What makes a forum topic "active"?

I thought that posting to an old topic would make it active again. This appears not to be the case. I justed added a question to this discussion from february, but this seems pretty pointless if no one will notice it.

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There are only som many items

There are only som many items that appear on the "active" topic box on the right hand side.

However, most readers read the site using the "recent post" view (link on the left) or via the RSS comment feed, and both these populations will see you new comment.

"Most" active

I think the heading is intended to mean "most active forum topics", i.e. topics with the greatest number of recent messages. But as Ehud says, regular readers of the site will see your message anyway.

BTW, the RSS feed for individual comments is not yet linked from the home page, so for anyone who missed it, it's here.