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Finding New Posts

Started by mrsman, February 02, 2018, 12:35:27 PM

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jakeroot

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on February 06, 2018, 01:12:40 AM
Quote from: jakeroot on February 05, 2018, 11:03:14 PM
Quote from: Buck87 on February 05, 2018, 09:22:08 PM
Makes me wonder, are there any other forum features that others (or possibly myself) are missing out on?

This is a good question. I'm pretty sure I have a good grip on this website's functionality, but I could be missing several things.

The mods ought to create a list of this website's lesser known functionalities. Being able to click the "NEW" button would certainly be on that list, even though (I'm sure) many users already knew about it. Another thing might be the ability to change the theme.


One thing that may fall into that category is this:

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on January 16, 2018, 05:31:31 PM
Before you even click on the thread, you can look by one of the icons and see if you have already posted in it. It looks like this:



If you see the smiley face, then you have posted in that thread. If you don't, then you haven't.

I posted that in this thread, and it turns out that there may be a good bit of people who actually don't know about it, or didn't know about it.

This is definitely a helpful feature on this forum (knowing if you have already posted at least once in a thread or not), and it is good to know.  :nod:

Helpful indeed! I did not know about this. Thank you for the tip! Nice way to discern between threads you've read (those without the "NEW" tag), and those that you've posted in.


webny99

If the arrow next to the board is green, you have unread posts in that board  :-P

vdeane

Trouble is, that arrow will stop being green if you have any activity on that board.  For example, if you're just taking a quick view of one thread, and then come back in another session and someone hasn't posted in that board since, it will display the same as a board with no unread posts, even if there were other unread posts.

Also, the arrow will be yellow if the new posts are in a sub-forum.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

webny99

Quote from: vdeane on February 06, 2018, 12:59:44 PM
Trouble is, that arrow will stop being green if you have any activity on that board.  For example, if you're just taking a quick view of one thread, and then come back in another session and someone hasn't posted in that board since, it will display the same as a board with no unread posts, even if there were other unread posts.

I was just being smart with my earlier comment; however, that's an extremely good point you raise, and something that I find rather annoying. You should have to click every unread thread in the board in order for the green arrow to disappear/turn yellow.
In fact, this is a concern that I venture to say is worth consideration by the mods/admin team, due to the confusion it could cause, and the volume of times it has caused me to miss out on new posts.

vdeane

Honestly, that behavior is probably THE reason why I do my primary checks of the forum in two big blocks and keep all other checks in an incognito session without signing in.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

jakeroot

Quote from: webny99 on February 06, 2018, 01:09:55 PM
Quote from: vdeane on February 06, 2018, 12:59:44 PM
Trouble is, that arrow will stop being green if you have any activity on that board.  For example, if you're just taking a quick view of one thread, and then come back in another session and someone hasn't posted in that board since, it will display the same as a board with no unread posts, even if there were other unread posts.

I was just being smart with my earlier comment; however, that's an extremely good point you raise, and something that I find rather annoying. You should have to click every unread thread in the board in order for the green arrow to disappear/turn yellow.
In fact, this is a concern that I venture to say is worth consideration by the mods/admin team, due to the confusion it could cause, and the volume of times it has caused me to miss out on new posts.

But what about all those old threads that you've never read? Changing it's behavior would mean you'd have to go back and read all those threads, or at least mark them as read. This could prove problematic later on, when and if you decide to go back and look at old threads, but you don't know if you've read them.

vdeane

I always hit "mark all as read" whenever I'm done with one of my blocks (which involve browsing every forum and reading every post in every thread I'm interested in).  Of course, having been here as long as I have means that "I'm bored so lets browse some old threads that I've never read before" wouldn't really be a use case for me.
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

adventurernumber1

Quote from: jakeroot on February 06, 2018, 02:05:33 PM
Quote from: webny99 on February 06, 2018, 01:09:55 PM
Quote from: vdeane on February 06, 2018, 12:59:44 PM
Trouble is, that arrow will stop being green if you have any activity on that board.  For example, if you're just taking a quick view of one thread, and then come back in another session and someone hasn't posted in that board since, it will display the same as a board with no unread posts, even if there were other unread posts.

I was just being smart with my earlier comment; however, that's an extremely good point you raise, and something that I find rather annoying. You should have to click every unread thread in the board in order for the green arrow to disappear/turn yellow.
In fact, this is a concern that I venture to say is worth consideration by the mods/admin team, due to the confusion it could cause, and the volume of times it has caused me to miss out on new posts.

But what about all those old threads that you've never read? Changing it's behavior would mean you'd have to go back and read all those threads, or at least mark them as read. This could prove problematic later on, when and if you decide to go back and look at old threads, but you don't know if you've read them.

Quote from: vdeane on February 06, 2018, 02:21:17 PM
I always hit "mark all as read" whenever I'm done with one of my blocks (which involve browsing every forum and reading every post in every thread I'm interested in).  Of course, having been here as long as I have means that "I'm bored so lets browse some old threads that I've never read before" wouldn't really be a use case for me.

With both of you having understandable but completely different preferences regarding reading old threads, perhaps there should be an option to choose how the traffic signal notifications are programmed (showing green if there are any unread posts at all, or showing green only if there are truly new unread posts). That could be something quite useful and intriguing.

I personally would fall into the category of wanting to read old threads in an efficient manner (as from time to time I do like to read old threads that I've never seen before).


Quote from: jakeroot on February 06, 2018, 01:33:26 AM
Quote from: adventurernumber1 on February 06, 2018, 01:12:40 AM
Quote from: jakeroot on February 05, 2018, 11:03:14 PM
Quote from: Buck87 on February 05, 2018, 09:22:08 PM
Makes me wonder, are there any other forum features that others (or possibly myself) are missing out on?

This is a good question. I'm pretty sure I have a good grip on this website's functionality, but I could be missing several things.

The mods ought to create a list of this website's lesser known functionalities. Being able to click the "NEW" button would certainly be on that list, even though (I'm sure) many users already knew about it. Another thing might be the ability to change the theme.


One thing that may fall into that category is this:

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on January 16, 2018, 05:31:31 PM
Before you even click on the thread, you can look by one of the icons and see if you have already posted in it. It looks like this:



If you see the smiley face, then you have posted in that thread. If you don't, then you haven't.

I posted that in this thread, and it turns out that there may be a good bit of people who actually don't know about it, or didn't know about it.

This is definitely a helpful feature on this forum (knowing if you have already posted at least once in a thread or not), and it is good to know.  :nod:

Helpful indeed! I did not know about this. Thank you for the tip! Nice way to discern between threads you've read (those without the "NEW" tag), and those that you've posted in.

I am glad it helped! I really like the smiley icons indeed, as sometimes it is quite important to know if you have already posted in a thread or not.  :nod:
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127322363@N08/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-vJ3qa8R-cc44Cv6ohio1g

Eth

Quote from: webny99 on February 06, 2018, 01:09:55 PM
I was just being smart with my earlier comment; however, that's an extremely good point you raise, and something that I find rather annoying. You should have to click every unread thread in the board in order for the green arrow to disappear/turn yellow.
In fact, this is a concern that I venture to say is worth consideration by the mods/admin team, due to the confusion it could cause, and the volume of times it has caused me to miss out on new posts.

Ugh, please no. There are some threads I skip entirely because I'm just not interested in that particular topic, so that would result in perpetual meaningless green arrows for me.

webny99

Quote from: Eth on February 06, 2018, 05:23:16 PM
Quote from: webny99 on February 06, 2018, 01:09:55 PM
I was just being smart with my earlier comment; however, that's an extremely good point you raise, and something that I find rather annoying. You should have to click every unread thread in the board in order for the green arrow to disappear/turn yellow.
In fact, this is a concern that I venture to say is worth consideration by the mods/admin team, due to the confusion it could cause, and the volume of times it has caused me to miss out on new posts.
Ugh, please no. There are some threads I skip entirely because I'm just not interested in that particular topic, so that would result in perpetual meaningless green arrows for me.
Same with most of us, I assume. I guess it might be pertinent to ask, then, if anyone finds the arrows useful at all.
I don't, really. I've had green arrows sitting on many of the regional boards ever since I joined, as I have no reason to view those boards. So in that sense, the arrows are redundant.

adventurernumber1

Quote from: webny99 on February 06, 2018, 05:49:54 PM
Quote from: Eth on February 06, 2018, 05:23:16 PM
Quote from: webny99 on February 06, 2018, 01:09:55 PM
I was just being smart with my earlier comment; however, that's an extremely good point you raise, and something that I find rather annoying. You should have to click every unread thread in the board in order for the green arrow to disappear/turn yellow.
In fact, this is a concern that I venture to say is worth consideration by the mods/admin team, due to the confusion it could cause, and the volume of times it has caused me to miss out on new posts.
Ugh, please no. There are some threads I skip entirely because I'm just not interested in that particular topic, so that would result in perpetual meaningless green arrows for me.
Same with most of us, I assume. I guess it might be pertinent to ask, then, if anyone finds the arrows useful at all.
I don't, really. I've had green arrows sitting on many of the regional boards ever since I joined, as I have no reason to view those boards. So in that sense, the arrows are redundant.

I think the arrows are very useful, at least for me personally. It gives me a heads up that there are some very new, unread posts in that subforum before I even click on it.

I also find the yellow arrows very useful, for subforums that have child boards such as General Highway Talk (Traffic Control & Road-Related Illustrations) and Off-Topic (Sports & Weather).

At least for me, the traffic signal notifications (the arrows) are incredibly useful, and they highly enhance my forum experience - not to mention, they are a very cool-looking sight of roadgeekery.  :)
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127322363@N08/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-vJ3qa8R-cc44Cv6ohio1g

vdeane

I use the arrows every day.  How else would I know which boards have new posts and which there's no point in opening because nothing new was posted?
Please note: All comments here represent my own personal opinion and do not reflect the official position of NYSDOT or its affiliates.

froggie

Quote from: jakeroot on February 05, 2018, 07:25:51 PM
Quote from: froggie on February 02, 2018, 04:39:31 PM
Quote from: 1 on February 02, 2018, 12:36:37 PM
Click on the word "NEW" in the yellow box.

If you're using a forum theme that colors the "New" boxes yellow.  The theme I use does not.

What got you to use a different theme?

Part of it is habit...the "core theme" is actually the theme original to the forum when it first began.  But it's mainly because the "Button Copy theme" that is the current forum default is hard on my eyes and hard for me to read even on a full computer (let alone a mobile device).

webny99

Quote from: vdeane on February 06, 2018, 06:53:13 PM
I use the arrows every day.  How else would I know which boards have new posts and which there's no point in opening because nothing new was posted?
In my case, the arrows are irrelevant on boards I don't follow (such as most of the regional boards, Road Meets, etc.). Boards I do follow are typically active enough that there's always new posts. Even it there isn't, I'm apt to open them anyway; if there's no new content, that's an indication that I should either quit following it, or spice it up  ;-)

jakeroot

Quote from: froggie on February 06, 2018, 08:17:28 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on February 05, 2018, 07:25:51 PM
Quote from: froggie on February 02, 2018, 04:39:31 PM
Quote from: 1 on February 02, 2018, 12:36:37 PM
Click on the word "NEW" in the yellow box.

If you're using a forum theme that colors the "New" boxes yellow.  The theme I use does not.

What got you to use a different theme?

Part of it is habit...the "core theme" is actually the theme original to the forum when it first began.  But it's mainly because the "Button Copy theme" that is the current forum default is hard on my eyes and hard for me to read even on a full computer (let alone a mobile device).

I see. I've tried using the alternative themes, but weirdly, I found the opposite to be true. The various shades of blue and grey made everything blend together, and the various parts of the webpage difficult to discern when scrolling. I'm not a particularly big fan of green and yellow, to be fair. But it seems to work better than the blue and grey. I also found the various page elements that don't change when changing the theme, such as the user ranks, to be rather distracting on the core theme.

freebrickproductions

Quote from: adventurernumber1 on February 06, 2018, 06:02:40 PM
Quote from: webny99 on February 06, 2018, 05:49:54 PM
Quote from: Eth on February 06, 2018, 05:23:16 PM
Quote from: webny99 on February 06, 2018, 01:09:55 PM
I was just being smart with my earlier comment; however, that's an extremely good point you raise, and something that I find rather annoying. You should have to click every unread thread in the board in order for the green arrow to disappear/turn yellow.
In fact, this is a concern that I venture to say is worth consideration by the mods/admin team, due to the confusion it could cause, and the volume of times it has caused me to miss out on new posts.
Ugh, please no. There are some threads I skip entirely because I'm just not interested in that particular topic, so that would result in perpetual meaningless green arrows for me.
Same with most of us, I assume. I guess it might be pertinent to ask, then, if anyone finds the arrows useful at all.
I don't, really. I've had green arrows sitting on many of the regional boards ever since I joined, as I have no reason to view those boards. So in that sense, the arrows are redundant.

I think the arrows are very useful, at least for me personally. It gives me a heads up that there are some very new, unread posts in that subforum before I even click on it.

I also find the yellow arrows very useful, for subforums that have child boards such as General Highway Talk (Traffic Control & Road-Related Illustrations) and Off-Topic (Sports & Weather).

At least for me, the traffic signal notifications (the arrows) are incredibly useful, and they highly enhance my forum experience - not to mention, they are a very cool-looking sight of roadgeekery.  :)

Also, it's worth noting that the forum's main index has a "mark all posts as read" (or something like that) button that you can click that allows you to mark any boards or topics you aren't interested in reading as "read".
It's all fun & games until someone summons Cthulhu and brings about the end of the world.

I also collect traffic lights, road signs, fans, and railroad crossing equipment.

(They/Them)

hbelkins

How I read the forum:

Click the arrows on the boards I'm interested in, then click the "new" button on topics that I'm interested in.


Government would be tolerable if not for politicians and bureaucrats.

jakeroot

Quote from: hbelkins on February 07, 2018, 10:37:13 AM
How I read the forum:

Click the arrows on the boards I'm interested in, then click the "new" button on topics that I'm interested in.

Holy crap. I did not know you could click those arrows. Thank you.

Jim

Count me among those who never thought to click on the "New" icons before reading this thread.  For years, I have had the profile setting selected to show posts from newest at top to oldest at bottom so when I go to a topic, I'd see the new posts at the top.  I've now set it back to the default order and can use the New icon to go to the first new easily and scroll down from there.
Photos I post are my own unless otherwise noted.
Signs: https://www.teresco.org/pics/signs/
Travel Mapping: https://travelmapping.net/user/?u=terescoj
Counties: http://www.mob-rule.com/user/terescoj
Twitter @JimTeresco (roads, travel, skiing, weather, sports)

Eth

Quote from: jakeroot on February 07, 2018, 02:17:58 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 07, 2018, 10:37:13 AM
How I read the forum:

Click the arrows on the boards I'm interested in, then click the "new" button on topics that I'm interested in.

Holy crap. I did not know you could click those arrows. Thank you.

Neither did I! I knew about the "NEW!" banners, but not the clickability of the arrows. That is actually helpful.

adventurernumber1

Quote from: Eth on February 07, 2018, 02:58:59 PM
Quote from: jakeroot on February 07, 2018, 02:17:58 PM
Quote from: hbelkins on February 07, 2018, 10:37:13 AM
How I read the forum:

Click the arrows on the boards I'm interested in, then click the "new" button on topics that I'm interested in.

Holy crap. I did not know you could click those arrows. Thank you.

Neither did I! I knew about the "NEW!" banners, but not the clickability of the arrows. That is actually helpful.

Add me to the list of people who had no idea that you could click the arrows either.  :-D

Thank you for that information!!  :nod:  :biggrin:
Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127322363@N08/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-vJ3qa8R-cc44Cv6ohio1g

webny99

Which is more obvious, the clickability of the "new" notifications, or the clickability of the green arrows?  :-P

I found out about both through this thread, which is mildly embarrassing.

US 89

Quote from: webny99 on February 08, 2018, 10:05:10 PM
Which is more obvious, the clickability of the "new" notifications, or the clickability of the green arrows?  :-P

I found out about both through this thread, which is mildly embarrassing.

Ever since I joined the forum, I've been clicking the "new"  notifications. I had no idea you could click the arrows.

Scott5114

Surprisingly, when you use a mobile device that doesn't provide for the basic functionality of allowing you to determine what is a link and what is not–which real computers do by changing the cursor when you hover over them–you miss out on things.
uncontrollable freak sardine salad chef

J N Winkler

Is there a way to "unfollow" a thread one has posted in by preventing fresh replies from causing it to be displayed in the "unread replies" listing?  This would be very useful in eliminating the passive incentive to keep coming back to a thread where discussion has bogged down.
"It is necessary to spend a hundred lire now to save a thousand lire later."--Piero Puricelli, explaining the need for a first-class road system to Benito Mussolini



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