Threads showing read

[GRN96WS6]

I always remain logged in to the forum and there are plenty of times I come to the site and see that threads I know I haven't read (or I have but there are new posts) aren't showing up as new for me? Why would this happen? I've cleared cookies and tried chrome and IE and they both do it. I also use tapatalk on occasion as well.

Any ideas?

 

[Boost Creep]

because they all reset after 10-15 minutes of inactivity. i just made a thread in here not too long ago asking if the time limit could be changed but got no response

 

[GRN96WS6]

because they all reset after 10-15 minutes of inactivity. i just made a thread in here not too long ago asking if the time limit could be changed but got no response

That seems pretty stupid to me, I don't always come here daily so those bolded topics help me know where I've left off.

Admins....hello!!

 

[HOTFR8]

Log out when you leave and see what that does for you.

 

[GRN96WS6]

Log out when you leave and see what that does for you.

I shouldn't have to log in and out every visit, that is crazy, I'm on many forums and this is the only one where this issue happens.

 

[Radio Ron w4ron]

I wonder why the "Mark all forums read" does not work. I'd like to be able do use that
when I get done reading threads so only new ones would show unread when I come back.
I sent a question about this to the mods and got no response.

 

[GRN96WS6]

I wonder why the "Mark all forums read" does not work. I'd like to be able do use that
when I get done reading threads so only new ones would show unread when I come back.
I sent a question about this to the mods and got no response.

This doesn't work either, it says something about a security token or something.

Even if that did it doesn't show you the unread from your last visit if it does in fact reset in the time interval the poster above mentioned.

 

[GRN96WS6]

So is this ever going to be addressed or not? Why does the forum reset every 15 minutes, what is the reasoning behind that? Every other forum I'm on (about 10) doesn't do that and I can go weeks without visiting and pick right back up where I left off by seeing which topics I haven't read by the little blue dots on the associated thread. It seems downright silly to me that this practice is happening and more people haven't complained about it or the issue itself hasn't been corrected.

 

[HOTFR8]

I log out every day. Clear the cache on the computer etc. and that fixes many issues.
I also mark the forum sections read as I have finished with each section. You can do that with forum tools.

 

[GRN96WS6]

I log out every day. Clear the cache on the computer etc. and that fixes many issues.
I also mark the forum sections read as I have finished with each section. You can do that with forum tools.

I'm not sure if you're reading my post correctly or not, I do mark sections read when I'm done with it, but I should not have to log out daily that is simply unacceptable and not a solution and more of a bandaid. It also shouldn't require me to clear my cache daily, again totally unacceptable solution. I'm on MANY other forums and don't have this issue on any of them only here.

The practice you're saying to do is simply a bandaid and not a "fix", there is clearly something wrong with the forum software or some setting that need tweaked.

I'm not typically a member who whines or whatever but this is becoming annoying and making me not even to want to bother visiting, esp when I can't get here everyday.

 

[HOTFR8]

When you log out and come back you will see new topics and other will be seen as read.

I wonder if any one else is having the same problem you state ? I log out every day more for security.

 

[cglasgow]

I wonder if any one else is having the same problem you state ? I log out every day more for security.

Yes:
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=200237

 

[e-tek]

So is this ever going to be addressed or not? .......... It seems downright silly to me that this practice is happening and more people haven't complained about it or the issue itself hasn't been corrected.

Hmmm.... I've been here 7 years and have nearly 10K posts and don't even know what you're talking about - but then I'm only here to discuss topics and ideas I can use in the garage...

Seems downright silly to me that this is even an issue (for you)....

 

[GRN96WS6]

Hmmm.... I've been here 7 years and have nearly 10K posts and don't even know what you're talking about - but then I'm only here to discuss topics and ideas I can use in the garage...

Seems downright silly to me that this is even an issue (for you)....

I'm not sure why it seems silly, if I visit the garage forum let's say at 9AM and there are 20 unread posts I see those, let's say I come back at 4PM and we both know there will have been some posts since I've been here at 9AM, I may only see threads showing unread for about 10 threads, when there may be 30 or more that have new posts. That is what I'm talking about.

I'm not sure why you can't seem to think it would be an issue, if I only come here sporadically I don't want to look at the post date to see if it is a new post I should be able to see it highlighted, that is the whole point of the forum and how it works on EVERY other site I'm on. Some forums I can go weeks in between visits and I have never had this issue.

 

[Joe G.]

I'm not sure why it seems silly, if I visit the garage forum let's say at 9AM and there are 20 unread posts I see those, let's say I come back at 4PM and we both know there will have been some posts since I've been here at 9AM, I may only see threads showing unread for about 10 threads, when there may be 30 or more that have new posts. That is what I'm talking about.

I'm not sure why you can't seem to think it would be an issue, if I only come here sporadically I don't want to look at the post date to see if it is a new post I should be able to see it highlighted, that is the whole point of the forum and how it works on EVERY other site I'm on. Some forums I can go weeks in between visits and I have never had this issue.

Same issue for me.

I can be be on for less than an hour and threads that I KNOW haven't been read by me now show up as if I had clicked/read them.

Every other forum I'm on (mostly various car or gun forums) will not show threads as "read" unless the user actually reads it, clicks the "mark all threads read" button or they go for a pre-determined time (usually a few weeks up to a few months) of non-activity.

I've been Admin or Super Admin on a few forums and I'm willing to bet there's an option in the VB area that needs to be adjusted. Hopefully one of the Admins will see this and make that change?

 

[Zippercat]

I've had same problem here, but not other sites.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I don't seem to have any issues but your question maybe answered by reading this link.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/faq.php?faq=vb3_board_usage#faq_vb3_thread_display

Also try going to your USER CP, click on EDIT OPTIONS, scroll down to Thread Display Options. The last option allows you to adjust your thread cut off date. This may help you.

 

[cglasgow]

I don't seem to have any issues but your question maybe answered by reading this link.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/faq.php?faq=vb3_board_usage#faq_vb3_thread_display

Also try going to your USER CP, click on EDIT OPTIONS, scroll down to Thread Display Options. The last option allows you to adjust your thread cut off date. This may help you.

Thanks for the suggestions but neither address the complaint (or at least not my complaint...). The issue is whether or threads are marked as having unread content. Reordering the threads or not displaying threads older than a certain date does not indicate if a thread has been truly read or if it has be unilaterally declared read by the forum software. Like others have mentioned, this is the only forum that I've ever run across that does not leave threads marked as unread until the user decides (either by actually reading a thread or by clicking "mark all read").

If this is a configuration parameter of the forum software, is there any penalty (performance/bandwidth/storage) for allowing the user to control what's marked read/unread rather than giving the software the power to decide? What harm is there in letting the user control his experience?

 

[cglasgow]

vBulletin manual (v5.0.4):

General Settings
Use the vBulletin Options > vBulletin Options > General Settings setting group to control several general aspects of your board.
....
Thread/Forum Read Marking Type
This option controls how threads and forums are marked as read. The options are:

1) Inactivity/Cookie Based - once a user has been inactive for a certain amount of time (the value of the cookie timeout option) all threads and forums are considered read. Individual threads are marked as read within a session via cookies. This option is how all versions of vBulletin before 3.5 functioned.
2) Database (no automatic forum marking) - this option uses the database to store thread and forum read times. This allows accurate read markers to be kept indefinitely. However, in order for a forum to be marked read when all threads are read, the user must view the list of threads for that forum. This option is more space and processor intensive than inactivity-based marking.
3) Database (automatic forum marking) - this option is the same as a previous option, but 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.

https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/vboptions_group_general

It appears right now that the forum is set to option 1 but the people complaining here are asking for option 2 (or 3?)

 

[NUTTSGT]

Thanks for the suggestions but neither address the complaint (or at least not my complaint...). The issue is whether or threads are marked as having unread content. Reordering the threads or not displaying threads older than a certain date does not indicate if a thread has been truly read or if it has be unilaterally declared read by the forum software. Like others have mentioned, this is the only forum that I've ever run across that does not leave threads marked as unread until the user decides (either by actually reading a thread or by clicking "mark all read").

If this is a configuration parameter of the forum software, is there any penalty (performance/bandwidth/storage) for allowing the user to control what's marked read/unread rather than giving the software the power to decide? What harm is there in letting the user control his experience?

Maybe I'm not understanding the problem.

If you open a section like General Garage Discussion, on the left side of the thread title/subject, do you see a colored box ? Black, blue, orange or green ?

 

[cglasgow]

Maybe I'm not understanding the problem.

If you open a section like General Garage Discussion, on the left side of the thread title/subject, do you see a colored box ? Black, blue, orange or green ?

If I visit a section, there are some thread titles that are in bold, indicating that there is new content. Other thread titles are not bold, indicating there is nothing new for me to see. On the bolded titles I can click the blue box with the "down-arrow" to the left of the thread title and it will take me to the first unread post in the thread.

On any other forum, if I walk away from my computer for a few hours, days, years.... and refresh the page, then any threads modified since I last looked will be in bold as well as all the threads with unread content before I walked away. Here, however, after some time the forum software will decide to mark everything read for me even though I have not read everything, meaning that any threads I intended to come back to are no longer highlighted, and -- most annoyingly -- there is no blue box to click to take me where I left off reading. My "place" in the thread has been lost. I have to either search to find what's been added since I last looked (on long threads that could take a while) or give up and abandon the new content added between the time I left and the time I came back.

I hope this makes it clearer.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I guess I see what you're talking about. Fortunately I spend enough time on here, usually, that I hadn't noticed. I guess this is a question best answered by Ryan.

 

[Joe G.]

vBulletin manual (v5.0.4):


https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/vboptions_group_general

It appears right now that the forum is set to option 1 but the people complaining here are asking for option 2 (or 3?)

Bingo! I knew VB had options for this stuff. Haven't been in the backend of a forum in a while to remember what area it was in.

If I visit a section, there are some thread titles that are in bold, indicating that there is new content. Other thread titles are not bold, indicating there is nothing new for me to see. On the bolded titles I can click the blue box with the "down-arrow" to the left of the thread title and it will take me to the first unread post in the thread.

On any other forum, if I walk away from my computer for a few hours, days, years.... and refresh the page, then any threads modified since I last looked will be in bold as well as all the threads with unread content before I walked away. Here, however, after some time the forum software will decide to mark everything read for me even though I have not read everything, meaning that any threads I intended to come back to are no longer highlighted, and -- most annoyingly -- there is no blue box to click to take me where I left off reading. My "place" in the thread has been lost. I have to either search to find what's been added since I last looked (on long threads that could take a while) or give up and abandon the new content added between the time I left and the time I came back.

I hope this makes it clearer.

Exactly.

 

[fancypants]

Add me to the list of complainers. I read this forum using the "New Posts" feature, instead of aimlessly clicking around the various sections. But the "New Posts" feature doesn't actually show all of the new posts since I last visited. This is really frustrating.

There is a really simple fix to this problem: just set "Thread/Forum Read Marking Type" to "Database (automatic forum marking)". It will make the site more usable for everyone, and you won't have to listen to us whine anymore.

 

[fancypants]

Any further comment from the powers that be? Should we just assume that this will never be fixed? Would be nice to have an answer either way.

 

[JasonF]

Any further comment from the powers that be? Should we just assume that this will never be fixed? Would be nice to have an answer either way.

???????

 

[fancypants]

Fat chance

 

[HOTFR8]

It may be an issue if you have not ticked the remember me box and you log off or get off the forum. When you log back in the system will show them as read.

 

[fancypants]

The system will show them as read because "Thread/Forum Read Marking Type" is set to "1) Inactivity/Cookie Based".

"get off the forum" is the scenario people are experiencing. People look at a thread or two, then go get a cup of coffee, go back to work, etc., and come back to find that the forum has forgotten which threads have been read. This is what people are complaining about. It can be fixed easily by changing the setting to "3) Database (automatic forum marking)".

Every other forum I've visited behaves the way a person would expect it to behave. GJ is the frustrating exception.

https://www.vbulletin.com/docs/html/vboptions_group_general

This option controls how threads and forums are marked as read. The options are:

1) Inactivity/Cookie Based - once a user has been inactive for a certain amount of time (the value of the cookie timeout option) all threads and forums are considered read. Individual threads are marked as read within a session via cookies. This option is how all versions of vBulletin before 3.5 functioned.
2) Database (no automatic forum marking) - this option uses the database to store thread and forum read times. This allows accurate read markers to be kept indefinitely. However, in order for a forum to be marked read when all threads are read, the user must view the list of threads for that forum. This option is more space and processor intensive than inactivity-based marking.
3) Database (automatic forum marking) - this option is the same as a previous option, but 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.

 

[dcbullet]

I was going to make a thread about this but I see it has already been addressed.

I wish this was fixed. It would making following along with garage builds much easier.