"Mark Forums Read" Updated Behavior

Greebo

Greebo

N9017H - C172M (1976)
Joined
Feb 11, 2005
Messages
10,976
Location
Baltimore, MD
Display Name
Display name:
Retired Evil Overlord
As has been discussed before, the way this forum software handles new threads causes a significant amount of confusion and takes too much effort on the behalf of the users (that's you :) ) to ensure that thread's are not marked read before they've actually been read.

To help address this issue, I've implemented a modification to the software which will give you the option to manually mark a forum read when you want, vs. when the software thinks its a good idea.

For those users who prefer the default behavior, that option still exists.

Here's how it works:
When you view the main forum list, at the top of the list of forums you will see two new links: QuickScan, and Mark ALL Forums Read.

The forum software now maintains a record of when you choose to mark forums read, on a forum by forum basis.

When you click "QuickScan", you will see a list of threads which have had posting activity since you last marked their container forum read. (Since this feature is new, the first time you hit QuickScan, ALL threads will be listed from all forums.)

When you are viewing the QuickScan list, you will see the option to mark individual forums read just under the forum name. Once you click that link, all threads in that forum will no longer appear on the QuickScan list. This only happens when you are viewing the "QuickScan" list.

The Mark ALL Forums Read link will, as it says, mark all forums read, so that no threads will appear in the QuickScan list until new posts are made in a thread after the time you clicked the Mark Forums Read button.

Using the Old Method if Desired
The former New Posts button is now called Active Topics, and the former "Mark ALL Forums Read" button is now "Mark ALL Active Topics Read". The Active topics list still works the same way the old New Posts list worked, with the 15 minute timer countdown to clearing the list of "Active Topics". The "Active Topics" buttons have no effect upon the new "Mark Read" system.

This is a new modification, so I'm getting to learn it's ins and outs along with the rest of you, but I have high hope that this will allow people to keep their unread threads "unread" for as long as they want now. :)

Now I've got to dash off to Ikea. :)

Chuck "Greebo" Haeberle
PoA.com Forum Hacker and general Troublemaker :)
 
I think I got the quick scan thing figured out. Kind of weird to use at least at the moment but I'm figuring it out and it has great potential once I give it a day or two.

Using quick scan, you can mark an individual forum read. If you're not in quick scan, you can mark all forums read but you can't mark individual forums read anymore.
Every time I read a post from quick scan, I eventually end up back at the main forum list and even if I've read all posts in a forum (and marked active topics read), it still shows that it contains new posts. So later I think a new post was made and go in and I've already read them all. I'm chasing my own tail. Then I have to go into quick scan to mark the individual forum read.

Quick links will let you mark all forums and all active topics read. Forum tools will only let you mark active topics. Is there a way to mark an individual forum read like it was previously without being in quick scan? It was a bit more intuitive that way and you could knock an entire forum out all at once.
 
Not yet - but I think there are ways we can incorporate the new menu items a little more consistently. I just haven't figured out how it all behaves yet well enough to be sure of any potential changes.
 
Additional Note:

The "Quick Links" menu also has links for "QuickScan" and "Mark ALL Forum Topics Read", and the old New Poss and Mark All Forums Read have been renamed to "Active Topics" and "Mark Alll Active Topics Read".

If anyone has some better names for these buttons, I'm all ears. :)

I know this has been frustrating for some of you - especially as the user interface for the forum continues to evolve. I can only ask that you bear with us while our construction continues. :)
 
Personally, I found New Posts more intuitive than Active Topics. That one had me stumped for a bit. It sounds more like the posts are the ones being active, not me. New Posts means I haven't gotten my little typing fingers over there yet.
 
Chuck,

Couple of questions:

1. Why does the "Active Topics" list (which represents new posts, right?) ever show the closed-envelope symbol for a thread, which I interpret as "all posts in this thread read"? If they're all read, I'd think that they wouldn't be included in the list.

2. Am I misusing, or misunderstanding, the "Mark Forum Read" option? When I use it there does not seem to be any discernible effect. The same posts still show up in "Active Topics", and as unread in the forum post list.

Thanks;

Dan
 
The terms are confusing, aren't they? While I love how the new hack works, I'm not sure I love how it changed the terms we were used to.

Active Topics refers to the topics which are new based on using vBulletin's automatic timer. To mark "Active Topics" read, you need to use the corresponding "Mark Active Topics Read" link. Bearing in mind that after 15 minutes of idle time, all "Active Topics" will be marked as read anyway.

The QuickScan feature determines what threads are new based on when YOU specify by clicking "Mark Forum Read" on the quickscan list, or "Mark ALL Forums Read" on the quick links window.

The two concepts are isolated from each other.

I will be working today as time allows (sorry, the paying world calls sometimes) to make the links and terms less confusing. Your suggestions are welcome.
 
Ok I've done a little more renaming and cleanup.

What was "New Posts" and then later "Active Threads" is now "Recent Activity".

Recent Activity refers to any threads which have had posts added to them since your last visit, based on the time in the Welcome Block at the top of every page.

Reset Recent Activity Timer - whenever you see a link with those terms, it means your last visit time will be set to the current time. This can be done for individual forums or for the entire site, but in either case, the time will ALWAYS be reset to the time of your last click after 15 minutes of inactivity.

What was "QuickScan" is now "New Posts"

New Posts refers to any threads which have had posts added to them since the last time you chose to mark a forum read.

Mark Forum Read/Mark ALL Forums Read - will mark all threads read in a forum (or in all forums) based on when YOU choose to mark them read. Inactivity will have no effect upon the read status of threads using these functions.

Hopefully that makes things a little clearer now. I think these terms are a little more helpful.

I'm also still making little tweaks to normalize the menus and make their display consistent with similar menu items.
 
Chuck, I can't seem to find the "Mark All Forums Read" link...? I do see the link to mark each forum read in the last column to the right on the New Posts page.

I think New Posts is easier to use than Recent Activity. Thanks for putting it back.
 
"Mark All Forums Read" appears at the bottom of the forum listing, and in the Quick Links section.

Technically I didn't put "New Posts" back. :) But you're welcome. ;)
 
Chuck,

Why is it that I still see the new messages icon even after I've marked all forums read?

Chip
 
The behavior of those icons is driven by the original "Activity Timers" (as we call them now), not the new, database driven mark read behavior.

Sadly, this is about the best we can hope for right now. My own php skills aren't up to trying to customize this myself - so I'm dependent on other parties to develop hacks that we can use here.

I swear, not a day goes by that I don't consider writing the software myself in something I program in every day...but thats a hell of a lot of coding.
 
To recap from another thread plus something new...

New Posts Behavior Change
1) When you click New Posts and then click Mark Forum Read, you are returned to the New Posts list.
2) When at the Forum level (viewing a list of threads in a single forum), if you go to Forum Tools, and click Mark This Forum Read, you return to the top level forum list. (Change from update posted earlier this morning.)
3) New Posts is now sorted in the same order as the main forum list.
 
Wow! How confusing is this.

Newbie to this site, trying to learn my way around and the menu names keep changing. :eek:

Oh, well.......

Sigh.......

Foghorn P. Leghorn: Son, I say, Son....
 
Last edited:
Don't worry - the menu changes listed above date back to well before your join date. :)
 
Bo, I love your avitar! I have a pedal John Deere tractor in my garage that survived my (now) 12 year old son, my (now) 18 year old son and my (then...sometimes now) 4 year old self!
 
Last edited:
OK, I finally thought I was starting to get this figured out (BTW, one of the threads discussing this is VERY confusing 'cause it starts out with the way things used to be and then they apparently switched!) but then the little button to click on to get to the first unread message in a thread seems to have disappeared... Am I missing something?

To sum it up, though, as I understand it: New Posts gets is updated manually (you have to mark forums read, etc) and Recent Activity is everything since the last time you logged in, right?

Bill
 
BillG said:
but then the little button to click on to get to the first unread message in a thread seems to have disappeared... Am I missing something?
Click to expand...
The little button to get to the first unread post is based, sadly enough, on "Recent Activity" and not "New Posts" regardless of which mode you're using. Recent Activity is the default behavior - the new posts link is a modification we applied - and that modification didn't cover that little button.

To sum it up, though, as I understand it: New Posts gets is updated manually (you have to mark forums read, etc) and Recent Activity is everything since the last time you logged in, right?
Click to expand...
Correct - except that Recent Activity is 15 minutes since the last time you clicked on anything at POA. If you spend 15.1 minutes reading a particular thread, or composing a reply, or in the bathroom away from the computer after opening the board up for the first time this morning, Recent Activity resets itself. Thats why we applied the New Posts modification - because the way recent activity works kinda sucks.
 
Ohhhh, OK - that's why some of the behavior I was seeing seemed inconsistent - it was! And now the little button is back, too. I think I have it all figured out now...
 
Does this mean that "quickscan" is gone ? I turned it off just for yucks and not I cannot figure out how to turn it back on.
 
Quickscan is still here, but it doesn't have a very great mechanism for turning itself back on. I'll go renable it for you manually.
 
Hmm. Could you describe the problem you're having a little more fully? According to my research, you should be able to use Quick Scan (New Posts link) properly.
 
I'm time short these days. I'll post again on the weekend if I'm still clueless. Thanks Greebo.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top