The term "Sticky"

Where did it come from? I get that a "sticky" thread is "stuck" to the top of the forum list, but this term is confusing to some people, I have found.

What is a good alternative to this word? I believe IPB uses "Pinned" but that just sounds odd, in my opinion.

 

I've thought about changing the phrase to "featured" on mine, but I already have a Featured Thread mod that I use for a totally different purpose. Changing the phrase on my forum would just lead to confusion.

Maybe "Sticky note" with a post icon of a Post-It note would be an improvement?

 

Maybe because the thread is there and won't come off unless you take it off.

When you have glue on your hands and you like spread it around [like a little kid like I do], your hand is sticky unless you wash it off. NOW if you're using that Krazy glue.... xD

So maybe soon enough they will have 'Krazy Glued' threads.

 

Personally, I think the use of the term "sticky" is ridiculous - "pinned" (in my eyes) sounds much better (and more realistic). Think about it: such an idea can be directly related to "pinning" a note to a board. "Sticking" something to a board sounds a bit goofy.

 

I like this ^ idea very much.

Good thinking.

 

Maybe one of our resident graphics gurus could make an icon of it?

 

I had made one for my forum o.o It's on the main page as a 'new' post icon

 

I dont mind the term "sticky", "pinned" sounds good too. I do like the idea of renaming it to something different just to give "stickies" a unique edge

 

I actually don't like the term pinned.

Almost everyone that posts on a forum knows what a sticky is so I don't see why you would change it to something else because then people would be confused about what it is.

 

If you think about it, it would have made the most sense to originally call it "announcement".

 

Or alternatively, "notice".

 

Yeah, something to describe the importance/point of the thread as apposed to the fact that the thread cannot be pushed down.

But now that I think about it, "announcement" and "notice" wouldn't make as much sense if the thread was stuck for something other than rules/important information purposes. So what I just said above this is actually not true. :ohi:

 

you could call it "suspended on top" or levitating lol im so half asleep right now

 

I think MyBB has it right: "Important Threads." Of course, it's still called "sticking" and "unsticking" a thread, but only moderators and admins see that. And I think it's because of this that we've only used the word "sticky" twice at my forum.

 

Well in vBulletin's case, Announcement was already used for well announcements that can be shown in multiple forums and have a on/off date.

Again in vBulletin, Notice is used already. Though its use came after stickies. You can create notices that show on every page above the content. Different notices for different usergroups and other criteria. Its also used as "notifications" to alert you that something needs your attention like a friend request or a new Private Message. Though personally, I would have named those Alerts just to differentiate the two.

Sticky refers to "Post-It" notes which are stuck to the monitor. In the Windows OS, they are referred to Sticky Notes. Probably since Post-It is a registered trademark of the 3M Corporation and it would cost billions of dollars to use that term. Strangely enough, the vBulletin developers look to the Windows User Interface guideline documentation and terminology when building tools into the system. This is something that Microsoft spends billions of dollars on to get right so...

"Pinned" or "Tacked" might have been relavent as well especially considering the use of a thumbtack icon to represent a sticky thread but still has its limitations.

Doesn't really matter though. You can easily edit phrases in most forum systems and change it to fit your community's needs.

 

Do not confuse your users, they are likely familiar with "sticky"

 

That's the default setting. I changed mine to nailed. All the same and the members will likely understand.

 

and those of us with vBulletin have announcements and notices already

as long as the users understand what is going on it should be okay I guess

 

As funny as it may sound (and awkward), "Taped" would be an interesting term to use.

 

Taped is a really good idea, I think I am going to use that on Pisoga xDDDD I am trying to be as far from ordinary as ever.