ok, i want a mod or admin to see this, because is bumping against the site's rules? i have done it, and i don't want to break the rules. can someone please help?
Generally, you shouldn't bump topics in any forum because they can resurrect horrid topics and it's considered spam because it contributes nothing to a thread.
Examples: "Okay thanks, this should locked!" "Guys, I think that's enough" "Bump" "Stop posting here, it's spam" ...etc.
I once bumped a thread. It was in the Art/Music/Writing part of these forums, and was a thread where people could go to ask for help. Problem with it was, that so few people came and asked that it disappeared from the first page (and if you wanna help people, they need to see the thread). So I bumped it, and not long after Strop decided to sticky it.
My opinion on this matter is, that if you see a thread offering good help or good explanations for (potentially) a lot of people, then it is okay to bump it. If you wanna bump a thread just to get more people to post in it, don't bump it. Only bump to be helpful, otherwise it is spam.
Another way of getting the bump effect is to simply think of something nonspammy to say in the thread you want to bump, and post that. You bump, but you don't spam.
I think bumping is appropriate when I thread get no replies, and forums seem partically active because then it could easily get knocked to the last without people even knowing. Bump only when its a well thought out thread and its yours!
Yeah, as long as you have something intelligent to say in the post or at least something of value then it's not considered bumping. It's all very subjective, however, but if you're posting to generate more conversation, that's certainly something we want to encourage.
Bumping is spam if you just say "This topic is interesting... bump." If you think the topic is interesting and should be continued... then contribute something to the thread instead of saying simply bump.