Minor Mark forum read problem

[Duckmite]

In some forums if I use the Mark forum read feature in Forum tools it looks like nothing happens. Even the Forum Tools menu is left hanging open like I hadn't clicked it at all. But if I use refresh it shows all the threads in the forum have indeed been marked read. I'm using IE8.

 

[thejessta]

Hi, Mark. Which version of Windows are you using?

 

[tyleet87]

In some forums if I use the Mark forum read feature in Forum tools it looks like nothing happens. Even the Forum Tools menu is left hanging open like I hadn't clicked it at all. But if I use refresh it shows all the threads in the forum have indeed been marked read. I'm using IE8.

Mine does that too! At least on my computer at work. And I'm sure it's outdated. haha It's really annoying.

 

[Duckmite]

Hi, Mark. Which version of Windows are you using?

XP Home Edition SP3

And it's Jouni, not Mark.

 

[thejessta]

XP Home Edition SP3

And it's Jouni, not Mark.

Oops! So sorry, Jouni. We believe this to be a problem with our forum software. We plan on running maintenance in the next few days. Hopefully this will solve any issues. Thank you for informing us about this matter!

 

[thejessta]

I can't tell the difference between forums I've read and haven't. I keep clicking on the "Mark Forums Read" link in Forum Actions but it doesn't seem to make any difference?

Is this for the list of posts in a specific forum or the main page's list of different forums?

 

[thejessta]

Main page list. Am I doing something wrong 'cause I just can't tell when there's new posts in a forum or not! Or is there no way to distinguish whether there are new posts or not?

On the main page, the icons for forums that contain new posts appear in color. Forum icons for forums with no new posts appear in black and white. Does this help?

We'll also see about clarifying the Icon Legend. Thanks!

 

[Duckmite]

Oh! Yeah, that helps, but I never would have figured it out on my own - clarifying that on the main page would be great - thanks!

My thoughts exactly. This would probably have been my next question. Thanks for asking it for me, Jabby!

And thanks for the answer, of course!

 

[Duckmite]

Ok, it's almost 5 PM and I don't feel like working, so here comes another question.

When I've read a thread I usually click Back. This doesn't update the status of the thread on the forum main page and after reading a few threads it becomes difficult to remember which have been read and which may have gotten new messages after that.

Could we a) get clicking Back to update the read status of a thread, or b) get a Back button at the bottom of a thread that would do that?

There is a menu which I could use but it's not one-click which I would prefer.

 

[Cicada]

Ok, it's almost 5 PM and I don't feel like working, so here comes another question.

When I've read a thread I usually click Back. This doesn't update the status of the thread on the forum main page and after reading a few threads it becomes difficult to remember which have been read and which may have gotten new messages after that.

Could we a) get clicking Back to update the read status of a thread, or b) get a Back button at the bottom of a thread that would do that?

There is a menu which I could use but it's not one-click which I would prefer.

using the back button on your browser simply loads the previous page from cache, so it won't work for updating the "read" status of a thread or forum. for example, you could probably go to a page, unplug your computer from the internet, press "back" and the previous page would still load.

we can, however add the breadcrumbs to the bottom of the page [same breadcrumbs that appear at hte top of the page to show you what forum and thread you're in, etc) so you don't have to scroll all the way to the top to get back. alternatively, you can also use the "top" button at the bottom of the page to take you all the way to the top of the thread.

we will look into adding the breadcrumbs at the bottom as well, though, so you can get back to the main forum or forum listing quickly.

 

[Duckmite]

using the back button on your browser simply loads the previous page from cache, so it won't work for updating the "read" status of a thread or forum. for example, you could probably go to a page, unplug your computer from the internet, press "back" and the previous page would still load.

we can, however add the breadcrumbs to the bottom of the page [same breadcrumbs that appear at hte top of the page to show you what forum and thread you're in, etc) so you don't have to scroll all the way to the top to get back. alternatively, you can also use the "top" button at the bottom of the page to take you all the way to the top of the thread.

we will look into adding the breadcrumbs at the bottom as well, though, so you can get back to the main forum or forum listing quickly.

DizPins managed to update the status of the thread even if you returned to forum main menu by clicking back. I have no idea how they did it. Maybe clicking a thread updated the status first and then opened it?

But having a breadcrumb at the bottom would indeed help. Now it's either scolling or clicking Top to get to a position you can use a controlled exit from the thread or click back and then refresh. A breadcrumb would do the same with one click.

It's nothing major, but it would increase the usability of the site a little.