A Dumb Question

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JRush Guilford, CT(Zone 7a) Apr 02, 2006

What does it mean when someone posts the single word "BUMP"? I thought it was a post intended to restart a thread that had petered out, but I also see it when the thread is still active. I am positive this has been answered before, but you can guess what happened when I did a search for "bump" in the forums! It must have some meaning - but I cannot understand why someone would step in & post "bump" instead of writing a sentence or two.... (I said it was a dumb question)
Thanks
Julie

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Demstratt Lincoln Park, MI(Zone 5a) Apr 02, 2006

That's just so the post stays on top and not get buried..!!

Loretta..

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MaVieRose High Desert, CA(Zone 8a) Apr 02, 2006

the word bump is to actividate a thread that is inactive. the thread is bump so others who missed it before will have an opportunity to read it like newbies for example.

some times, the person who bump does not have anything to say, merely hoping that some one will be help with thread content.

not a dumb question at all. dumb are those that are never ask. hope that help u. ... ma vie

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Badseed Hillsboro, OH(Zone 6a) Apr 02, 2006

Julie,

It is generally frowned upon. It is one thing if something is very important or needs to be seen and read. Otherwise, it's just saying "this post is more important than the others so it should be on top". I am not saying it is always a bad thing, but it is a no-no on many websites. Here, if admin thinks a post is that important, they will give it a 'sticky' status which keeps it at the top.

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JRush Guilford, CT(Zone 7a) Apr 02, 2006

Thank you all for the input. I figured it was to keep a thread active, but I just saw it used one day after a thread was written - so I figured I was wrong. I have also seen it written a couple fo times, so the "bump" was really beginning to confuse me! Thank you also for the "sticky" explanation. I thought that was to mark a thread as controversial. Just another of the many faces of DG!
Thank you again
Julie

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Badseed Hillsboro, OH(Zone 6a) Apr 02, 2006

Okay, I am sorry but the "sticky" meaning controversial does make me laugh. LOL That is actually a good one-a sticky situation flag. :) I think most of the time we hope those ones will just sort of go away.

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kooger Oostburg, WI(Zone 5b) Apr 03, 2006

This is what Terry wrote on the 'bump' issue in FAQs:

Quoting:
The fastest way to get a thread to be at the top of the list is to post to it. However, there is a big caveat: bumping just to be "top dog" is frowned upon - a post should have something meaningful to it.

The one permissable reason for bumping "just to" is if you have a plant, pest or disease that you really need to have ID'd. When the ID forum is busy (it usually is), things can slide down the page pretty fast. It's acceptable to bump an ID request when a few days or weeks have past without any activity - sometimes it will bring it to the surface at the right time for some fresh eyes to take a look.

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JRush Guilford, CT(Zone 7a) Apr 04, 2006

I would have never made the sticky note connection - I'll bet I am the ONLY person to have made this mix up too-
But now that I do know, it IS kind of funny!
I think I will pass on ever using the "bump" technique - a sentence would do the trick too.
Kind of nice that DG has become so busy that something is necessary to prevent threads from getting lost, isn't it?

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