Shoutbox auto-pruning

Just a short note to let everyone know that the shoutbox will now be cleared of shouts older than 24 hours once a day. This is to save database space.

I just find that function very good. It is as if it only used to half it's potential. You want to keep the data but next day it will be thrown away just to say database space, pllleeeeeeassse.

Either this or that, Well that is what I think. Nothin works half way!

I don't quite get what you're saying, Saiming. We don't want to keep the data - shouts don't need to be stored permanently. And you seem to be disagreeing with it, yet you say it's "very good"?

Sorry Mike, had a bit of a rush :P

Well what I mean is that, that the function is good, but the way you have used it is bad.

It feels as thought you are useing only half of it's "potential". I find that if you now are going to make use if this "storaging-thing" why delete all the data after 24 hours?

What is the point in saving it when it will be deleted within 24 hours.

Is it more clear now?

I now understand what Saiming is saying, though it took quite some effort to do so. :laugh:

He is basically saying that if the data is going to be deleted eventually, why store it at all? What is the point?

My response is this: the data isn't really "saved" as such. It's just left in there. Think about it - someone posts a shout to the shoutbox, it has to be stored somewhere so that other users may read it. I suppose the question is, therefore, how long does it need to be there to allow others to read it before it can be considered suitable for deletion?

I guess the answer to this question is that 24 hours is probably a little bit of a long time for that specific purpose. Something like an hour would actually be more suitable. However, just in case anyone gets a kick out of looking through old shouts, or things need to be looked up, or whatever, I thought 24 hours would be suitable. Plus, it's a pretty typical time period for something to be cleared after: one day.

Hope that clears thing up a little.

Yupp :P

I like having it for a good few hours because if someone has posted a link or said something useful I can always go back and find it when I have the time.

A similar system is now in place for use with the pager system, except the cutoff point is one week as opposed to 24 hours.