highlight these topic titles in a different color on the homepage for users who are Trust Level 2/3 and above
- Create notifications for these topics for T2/3 users and above
- Create a new tab next to “top” that shows up for only senior members
Personally, I think #1 + #2 is ideal. That way my regulars get a visual nudge to welcome someone, plus my welcome team can search regularly to make sure no topics got missed.