Is it just me? (slightly OT)

Richard53

From time to time, while I am browsing through the MSE forums, the site will mark all threads as 'read'. Theres seems to be no pattern to it, except that I return to the forum page after 20 minutes to find that all the threads are in normal type instead of bold. This makes it hard to find which threads I have not yet read, or to find my place in a thread I was following, as the 'new posts' button obviously doesn't work as there are no 'new posts' as far as the software is concerned. Does anyone else have this happening? It's the only forum I know where it does. Very frustrating.

Crabman

Hi Richard53,

I've moved your thread over to the Site Feedback board where someone may be able to help.

RichardD1970

Does similar to me, also sometimes it doesn't track where I have read up to in threads, placing the first unread thread before my reply.

torbrex

You don't say if you are logged in when reading the threads but if you are and log out, you need to return to the forum index to set a cookie and it will remember at which point you logged out so that when you return (logged in) all unread threads should show in bold and the only ones missed will be any that had new posts in the time it took to log out and set the cookie.

if you are just lurking then I have found that it really is pot luck if the site remembers whether or not you have read a thread.

Richard53

I am logged in throughout. It's not a login/out issue as far as I can see. I come to the site and it logs me in automatically. The banner at the top says 'welcome Richard53'. I browse (for example) the Motoring sub-forum. When I first open the page, there are say 20 threads with unread posts (in bold font). I go to read one of the threads, click 'Motoring' at the top of the screen to go back to the first page, and all the threads except perhaps one or two are in normal font, i.e. no unread posts. The threads in bold have been added to while I was reading the other thread, and therefore have 'new posts', but all the others are marked as read. In other words, while I am logged in and reading a thread, something comes along at a random time and marks all posts as read for my login. It happens at least once during an hour's visit, and at a guess every 30 minutes or so on average. It can get very frustrating, as I have no way of finding new posts in a thread I am following unless I click on 'last page' of a thread and work back until I find my place.

My browser is set to accept cookies, and I don't have this problem with any other forum that I visit.

Thanks for the response.

torbrex

OK, I understand now
I've never had that happen though so I have no idea what to suggest
Good Luck

Richard53

I should add that I get the same thing on both home (Win7) and work (XP) computers, so it's probably not PC or OS related.

MistletoeGrower

Just to say this happens to me too - regardless of login (only registered last month after using site for ages), and regardless of what pc I'm using - so whatever it is it's an issue at the server end.

Richard53

Glad it's not just me. As an illustration, you posted this after I logged out yesterday. I came back to the site tonight, browsed another forum, and found your post - marked as 'read'.

Biggles

Yes, that's the way it's always worked, Richard53, it's frustrated me for years.

It's so annoying, when a forum like, eg, Motley Fool can remember which posts you've actually read and which ones you haven't, this one can only remember whether you've visited the site or not.

It means that, even if I come here to read one particular subject only and then leave again, when I come back all forums are marked 'Read' up to the time of my last visit, so I have no idea which are new posts.

The only solution, for me, is to try and visit every forum I have an interest in each time I come to the site as, if I miss one out, next time I come it will be marked 'Read' anyway even though I hadn't visited it.

If other forums can sort this out, MSE ought to be able to. I know it's 'bought-in' software, but I shouldn't have thought it was meant to work like this.

Richard53

I'm sure it's a fault rather than a 'feature', as I have probably been a regular visitor and contributor to 15-20 forums altogether, and this is the only forum I know that does this. Even the free forum software phpBB can keep track of what you have read, and does so faultlessly.

I get your frustration, and my experience is exactly the same. I'm not sure if anyone is listening, though.