Connect - is there a particular reason the threads are being marked as read?

[vbampton]

Quick question - if I pop into the forum during the day, but don't have time to read all of the threads at that moment, when I come back later, the threads are all marked as read so I can't see where I was up to. It's rather like marking emails as read and leaving them in your inbox!! :mrgreen:

It's a vBulletin setting - in General Settings > Thread/Forum Read Marking Type which I assume is currently set to mark as read on inactivity rather than by database. (I run a busy vBulletin forum)

Is it set that way intentionally or did it just get left on default? If it wasn't intentional, would it cause anyone a problem to track unread threads?

Victoria

 

[S-Tolland]

Hi Victoria,
I would alos be really pleased if someone could give advice on how to change this. I too feel rather frustrated when I come back to my computer and don't know which ones I have read. I have started taking a screenshot of the What's new page so that I have a rough idea where I started, but this is not ideal...
Sarah

 

[Oogiem]

Ditto

I've taken to loading up tabs in my browser with all threads and then hoping I don't have to reset anything until they are read during he course of the day.

 

[John Forrister]

Hi All,

We want to make the forum convenient to use. I'll look into this further today, and post an update as soon as I have news.

Best,
John

 

[vbampton]

Brilliant, thanks John.

 

[mwinn]

Me, too

My solution has been a set of GTD Connect Forum tasks of the format "Continue Reading Content & Features at dd/mm/yy" (one for each forum) and repeat intervals based upon typical posting volumes. That way I always know where I left off because I'd gotten burned a few times when I came back and discovered everything had been marked as 'read'. I change the date to the new start-at date before I mark the task as complete. And if I have no time for forum reading when the task pops up, I mark it as complete and it gets moved to a future date with the same 'continue at' date.

 

[John Forrister]

Hi All,

I've just changed the setting that determines how threads show as read. I hope this will make it easier for you to find which threads you haven't read. Please post if you notice a difference in your forum experience.

Best,
John

 

[vbampton]

What a star, thank you John!

 

[TesTeq]

I will change may workflow to adjust it to a new forum setting.

I've just changed the setting that determines how threads show as read. I hope this will make it easier for you to find which threads you haven't read. Please post if you notice a difference in your forum experience.

Suddenly it resulted in 3 pages of unread (?) messages. But I will change my workflow to adjust it to a new forum setting.

 

[vbampton]

Suddenly it resulted in 3 pages of unread (?) messages. But I will change my workflow to adjust it to a new forum setting.

That's just because the database doesn't know what you've already read. From this point on, it'll keep track for you. If you want to clear those to start with a clean slate, once you've finished reading now, go to Forum Actions > Mark Forums Read.

That'll bring you back to the point you're familiar with, and then you can carry on with your normal workflow, or you may find the marking much more convenient.

 

[TesTeq]

Thank you for this tip.

That's just because the database doesn't know what you've already read. From this point on, it'll keep track for you. If you want to clear those to start with a clean slate, once you've finished reading now, go to Forum Actions > Mark Forums Read.

Thank you for this tip.

 

[Oogiem]

Working much better now

After the reset to get things clean and clear (inbox zero on forums ) it's working perfectly now.

Thanks!

 

[S-Tolland]

Thank you very much to John for the quick fix.

I should have asked earlier!!!

 

[John Forrister]

Thanks to Victoria for the screen shot and more complete explanation.

 

[vbampton]

My pleasure. I turn up here and create havoc... :lol:

 

[mcogilvie]

Quick question - if I pop into the forum during the day, but don't have time to read all of the threads at that moment, when I come back later, the threads are all marked as read so I can't see where I was up to. It's rather like marking emails as read and leaving them in your inbox!! :mrgreen:

It's a vBulletin setting - in General Settings > Thread/Forum Read Marking Type which I assume is currently set to mark as read on inactivity rather than by database. (I run a busy vBulletin forum)

Is it set that way intentionally or did it just get left on default? If it wasn't intentional, would it cause anyone a problem to track unread threads?

Victoria

OK, now I'm confused. I used to be able to tell when there was new material in a given forum by the color on the LHS icon. I would click on the far right and read the latest article there. Now nothing seems to get updated at all when I read it. I don't think I changed anything. What's going on?

 

[vbampton]

Previously it only showed threads that had new posts since you last visited the forum - it simply remembered the timestamp of when you logged in and showed all posts made after that time as unread. If you didn't have time to read them all there and then, they'd no longer be marked when you came back.

Now the database tracks the threads you've actually read, and if you don't have time to read them in one go, it'll still remember any unread ones when you come back later. How clever it is depends on which of the 2 database options John's chosen.

If you click 'what's new in the forums' at the top, it'll show you threads with unread posts, and those unread threads should show in the forums too.

The first time you might need to click the mark forums read mentioned above so the database knows where you've read up to. Because the database recording has only just been turned on, it's assumed you haven't read anything for a few days but it doesn't know how far to go back.

 

[mcogilvie]

Quick question - if I pop into the forum during the day, but don't have time to read all of the threads at that moment, when I come back later, the threads are all marked as read so I can't see where I was up to. It's rather like marking emails as read and leaving them in your inbox!! :mrgreen:

It's a vBulletin setting - in General Settings > Thread/Forum Read Marking Type which I assume is currently set to mark as read on inactivity rather than by database. (I run a busy vBulletin forum)

Is it set that way intentionally or did it just get left on default? If it wasn't intentional, would it cause anyone a problem to track unread threads?

Victoria

OK, now I'm confused. I used to be able to tell when there was new material in a given forum by the color on the LHS icon. I would click on the far right and read the latest article there. Now nothing seems to get updated at all when I read it. I don't think I changed anything. What's going on?

 

[TesTeq]

Unread posts...

Previously it only showed threads that had new posts since you last visited the forum - it simply remembered the timestamp of when you logged in and showed all posts made after that time as unread. If you didn't have time to read them all there and then, they'd no longer be marked when you came back.

And I liked it. Unread posts were simply vanishing in the past.

 

[John Forrister]

Now the database tracks the threads you've actually read, and if you don't have time to read them in one go, it'll still remember any unread ones when you come back later. How clever it is depends on which of the 2 database options John's chosen.

I chose the more clever of the two options. Here is the description:

"Database (automatic forum marking) - forums are automatically marked as read when the last new thread is read. This is the most usable option for end users, but most processor intensive."

So far the load on our servers has not been negatively impacted, and there is a clear benefit to forum readers.

-- John