What about when the OP's question has been answered, and said solution acknowledged by same to have solved the problem? If that thread then begins to evolve in another direction, sparked by something someone had written in it, does it still need to be excised and moved? I think not.
I think starting a new thread is entirely appropriate. Consider another user searching the forums for a solution to a problem. They are far more likely to find the secondary thread if it is a stand alone topic and not buried in another topic with a different subject. That is one of the primary reasons hijacking a thread to another topic is discouraged. The other primary reason is it can make following either thread incredibly difficult if not well nigh impossible. Some threads that haven't been hijacked are difficult enough to follow and maintain a coherent path.
But, if threads are split, wouldn't it be a reasonable courtesy on the part of the "woodsman"(or woman) to leave behind a post directing a participant's attention to the new location? (perhaps even a link to same?) If one returns to the original thread looking for the continuance of the tangential discussion and does not find it, then a "search" has to be conducted in order to locate it.
Yes. But while UBB provides a good mechanism for leaving a move notice when an entire topic is moved to another forum there is no easy or convenient way of leaving a marker when extracting a set of posts from a thread although there is a mechanism for notifying the OP. Who knows, maybe in the next UBB upgrade that feature will be added.
There is an exception to leaving a link to a moved topic or moved posts within a topic which is posts that are removed for cause,
ie. they violate the board rules. Those will be removed without notification.
