Contact with thread starter before a thread is closed

[duga]

Generally, this is how we try to do it. I'd be hard pressed to find a thread that generated some good discussion that got closed permanently. Sometimes we will close them for a short period just to deter the trolls/off topic posters from continuing. Such is what happened with the Numerical Dimensions thread (and this is being taken care of).

If you had something more specific in mind, though, what would you suggest?