Change in "Thread/Forum Read Marking" setting

Change in "Thread/Forum Read Marking" setting

vBulletin is the forum software on which FerrariChat and the vast majority of online forums operate. A number of forum features built into the software offer different settings to allow for customization. One example of this is the Thread/Forum Read Marking feature, for which administrators may select from the following three options:

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. Logging in only briefly to check a private message - even via Tapatalk - will start the clock running. This option is how the older versions of vBulletin software functioned, and so most forums operated this way once upon a time.

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. Individual threads are marked as read only after actually being read by the user. However, in order for a forum to be marked read when all threads in that forum have been read, the user must view the list of threads for that forum.

3) Database (automatic forum marking)
This option is the same as the previous option, but forums are automatically marked as read when the last new thread in that forum is read. This is the most processor intensive option, but it's the most usable option for end users and it's how most online forums operate today.​

In order to provide users with a better, more up-to-date experience (and to address the complaints of users accustomed to how most modern forums operate), FerrariChat switched the Thread/Forum Read Marking feature from the "Inactivity/Cookie Based" setting to the "Database (automatic forum marking)" setting. Despite some initial confusion due to the subsequent reset, it has been a welcomed change (that was long overdue).

Initial Reset

Due to the initial reset, the first time you logged in following the setting change, you should have discovered that all threads and forums (containing the most recent 1,000 posts) were reset to "unread" status and the titles appeared in bold characters. This was only a one-time occurrence and these threads will go into "read" status as soon as you view them. If you find this to be an inconvenience, you can mark all of the threads and forums as "read" by clicking on the "Mark Forums Read" button under the Quick Links tab on the menu bar at the top of the forum:

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The Experience

What everyone should be experiencing is:

- The first time you log in following the setting change, threads and forums containing the most recent 1,000 posts have all been reset to "unread" status and the thread titles appear in bold characters.

- From this point forward, every time you view a thread, that threads status is changed to "read" and the thread title no longer appears in bold characters.

- Whenever a new post is made in that thread, the thread then goes back into unread/bold status until viewed by you again.

- Regardless of how much time you spend logged in, threads you have not viewed since the most recent post will remain in unread/bold status until viewed by you.​

Several days have passed since the settings change and thousands of users have logged in and have been using the system. Despite some confusion over the initial reset, it is now clear that the feature is working as intended.

 

For clarification, I didn't start this thread and didn't post the above explanation on FerrariChat; I posted it on another forum that was experiencing the same change and dealing with the same initial confusion. I sent Rob a link to my post telling him to feel free to copy from it if he thought a similar announcement would help to clarify things on F-Chat. I expected him to copy the explanation of what had happened, the descriptions of the different settings, the ability to use the "Mark Forums Read" button, etc. I didn't think he would copy my entire post and place it here. When I saw the post here, I edited it to remove all references to the other forum.

Of course I read the thread, Mark, but I think you need to read it again. After the initial confusion cleared, maybe three people maintained that they disliked the new setting, not the other way around.

And keep in mind that thousands of other users have logged in since the settings change without a single question or complaint. But I like your summation that "Everyone else hates it."

Haha! Really? Where's the citation on that one, counselor?

Rob's actual response was that he felt he might like the new setting better, but was hesitant to make the change due to potential backlash. When he decided to go for it, he made a tongue-in-cheek comment that he would send all complaints to dud.