Issues with "New Posts"

[Mossman]

More and more I've been noticing that threads get posted on this forum that don't show up in "new posts". Often times, a thread will appear that's been going for a couple of weeks (or months), and that's the first time I was made aware of it.

At first I shrugged it off, and assumed I must have seen the thread when it was new and forgotten about it, but I've been noticing it happen more as time goes on... Too often to be a simple case of forgetfulness. I've also noticed that when I post threads, there are few responses at first, then a week or so later, the posts come pouring in, as if nobody had seen the thread until then. I just took a look around the forum via the board index, and there's an awful lot of thread titles in the individual boards that I know I've never seen before. I mentioned this issue in a thread by @Tonray's Ghost which was posted on the 12th, but it never showed up in "new posts", and nobody else had posted in the thread a full week after it had been posted. If I hadn't navigated to the board directly, I would have never seen it.

I think there's a problem with the software updating new content for individual users... This is not good for content generation, or keeping the forum active. You can't participate in thread you never see.

[ID10t]

I haven't noticed, but then how would I?
I usually do quick links to "unread posts."

I also acknowledge having read your post

[bleys21]

I do the same thing ID10t does, use Unread Posts. I think Mickey was the first person to mention that, as it came up in a thread about an easier way to mark all posts as read, I think...

[mickey]

Yep, using the "unread posts" feature will show you everything you have not read.
I don't think it misses anything.

[Mossman]

Ok, I'll do that... I never used "unread posts" because I didn't think there were any posts I hadn't seen, and if I'm always hitting "new posts" there's no reason for me to think I'm missing anything.

Still, "new posts" isn't working the way it should. It hasn't been showing me all the new posts, and I would assume that there are other people besides myself who hit "new posts" when they come here too, and they're probably missing stuff as well... Or not seeing it right away.

[Tonray's Ghost]

Maybe it's because that Tonray guy really is a ghost ?

[mickey]

I guess it all depends on how the board software defines "new posts" and that I don't know the answer to that.
It may or may not be how you or I would define it.
But I am confident the software defines "unread posts" the same way I do.

Of course it could always be Tonray's fault for haunting us??????

[Chocol8]

I would suggest disabling or hiding the “new posts” option since this confusion has been an issue from day one. Anyone used to “new posts” on other forums will miss a lot of activity here which then hurts further forum participation.

[Mossman]

Anyone used to “new posts” on other forums will miss a lot of activity here which then hurts further forum participation.

Exactly my point. I'm not so much concerned that I'm missing posts, but that a bunch of people have been missing them and limiting participation on the forum.

Shortly after this forum started, I mentioned that it was a little onerous to have to enter each sub-forum individually to see new threads/posts, and someone (I don't remember who it was) pointed out the "new posts" option under "quick links", and I've recommended it to others who have voiced the same complaint.

On other forums, I usually check my alerts first, and then hit the "new posts" link to see what's been recently posted, so it is kind of a conditioned behavior. I never click "unread posts" on those forums, as that just dishes up a deluge of threads since the dawn of time.

[mickey]

The next time Patrick shows up the mods will pass it along to him.
But in the meantime. I urge you to use "UNREAD POSTS" instead.

[UrenragK]

Hi all,

Unread posts shows you all posts for all time that you have not read,

New posts shows you posts that have been added since your last visit

To see everything you've not seen, you should use Unread Posts, as the most reliable source, as you may well miss posts that are posted while you are active using New Posts,

Hope that helps!

Rich

[bleys21]

One little caveat to UrenragK's post above is (in my opinion, anyway) if you're going to use the Unread Posts link, make sure you click the Mark All Read link near the top right of the post listing when you leave the site, then you'll always see anything new that you haven't read before...

[Mossman]

One little caveat to UrenragK's post above is (in my opinion, anyway) if you're going to use the Unread Posts link, make sure you click the Mark All Read link near the top right of the post listing when you leave the site, then you'll always see anything new that you haven't read before...

Yeah, I've got like 40 pages of threads with unread posts in them! I'm not going through them all...

All this time I thought I was seeing everything that was getting posted.

[sabasgr68]

Ok, I learned a couple of things in this thread.

[Mossman]

Ok, I learned a couple of things in this thread.

One is that you got bad advice from me when I suggested you use "new posts" to navigate the forum.

[sabasgr68]

Ok, I learned a couple of things in this thread.

One is that you got bad advice from me when I suggested you use "new posts" to navigate the forum.

Haha... Well, I didn´t want to say that in public

[Mossman]

Haha... Well, I didn´t want to say that in public

Thank you... My ego is very fragile.