WEBSITE: New Topics/Unread Topics in the Forum
Posted by BigKev On 2009/5/15 16:27:18
This is a quick tip to help folks out that have reported not seeing threads that have been updated. This usually happens when users access the Forum via the "Recent Forum Topics" block under the main menu of the left of your screen.
The Recent Forum Topics (RFT) simply show the 10 newest or updated threads in the forum, regardless of whether or not you have already read them. If 15 threads are new since the last time you looked, then you are only seeing the last 10 of them. This is why I do not recommend using the RFT block as your method for reading the forums. It should only serve as a visual cue that some type of forum activity has transpired, and then you should click on the "Packard Forums" link of the Main Menu to access the Forum Index.
This has numerous advantages. First it displays the list of all the Forums. This list is customized based upon your individual read/unread status. So any forums that have a "Bold" envelope icon, represent forums that contain new/updated posts that you have personally not read yet. If the Forum icon is "dimmed" that means there are no unread items in that forum. So that means you can simply skip that forum as nothing has changed since the last time you were in there.
If you click on a Forum that shows having unread item in it, then it displays the list of all the Forum Topic in that forum. Much like the Forum Index page, the topic list will show you what items have not been read by you using the envelope icon status.
Once you read an unread item, you will notice that the envelope icon now while show that it has been read.
The Recent Forum Topics block was added to the website to give you a visual alert that there has been activity in the forums if you happen to be in another part of the website, but I really recommend that you read the forum through the actual forum pages instead of simply clicking on the links in the RFT Block. This will keep you from missing any topics that could not be displayed in the RTF Block when there is a lot of forum activity.
The Recent Forum Topics (RFT) simply show the 10 newest or updated threads in the forum, regardless of whether or not you have already read them. If 15 threads are new since the last time you looked, then you are only seeing the last 10 of them. This is why I do not recommend using the RFT block as your method for reading the forums. It should only serve as a visual cue that some type of forum activity has transpired, and then you should click on the "Packard Forums" link of the Main Menu to access the Forum Index.
This has numerous advantages. First it displays the list of all the Forums. This list is customized based upon your individual read/unread status. So any forums that have a "Bold" envelope icon, represent forums that contain new/updated posts that you have personally not read yet. If the Forum icon is "dimmed" that means there are no unread items in that forum. So that means you can simply skip that forum as nothing has changed since the last time you were in there.
If you click on a Forum that shows having unread item in it, then it displays the list of all the Forum Topic in that forum. Much like the Forum Index page, the topic list will show you what items have not been read by you using the envelope icon status.
Once you read an unread item, you will notice that the envelope icon now while show that it has been read.
The Recent Forum Topics block was added to the website to give you a visual alert that there has been activity in the forums if you happen to be in another part of the website, but I really recommend that you read the forum through the actual forum pages instead of simply clicking on the links in the RFT Block. This will keep you from missing any topics that could not be displayed in the RTF Block when there is a lot of forum activity.
This Post was from: https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?post_id=28631