After poking around the net, it appears that users not being able to rate closed threads is a "feature" of vBulletin.

To change it we would need to mod the code base. I don't see any compelling reasons why users should not be able to rate closed threads. Just the opposite, I think rating closed threads is important.

I want to thank figaro for taking the time to point this out

---------- Post updated at 02:02 ---------- Previous update was at 01:38 ----------

OK, I think I fixed the error (there was an error in the template).

However, there is still the rating issue to consider...

---------- Post updated at 02:17 ---------- Previous update was at 02:02 ----------

OK, as a temporary fix (I don't see any major issues, please let me know if you do), I commented out the part of threadrate.php that checks to see if the thread is closed and throws an error if it is closed.

I checked as a registered user (not admin) and was able to rate a thread.

---------- Post updated at 02:32 ---------- Previous update was at 02:17 ----------

Actually, I don't recall the issue being of "frustration" as much as the desire by the advisory team for users to start new threads (and reference old ones) versus replying to old stale threads and zombies.

Basically, I think the concensus was, that for older threads, a poster should start a new thread and simply cut-and-paste a link back to reference that thread, if they wish.

PS: Please note that I think I have fixed the "rating closed thread issue" and you should be able to rate closed threads now.

Have we addressed your concerns? Are you OK with where we are now with your original post?