"Go to first new post" has never worked correctly
05-14-14, 01:30 PM
#1
apocryphal sobriquet
Thread Starter
"Go to first new post" has never worked correctly
There are actually two separate but similar issues I'd like to mention:
1. When going to a forum while logged in, threads with unread posts are supposed to be highlighted in bold text. This is hit-or-miss on bikeforums -- sometimes there will be a few highlighted threads but many threads with new posts that are incorrectly not highlighted, sometimes none will be highlighted but should be, and sometimes the highlight feature works as intended. I go to some other vBulletin forums where this feature works properly so it seems to be an issue with bikeforums' setup.
2. "Go to first new post" likewise doesn't always work as intended -- sometimes it will go to a seemingly random post *after* the first new post. Other times it actually goes to the first new post.
Both of these bugs have been present for as long as I've been a member here.
1. When going to a forum while logged in, threads with unread posts are supposed to be highlighted in bold text. This is hit-or-miss on bikeforums -- sometimes there will be a few highlighted threads but many threads with new posts that are incorrectly not highlighted, sometimes none will be highlighted but should be, and sometimes the highlight feature works as intended. I go to some other vBulletin forums where this feature works properly so it seems to be an issue with bikeforums' setup.
2. "Go to first new post" likewise doesn't always work as intended -- sometimes it will go to a seemingly random post *after* the first new post. Other times it actually goes to the first new post.
Both of these bugs have been present for as long as I've been a member here.
05-14-14, 05:26 PM
#2
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point number one is just about the most infuriating thing about this place now that the search usually works.
There is a setting that affects showing all threads read once a day.
I have never used "go to first new post" I wouldn't have imagined that it worked given your point number 1
There is a setting that affects showing all threads read once a day.
I have never used "go to first new post" I wouldn't have imagined that it worked given your point number 1
06-11-14, 05:27 AM
#3
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I've seen this problem with another vBulletin-based forum. It's not a bug, but a setting. The reason for both to occur is because the active user session times out fairly quickly. The session is refreshed each time you navigate somewhere new on the forum. The problem arises when you spend too long typing up a post, reading through a thread, or even just step away and come back later. At that time the session is ended and then reopened, resetting everything. If you didn't have "remember me" checked then the reset points would be obvious, as you would be logged out by the system every time it happened.
As far as I know, these are the options available to the forum administrators:
We are probably on option #1 . The behavior that you're expecting utilizes option #3 . Personally, I'd like it if the forums switched to that, too. The administration likely shied away from it due to the note about it being the most processor-intensive. The forum I observed made the switch when an administrator had the time to monitor things, and he ultimately determined that the load wasn't bad, and left it enabled. Maybe we could try something similar?
As far as I know, these are the options available to the forum administrators:
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.
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.
06-11-14, 10:41 AM
#4
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I've seen this problem with another vBulletin-based forum. It's not a bug, but a setting. The reason for both to occur is because the active user session times out fairly quickly. The session is refreshed each time you navigate somewhere new on the forum. The problem arises when you spend too long typing up a post, reading through a thread, or even just step away and come back later. At that time the session is ended and then reopened, resetting everything. If you didn't have "remember me" checked then the reset points would be obvious, as you would be logged out by the system every time it happened.
As far as I know, these are the options available to the forum administrators:
We are probably on option #1 . The behavior that you're expecting utilizes option #3 . Personally, I'd like it if the forums switched to that, too. The administration likely shied away from it due to the note about it being the most processor-intensive. The forum I observed made the switch when an administrator had the time to monitor things, and he ultimately determined that the load wasn't bad, and left it enabled. Maybe we could try something similar?
As far as I know, these are the options available to the forum administrators:
We are probably on option #1 . The behavior that you're expecting utilizes option #3 . Personally, I'd like it if the forums switched to that, too. The administration likely shied away from it due to the note about it being the most processor-intensive. The forum I observed made the switch when an administrator had the time to monitor things, and he ultimately determined that the load wasn't bad, and left it enabled. Maybe we could try something similar?
You are correct. Given our membership population of over a quarter million members, and up to 30% active at one session, on at least fifty occasions, we have to stay at option one or the site crashes due to processor overload. We also have to run quite a bit of custom code, as well, so we have to keep the baseline PHP software in it's lightest possible processor load condition. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it's a necessary condition and we still get bogged down from time to time. vBulletin is also still the best at load handling, and we're one of their toughest to maintain customers. We're hard on both software and hardware, as well. I think we hold a record for crashing Bladeservers due to processor and hard drive overload/overheat/explode.Stuff developed for our boards winds up in later releases for everyone else, later for that reason.
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. “He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.”- Fredrick Nietzsche
"We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." - Immanuel Kant
