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[compar]

This is a very difficult question to ask, but one of the problems with getting value from this forum without spending 36 hours a day on it, is the number of topics and the number of threads.

My question is why, when a new topic is started which asks a question that has previously been fully asked and answered, doesn't the administration direct the person to the germane thread?

I'm not really suggesting deleting the new topic, because maybe there is some subtle difference in the question than the first time it was asked and answered. But maybe the thread could be put on hold until the questioner had time to review the previous information and if it was not what s/he was looking for they could modify their question so as to indicate the difference and the new thread would be posted.

A case in point is this New topic. It clearly has been asked and answer several times before. Why not just direct the questioner to some old thread? Why clutter up the interesting useful stuff by answering the same question again and again?

[qwerty]

We often do exactly what you're suggesting, Bob. I saw an example just this week when Jill posted a link to a thread that dealt with the question someone was asking. Sometimes, however, a mod or administrator comes across a thread like that after a number of people have already responded to it, and it can cause continuity problems if you try to merge those two threads together.

The example you've linked to, however, is not a new thread at all. It was started on October 2, and you probably ran across it today because Don added a reply to it today.