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The threads below have not been updated since your last visit but still contain unrea

  • Thread starter jimscott
  • Start date

jimscott

Tropical Fish Enthusiast
For the past couple few days I've been seeing this message when I click on New Posts. Why... and is anyone else seeing it?

"The threads below have not been updated since your last visit but still contain unread posts."
 
Andrew changed the server settings recently. It seems a little counterintuitive to me - I've switched over to using the "Today's Posts" link under the "Quick Links" menu thing.
~Joe
 
I tried that and that didn't change what it reads. There are posts from today that are below that message.
 
Oh yeah, that part doesn't go away, no matter what. But with the way that the new New Posts page works, if you've looked at a thread since it was last posted to, or were the last one to post, it doesn't show up at all, which makes a few extra steps for finding the threads I want to look at. The Today's Posts list at least shows things in complete chronological order.
~Joe
 
Interesting. I don't see the message Jim does but I've noticed some odd stuff the past few days. One is that all posts would normally be marked as read when I leave for the day. The next time I come back, only the new posts would show up as not read. Now, I physically must enter a thread to have it marked as read. Each time I come back, there are many posts that have not changed at all since my last visit but are still marked as unread.... :censor:

Just noticed Jim's message as I'm writing this - over on the right side.:crazy:
 
I saw that too, RL7836. I wonder what caused it, and how it could be changed.....hmmmm
 
I've never seen that. Read all the posts you want then go to the quick link and click "Mark Forums as Read" and see if the system will sync up next time you visit.

It could be a cookie thing too, since you're using public computers?
 
When I asked Andrew about it, I believe he said that he switched from the client-side, cookie-based activity tracking to a server-side one that uses a database. But I didn't save the PMs because I'm constantly running out of space, so I might've got it backwards.
~Joe
 
  • #11
Interesting. I don't see the message Jim does but I've noticed some odd stuff the past few days. One is that all posts would normally be marked as read when I leave for the day. The next time I come back, only the new posts would show up as not read. Now, I physically must enter a thread to have it marked as read. Each time I come back, there are many posts that have not changed at all since my last visit but are still marked as unread.... :censor:

Just noticed Jim's message as I'm writing this - over on the right side.:crazy:

I just noticed I'm having this issue too....

Firefox at my school's computer and at home....
 
  • #12
Sweet- I'm glad more people are using this feature and so can answer my questions :) I've had a few people over the years ask me why whenever they leave and come back the new posts are marked as read... And that's because it was cookie based and when your cookie expired, all posts were marked as read. Now though, it is much more user based and not so much automatic. It will mark posts as read when you
a) view the post
b) click the "Mark forums read" under quick links
c) wait 4 days

The change was made just 10 days ago and I don't want to change it back just because it is different... I would like you guys to take the time to try it out.... There will be a poll held where the option will be to go back or keep it like this but like I said, I want the people that use the option to really give it a chance. According to the forums of the forum software, what we now have set is the most popular and user ran (non automatic) I know Swords has had issues with it and feels it is not working right- we've have a few PMs :p but it seems to me that it's working great (although admittedly, I do not use the "new posts' link) But as far as the new posts shown on forum... I view what I want to... mark the rest as read, and move on!

Thanks everyone :)
Andrew

---------- Post added at 03:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:02 PM ----------

Also note... If you want to mark just a sub forum as read (like general) when you are in the general sub category, look under "Forum Tools" on the top right.. in that drop down you'll find a "mark this forum as read"
 
  • #13
I did as Warren suggested... except that I didn't read the topics first, before clicking new posts. I got around it, though.
 
  • #14
Andrew, this is kind of tangental, but is there any chance you could create a variant of the Today's Posts link without the section below the "not been updated" break? I think there might be a patch for it somewhere. Right now I have that one bookmarked and that works for me, but I would like it if those not updated posts weren't on it. I'm guessing that turning off the cookie-based method means that the scripts have stopped setting the related cookies on people's browsers, but I think the above change would replicate the behavior of the old method. Then you could provide it as an option in the quick links menu.
~Joe
 
  • #15
I often drop in on the site and only read one post since I'm just passing by; I'm glad for this feature because I would otherwise lose those posts unless someone else posts to them. I don't click around various forums; I only use the "New Posts" link.

The old posts sitting down there aren't hurting anything.
 
  • #16
Ok, I see what's going on. I never use the Quick Link "Today's Posts". Instead I just look at the main page and see which forum have a check mark next to them which indicates new posts since I last visited.

However it looks like the "Today's Posts" function grabs all the threads that have been updated the past two days. If the thread contains new posts since you last visited with will have a check mark next to it and appear in the top section. Anything else shows up in next section below the header: "The threads below have not been updated since your last visit or since forums have been marked read."

Threads that contain unread messages will have the topic in bold face.

Pretty straight forward really, but then I deal with databases for a living.

Andrew may be able to adjust the window from 2 days to 1 day but this might mean you may miss some unread threads from previous days.
 
  • #17
Yeah, that one makes sense to me, but I don't really like it. I'm an information junkie and when presented with long lists of threads they suck away my free time. I used the old New Posts link to keep an eye on what stuff was new; I was able to sort out the stuff I otherwise wasn't interested in by looking at what subforum it was posted in. If it hadn't been bumped recently, it didn't appear on the list, which helped me restrain myself. xD
~Joe
 
  • #18
Ok, I see what's going on. I never use the Quick Link "Today's Posts". Instead I just look at the main page and see which forum have a check mark next to them which indicates new posts since I last visited.

However it looks like the "Today's Posts" function grabs all the threads that have been updated the past two days. If the thread contains new posts since you last visited with will have a check mark next to it and appear in the top section. Anything else shows up in next section below the header: "The threads below have not been updated since your last visit or since forums have been marked read."

Threads that contain unread messages will have the topic in bold face.

Pretty straight forward really, but then I deal with databases for a living.

Andrew may be able to adjust the window from 2 days to 1 day but this might mean you may miss some unread threads from previous days.

Yea, if it's set to 1 day and I'm just logging in now (4:50 PM ET), and the last time I logged in was yesterday at 7am before work, I'll lose everything from 7am yesterday to 4:50 PM yesterday. Calling it "Today's Posts" is kind of a misnomer, but I think it's working as intended.
 
  • #19
The setting is currently 4 days. Default is 10... So I've already turned it way down.
 
  • #20
Well part of the problems is that access is global. Even though the board compensates and shows the posting times relative to your local time-zone setting people in different parts of the world can post new messages relative to you "yesterday" or even "tomorrow".

It also depends on how often you check in. If you only check in once a month 10 days is not going to be long enough.

A possible solution would be an enhancement to collapse the second section as one can do with the chatbox or subsections (e.g. Non-Carnivorous Plant Discussions). And/or change "Today's Posts" to read "New Posts (since last check/visit)". Or individual settings that the user can pick (yuck), means adding a column to the user preferences table.

But paraphrase Lincoln: "you can't please all the people all the time"
 
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