Read vs. Unread Threads

[sykoraven]

Just curious. How Can I tell which threads have been read or unread? Will this be something that's tied to my computer, or to my screen name? I ask because i visit the site on multiple computers, and it would be nice if the forum maintained which threads I have already read. I assume that once someone posts a new message to a thread, it becomes unread again.

Just my thoughts!

[jkwuc89]

There are three options available to us regarding read/unread threads and posts. They are described below. We are currently using option 1. I will change this to option 3 and see how it affects things.

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

1. Inactivity/Cookie Based - once a user has been inactive for a certain amount of time (the value of the session 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.

[jkwuc89]

Changing this setting will probably result in some unexpected behavior for most of you. There is a link when viewing forums that allows you to quickly mark all forums as read. After this is done, how the site determines which threads are read vs. unread should work properly.

[sykoraven]

Keith, thanks for making the change. I'll be sure to report back my experience from the user's end!

[sykoraven]

Back to give my update. I hadn't visited the forums over the weekend (shame on me), and came back this morning to catch up. I was pleased to see all of the threads marked as new and marked as read -- very helpful.

I caught up on a few of the boards, but not all. I then closed my browser. When I came back a couple hours later, all threads/messages that had been posted prior to my first visit this morning were now marked as read - even those that I had not yet read.

I was hoping that the board would mark only the threads I have read, not just the ones that were available for me to read when I made my visit.

Just my two cents! Let me know if you'd like me to explain more thoroughly, just trying to help.

[jkwuc89]

Turning on the database option for keeping track of read/unread threads was putting a bit of stress on our server. That is why we went back to the cookie based approach. I think we still need to fine tune this a bit