Continuing the discussion from The MEGATOPIC: public good, or public menace?:
I would like to set a topic timer to auto delete replies, so that our users could chat in a very long topic. Due to some very specific reasons, we don’t enable chat for all users.
I wonder whether this action will affect performance of other functions. Or is there any better to help with that?
Thank you! 
Hi 
The issue with mega topics as outlined in the topic you linked above is that they are near impossible to read and understand fully. So in my opinion it depends what the mega topic is about? I ask this because if there is useful or important information somewhere in that topic you don’t want to delete replies in it. If this is not the case, I can’t see an issue with removing old posts? Perhaps consider the skip auto delete reply likes site setting so posts with x amount of likes don’t get deleted.
Other thoughts…
Why not utilise Personal Messages? I tend to find that topics that start getting big derail completely eventually. So asking users to use personal messages (not chat since you don’t allow it for all users) could help so the topic does not get clogged up.
Furthermore, from an organisational point of view, perhaps split replies into topics if it seems more relevant? That way it is easier for users to find posts and don’t have to look through a massive topic. (even if the search feature is amazing)
Another idea is to decrease the auto close topics post count setting so topics are not allowed to get so big.
My solution would be:
Close the current topic explaining the navigation issues of mega topics and alternatives available such as personal messages [1]. If needs be, create a new topic and enable slow mode so replies are thought out better and it doesn’t become a mess.
Assuming you have these enabled. I have just realised I’ve been banging on about them with no knowledge if you do or not ↩︎
Thank you!
The megatopic in our forum doesn’t have a specific topic. It’s about causal chat and sharing life moments. I will consider your sincere advice!