In some sections the sheer number of pinned threads means that you can't see new threads without scrolling down. The "Plugins" and the "General help" section are the biggest victims. And some of these threads are no longer very useful (Installing Python in 2.6, for instance or the list of 2.6.11 filters), or could be merge (the three plugin installation threads for the three OSes), not speaking of some duplication between the two sections...

Just in case some admins/mods have too much time on their hands

I agree, ofnuts. I took a look and in some places there are way too many. I think it gets forgotten that they are there until someone comes a long and notices, such as you did.

Would like some input about this from members.

1. Do you think there should be a set time limit on the stickies (pinned) threads? Does 3 months sound reasonable?
   
2. What criteria should there be for making a topic a sticky?
   
3. Should there be a minimum of stickies for a forum? Once that level is reached, delete the oldest one?
   
4. Would it be helpful to have a designated person to "police" the stickies?

Our search has improved so anyone searching for a subject shouldn't have too much trouble finding subjects. Also, if anyone wants to save a topic, they can bookmark it in their profile.

Though i agree there are some that can come down, quite a few of the pinned topics are mainly for new comers of the forums, and there are many folks out there still using Gimp-2.6.We should take that into consideration.

Do you think a sub-forum for Gimp versions older than the most recent one would be helpful? Move all gimp 2.6x and older subjects to that?

As far as new users are concerned, are they going to know which stickies are helpful for them?

Some random thoughts
I can see a limit of maybe 3-4 makes sense or 1 sticky (combined) sticky list or a combined sticky list with 1 or 2 current important ones or a sticky list for the current version and a sticky list for previous versions.

Or maybe you could do that at the beginning of each section have a subsection called "Relevant Topics - Recommended Reading" and there group all the pinned threads.

The threads will still be there.. and the newcomers will usually come from Google with a direct link to the thread.

There are no new Gimpers with 2.6, they all get 2.8 by default, so everything specifically 2.6-related can be unpinned.

After that it's a question of balance, more that 3-4 threads is a bit much IMHO. Each pinned thread makes the rest a bit less accessible/visible, so pinned threads aren't completely free. Pinning a thread is only useful for threads that everyone should read, but that have little activity by themselves (active threads remain at the top of the list by themselves).

I agree Odin.
Perhaps a set up like the tutorial index.One pin for Gimp-2.6, and one for Gimp-2.8.
Everything that was originally pinned can go in those two according to the version.Anything that has to do with both can be dealt with after.

I agree that we need to unsticky old and outdated threads. I've actually unstuck quite a few threads recently so the problem could be worse that it is now.

Some threads like, "Post your patterns here" in the resource forum, will always be relevant and should stay stuck. Other sticky threads do need to be unstuck after they have ran their course.

We just need to do a better job of policing the forums for outdated stickies. In the future, members can help us out by flagging outdated stickies using the report post feature, located in the lower right corner of each post.

Ok, I went though and unstuck a bunch of outdated topics and several topics that really didn't need to be stuck.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention.