view posts since last visit *in*certain*forums*

[tom lightbody]

"view posts since last visit" is nice: however as more forums get added
and as thinkpadder enthusiasm waxes--I'm getting 160 or so items each
day--many in forums that do not interest me.

is there a way--or could there be a way--for me to pick the forums of
my interest (5 or 6 of them) and then search for new posts in those
forums only?

best in thinkpadding

[Kyocera]

What???? you mean you don't read every single new post!!!!! So you probably only read the sports section of the paper too.
Reading things in other forums can be useful, but I do see your point, you could go to the boring ones and click on the mark all topics read button and move on. Or just ignore what you don't find interesting.

[BillMorrow]

i'm not sure if you CAN turn notification off in only certain conferences..

[GomJabbar]

Even though I am a moderator, I do not use the "View posts since last visit" button. I do not have the time to check out all the conferences.

What I do is log into the Index page first, then click on a conference and view new posts that are highlighted. Once there, I view each new post in succession. I use the forward and back browser buttons to navigate. Even after replying to a post, I will use the back browser button to back up where I was before. Once done with a conference I use the back browser button to get back to the index page, and from there I go to the next conference of interest. Once I have viewed all the posts, I refresh the index page to see any newer posts. When I am more pressed for much time, I view selected posts, then I use what Kyocera referred to: Mark all topics read.

I use the Opera browser for this, and it works great. The default setting for Internet Explorer does not work well with the forward and back browser buttons. If you change the following in IE7: go to Tools > Internet Options > General > Browsing history settings and change the setting "Check for newer versions of stored pages:" from "Automatic" to "Never" or to "Every time I start Internet Explorer". Then the behavior is similar to Opera.

[rkawakami]

And I am just the opposite of Gom...

I always use the "View posts since last visit" link on the main index page to see everything that has happened since the last time I checked in (and that brings up my one pet peeve which I'll get to later). I go to the end of the listing (next page if more than 50 threads) and then work my way back up to the newest posts. I don't read everything that's new; mainly I select what looks interesting by way of the subject line or a thread that I have posted in before. Again, using the browser's (Firefox) back button, I return back to the static index page, select the next thread and continue on. When I get back to the top of the list I refresh the page to see any new posts. I never use the "Mark all topics read" link in any of the conferences. I use another technique....

My main problem is what happens when the browser crashes or locks up (usually as a result of trying to load a .PDF file). When Firefox is re-started, the site thinks that I've just signed out a few seconds prior and as a result, doesn't have anything to display for me as "new". My forum settings are "remember me" so I don't have to log in when Firefox starts up. I've got tabs set for Yahoo, here and eBay as my "home pages". So my technique to mark all threads as read is to simply kill the browser and restart it.

It would be nice to have a link which you'd manually have to click in order to "mark all threads as read", instead of the forum's server making the assumption that each time the browser connection is terminated that's your "last visit".

(edit: I should clarify that the browser connection termination is actually a result of the browser itself being shut down and not a simple "close tab".)

[carbon_unit]

Also I have found that the "View posts since last visit" link does not always show all of the posts since last visit. Sometimes it misses a few, or maybe I miss them myself.
Still it seems like I have to go and look at some sections of the forum to make sure I didn't miss anything. (I probably still do)

[tfflivemb2]

Even though I am a moderator, I do not use the "View posts since last visit" button. I do not have the time to check out all the conferences.

What I do is log into the Index page first, then click on a conference and view new posts that are highlighted. Once there, I view each new post in succession. I use the forward and back browser buttons to navigate. Even after replying to a post, I will use the back browser button to back up where I was before. Once done with a conference I use the back browser button to get back to the index page, and from there I go to the next conference of interest. Once I have viewed all the posts, I refresh the index page to see any newer posts. When I am more pressed for much time, I view selected posts, then I use what Kyocera referred to: Mark all topics read.

I do exactly the same....I will also check for the threads that are bolded, because I might have refreshed the page one too many times and missed the thread previously....

[ryengineer]

I do exactly the same....I will also check for the threads that are bolded, because I might have refreshed the page one too many times and missed the thread previously....

I second you two guys as well. I just try to read all threads as everything here gives me to learn something new.

[rkawakami]

Crap!

Just had a one minute power outage (return of California's rolling blackout problem from a couple of years ago?) and now all of the "new" threads since my last visit are gone!

I hereby respectfully request that the next version of board software have a way to manually mark all threads as read instead of doing it automatically when the browser is shut down (or is there a way already to do this?).

On sorta a related note... it's amazing how many pieces of electronics here in my home office come alive when the power gets restored. The HP LaserJet 5L cycles, as well as the Epson 1240U scanner. The networking gear of course (router, DSL, switches, hubs, print server, wireless AP, etc.), if they have power switches, have been left in the "on" position. What was interesting is that my Sun Ultra 5 decided to come on (going to have to fix that)!

[JHEM]

I hereby respectfully request that the next version of board software have a way to manually mark all threads as read instead of doing it automatically when the browser is shut down (or is there a way already to do this?).

Logoff/logon will accomplish it. Other than that there's no universal mark all read button.

Oh, switching between my WAPs connected to Comcast and Verizon will do it also.

James

[jdhurst]

Crap!

Just had a one minute power outage (return of California's rolling blackout problem from a couple of years ago?) and now all of the "new" threads since my last visit are gone!
<snip>

Time for a UPS. I keep my network gear and my Desktop PC on the UPS to prevent that. ... JDH