New forum software...

[Zeta-Flux]

I agree with Prime95. I'd liked when the forums were highlighted only if there were new posts since my last visit, rather than unread posts.

[xilman]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

We read the forum by opening the "new posts" page and then opening all the threads we want to read in new tabs, and then we mark all forums read.

We think we have an option to revert to the old cookie method.

Should we post a poll to choose which method we want to use?

I use the same approach as Mike.

If we have a poll, I'll vote to keep the new behaviour. Cookies have been so badly misused by so many sites in the past that I refuse them except in exceptional cases. In consequence, I have to put mersenneforum.org into my list of acceptable sites. Once in their it is ok, but having to do so on all the machines I use is a pain.

Even worse, two different browsers on two different machine will have two different sets of cookies. I firmly believe that the server should be keeping track of all this and not the browser.


Paul

[axn]

I hated the old cookie method. If I come to the forum and leave the browser idling for some time, automatic session timeout happens; and then all traces of unread posts go poof! The new system rocks!

[Prime95]

Originally Posted by axn1

I hated the old cookie method.

Just goes to show you can't please everybody.

Xyzzy, I don't logoff - I just close the window (or go to some other website).

[Prime95]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

We read the forum by opening the "new posts" page and then opening all the threads we want to read in new tabs, and then we mark all forums read.

We think we have an option to revert to the old cookie method.

I'll try using your browsing method. I'm old and set in my ways, but ocassionally I can be trained to adopt new methods.

It would be nice if the software offered a user preference (show all unread posts OR show new posts since last visit). I agree that storing the data on the server is better than cookies as sometimes I access the forum from multiple computers

[akruppa]

Can we have a button to mark the current forum read and go straight back to the forum index? Without going through another page that merely tells us that we'll soon go where we meant to?

Alex

[ewmayer]

George - there may be another option for folks like you. I hadn't even noticed the new read/unread behavior, apparently because I always browse the forum (and most other websites) with image-rendering turned off - it takes a bit of getting used to, but once you've done so, it's so much more relaxing, focusing on ideas, not graphics. Anyway, in this mode, the indicator I get that a thread has new posts is that the thread title is boldfaced - and strangely enough, that seems to work exactly as before for me, even though I would've expected it to be governed by the same cookies that trigger the new-post graphics.

Could someone else try this in their browser (I'm using Firefox, and there it's Tools->Options->Web Features, unclick "Load Images") and let us know what they see?

An added bonus of images-disabled: faster page loads, especially nice if you've got a less-than-superfast internet connection.

[Xyzzy]

Neat new feature:

In the private messaging area, type the first few characters of the recipient's name. After a brief pause, the system lists all members that match those letters.

[Xyzzy]

Originally Posted by akruppa

Can we have a button to mark the current forum read and go straight back to the forum index? Without going through another page that merely tells us that we'll soon go where we meant to?

Are you talking about the intermediate pages that tell you a task has completed? Like:

"This forum has been marked as read and its new post indicator will now be off."

There is an option to kill all of those screens if that is what you all want.

From the documentation:

Enabling this option will remove the update pages that are displayed after a user makes a post, starts a search, etc. These pages provide assurance to the user that their information has been processed by the forum. Disabling these pages will save you bandwidth and may lessen the load of the forum on your server.

Note: Some pages will still use the redirection page when cookies are involved to prevent some potential problems.

[Xyzzy]

Originally Posted by Prime95

It would be nice if the software offered a user preference (show all unread posts OR show new posts since last visit). I agree that storing the data on the server is better than cookies as sometimes I access the forum from multiple computers

It is set to "3" right now. We wonder if "2" is what we really want?

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 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.

[akruppa]

Originally Posted by Xyzzy

There is an option to kill all of those screens if that is what you all want.

I think that would be nice.

Alex