What's the best way to browse this board?

[Nords]

Here's the background. I'm back from 10 days in New York, the first solo trip I've taken since I ER'd and the only time I've ever been away from this board for so long. I didn't login for two or three days at a time, or at most just for a few minutes. At the end of the trip it's no fun to click the "New Posts" button and have six pages pop up.

When I sat down on the home PC again I realized that I'd gone 10 days without reading FundAlarm or Raddr's board, and I didn't even notice it until I was sitting in front of my bookmarks folder. So clearly I'm able to set aside certain discussion boards without ripping a big gaping hole in my social psyche.

I'd love to be able to just drop in here a couple times a week, but I still feel compelled to spend at least an hour a day reading nearly every thread-- let alone starting a few of my own. Until last week I'd estimate that I've been on this board for at least 2-3 hours daily over the last three years.

However some of you are capable of treating the board much differently. I can understand when Laurence doesn't post for a month because he's at work the whole time. I can understand when medical issues or extended trips or their spouses take people away from the board for a while, too. But those are externally-imposed constraints. There are some of you, like Jarhead, who only seem to show up once or twice a month-- or at least you don't post very often. How are you doing it? Are you only looking for specific topics or only reading posts by certain users, or only stopping by when you have a question? If I was going to spend less time on the board, how would I shift my perspective?

I'm asking out of idle academic curiosity, not with any life changes in mind. I simply don't have a clue myself, much less a plan.

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i browse by interest. i mostly leave hi i am and young dreamers to those with more e.r. knowledge than i. i more read than contribute to money & fire because i am in learning mode. i'll skip stuff like social security which won't effect me much (other than speculative planning) for another 15 years.

that leaves me with other, life after fire and a bit of health for contributing. my eye is drawn to philosophy, sometimes religion and almost always anything touching upon the esoteric. i am also drawn by certain authors while to others i avert my eyes. so my browsing method by now is pretty much automatic and self-editing.

[bssc]

I browse by thread titles. If I have time, I will check out every thread that might be vaguely interesting otherwise, it will just be a quick scan.

[Want2retire]

Exactly.

There are thread titles that just don't appeal to me. If you want to insult me behind my back, do it in a thread about the Iraq war or global warming, RV's or ETF's or Kiyosaki. Those topics don't strike my fancy (at least not this week).

On the other hand, I read the "should I have a mortgage" or "should I take SS at 62 or 66" or "how frugal are you" or "where should I move when I retire" threads every time.

I can't believe that anybody would read ALL of the threads on here all the time! It would almost be like a JOB.

[Tiger]

What we need is a link for "Posts since you were here last". Most boards do have this and it's much easier to skim through the posts listed by subject rather then have to go to each forum.

[farmerEd]

Originally Posted by Tiger

What we need is a link for "Posts since you were here last".

Isn't that what this is :

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru....php?do=getnew

Thats all I do, look at whats new, ignore threads by certain posters and only look for thread titles that might be interesting based on the title.

I really don't care if I "miss something". I feel no need to read every thread or keep up on every conversation that is going on.

[donheff]

Originally Posted by farmerEd

Isn't that what this is :

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru....php?do=getnew

Thats all I do, look at whats new, ignore threads by certain posters and only look for thread titles that might be interesting based on the title.

I really don't care if I "miss something". I feel no need to read every thread or keep up on every conversation that is going on.

I am doing the same thing as farmerEd -- works pretty well. I used an RSS reader to skim by all posts (without differentiating forums) on the old board. I liked that but it looks like this outfit doesn't offer that option -- just the first post on a new thread. "...getnew" seems like a usable alternative but the board should have a button to do it.

As to the real question, how can you (stand to) do it? It is just too hard to keep up with the traffic or I would read them all.

[Rich_in_Tampa]

Don,

Just a reminder that Early Retirement Forums saved as a bookmark will gateway you right into new messages only, which you can peruse fairly efficiently.

Rich

[donheff]

Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa

Don,

Just a reminder that Early Retirement Forums saved as a bookmark will gateway you right into new messages only, which you can peruse fairly efficiently.

Rich

Thanks Rich. I did that and it works well. It even returns a section of older posts you haven't yet read. I also just looked at the top page of the ER of the forums and discovered that there is a button for new posts. Is it any different than the "...get new" search bookmark?

All of my nit picking aside, I would still like to thank Jason (correct name?) for taking the admin task on. This is a great board and these communities don't flourish without some hard work.

[dex]

Originally Posted by bssc

I browse by thread titles. If I have time, I will check out every thread that might be vaguely interesting otherwise, it will just be a quick scan.

I do the same - click on New Posts and then open the ones with interesting titles in a new tab of Firefox to read.

The title of the thread is what gets my interest - it needs to capture the content of the post. I pass on ones that have poor titles. They usually are the ones with only one or two words and are followed by "..."

[Eagle43]

Usually I check in a couple of time each day. I browse each thread, and ignore stuff I could care less about. Example: Electric fireplaces would be a waste of time for me. Another would be any threads concerning raising children. I've done that already and my grandkids are teenagers and older.

Then, there are certain posters I usually read because I like them even when I disagree with them. There is no poster (yet) that I automatically ignore.

I prefer the lifestyle posts, what do you do all day, travel, food, etc. But, I always check Fire and Money just to make sure I haven't missed something. For example, somebody saved me some money on the REITs.

But hey, I have all day. I could read them all, if necessary.

[Tiger]

Originally Posted by farmerEd

Isn't that what this is :

http://www.early-retirement.org/foru....php?do=getnew

Thats all I do, look at whats new, ignore threads by certain posters and only look for thread titles that might be interesting based on the title.

I really don't care if I "miss something". I feel no need to read every thread or keep up on every conversation that is going on.

Thanks Ed, I didn't even see that link.