New/Unread Posts

littleedge

L1111: Clipping Guru
aa
Mar 2, 2009
986
605
Today I came back to the forums after not being on since the day before. It had been around 24 hours. Probably a little less. I am welcomed by seven new posts according to the red squares on the forums, as well as 'New Posts' at the top. I look at all the dates, and that can't be right - I haven't been on since the previous day, but it said posts posted earlier today have already been seen by me.
5:47 PM - Littleedge [CP/NoG]: How do the forums work with new posts?
5:47 PM - Littleedge [CP/NoG]: Because I haven't been on all day today, yet it says I've read the majority of posts, when in reality, I haven't.
5:54 PM - add me I'll accept today only: ah
5:54 PM - add me I'll accept today only: it doesnt say you've read them
5:54 PM - add me I'll accept today only: its that they're not new to you
5:54 PM - add me I'll accept today only: you've 'had' the oppertunity to see them as new posts
5:54 PM - Littleedge [CP/NoG]: Wha'
5:55 PM - Littleedge [CP/NoG]: Why aren't they marked new to me if I haven't been on all day? 7 threads were marked new out of at least 15 that should have, and that's only maps.
5:56 PM - add me I'll accept today only: oh I don't know how the forum code works
5:56 PM - add me I'll accept today only: I just work here
YM wasn't helpful, and said to go to Drpepper, if anyone, but he was offline. So I'm posting here.


How exactly does the 'New Posts' thing work. When does it choose to reset everything? I've also noticed that if I stay on the forums idling (say...I take a break from my computer with the forums open), everything is marked read as soon as I refresh.
 

Caliostro

L6: Sharp Member
Jul 6, 2009
261
110
The way I understand it right, it seems to work in "log-in cycles". If you're logged off entirely it keeps piling them up, maybe it starts dropping them off after a certain time is exceeded ("posts too old for you to care anymore").

When you're logged in, however, the server will automatically "purge" the "new posts" after you've logged out. If you're inactive, your log in will "time out" after a while. You never notice this because you likely have cookies activated and thus the server automatically re-logs you when you refresh the page. But, technically, you've logged out and back in, which caused the web server to purge the "new posts", since technically you've already seen all you wanted and logged out, and this is just a new session.
 

grazr

Old Man Mutant Ninja Turtle
aa
Mar 4, 2008
5,441
3,814
Yea, pretty much what Caliostro said in his second paragraph. It's often that i'll not be able to read the majority of new posts and close the browser. I'll find myself with free time again in a couple hours (where there wasn't any new posts) and everything unread from my last session is marked as read.

So there's some form of "purging" at work.
 

Cameron:D

L6: Sharp Member
Sep 28, 2008
363
145
Well every time I log in I'm greeted with like 3 pages of unread posts (New posts button), and just filter through the ones with interesting titles
 

littleedge

L1111: Clipping Guru
aa
Mar 2, 2009
986
605
Yeah. Is there anything one of the site staff can do? I came back today after a day or two without going on at all, and a bunch of things I haven't actually seen were marked as 'Read' -- Hell, this post was marked as 'Read' and I only saw my own post.
 

A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
aa
Nov 2, 2007
4,775
7,669
As far as I can remember vbulletin has had horrible read status tracking on every one I've used over the years. It's the one thing that I think IPB does way better.
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
um... there isn't an issue, you're just looking at the wrong part of the name.

you come back after a while and everything since your last visit is marked as new and everything from before your last visit is marked as old.

when you come back open up new/unread then sift quickly through finding the threads you want to read and open them in new tabs, you only have a few minutes to do this so open them all in new tabs to come back to later. once you've gone through all the new posts, just read the ones you've opened and by the time that happens the site will have marked everything up to that point as old. so that you can repeat the process.

Just think of it as old/new instead of read/unread since that's what it is.

old= last post to this thread was before or on your last visit
new= anything between now and the end of your last visit
 
Last edited:

A Boojum Snark

Toraipoddodezain Mazahabado
aa
Nov 2, 2007
4,775
7,669
But that's what is bad about it. If you don't have time to look at everything or just need to check one thing it's a bother when you come back. IPB is excellent in this respect and will only ever mark something read if you've visited it or done an all-read function. Doesn't matter how long you've been away or what you've done in the mean time.
vB also has the issue of leaving the board icons as "unread" despite everything within them being "read"
 

Pocket

Half a Lambert is better than one.
aa
Nov 14, 2009
4,694
2,579
Actually for me it doesn't even seem to be holding them that long. I'm not sure what's triggering it, but I can log in, look at some threads, and by the time I come back to the main page and enter another subforum/thread it thinks I've read them already. I don't know if it's a timeout issue or if it's counting my returning to the main page (via the Back button) as a refresh, or what.
 

Cameron:D

L6: Sharp Member
Sep 28, 2008
363
145
It's a 15 min timeout.

Most vB forums I'm a member of, after that timeout, mark everything as read, but the Black Mesa forums never does, posts they you don't read are still marked as unread 2 days later (Which sucks for a forum that size - there are usually ~7 pages of unread posts each day)
 

littleedge

L1111: Clipping Guru
aa
Mar 2, 2009
986
605
Yeaah. It really sucks for a multiple day hiatus. I'll look at one thread that somebody linked in the chat, but not have time to go through everything else, and it'll mark everything as "old." Is there no way to make it mark things as "unread" and "read" instead of the silly "old" and "new?"
 

YM

LVL100 YM
aa
Dec 5, 2007
7,135
6,056
Yeaah. It really sucks for a multiple day hiatus. I'll look at one thread that somebody linked in the chat, but not have time to go through everything else, and it'll mark everything as "old." Is there no way to make it mark things as "unread" and "read" instead of the silly "old" and "new?"

You just need to remember "I've been away, first thing I must do is go through the new posts" instead of gleefully entering the chat room :p