Losing my place in threads

[omni550]

How I peruse this Forum:

• I hit "New Posts" when I come back to the Forum, and then start reading the threads (new and old) that are of interest.

• When I run across an old/existing thread, I will click on the "Go to first new post" icon, which takes me to the first unread post in the thread.

This^ methodology has worked well for me forever.

​

A little while ago, possibly a few months?, something changed (for the worse).

Now, clicking on "Go to first new post" often takes me many posts beyond where I left off reading the thread...sometimes even on the next page of posts. I'll start reading the thread from that point, only to find that I've missed a lot of posts since where I last left off. So then I need to scroll backwards in the thread, reading and looking for the last post that sounds familiar.....and then, FINALLY, I can start reading from there.

All this "reading a thread only to find out I've missed a bunch of posts" and then scrolling backwards, looking for a familiar-looking post, is reducing my enjoyment of this forum.

How can I get back to having the [old] wonderful experience of being taken to the first UNREAD post in a thread?

I'm using Firefox browser (version 84.0) and Windows 10.

omni

 

[pacergal]

on my browser (safari), I have a button "view first unread", which takes me back to where I was on a post.

 

[eeyore]

It depends on how much time passed since you last viewed the thread.
The same is true for "new posts" - you don't get all the posts since your last visit, it is limited by date.

 

[omni550]

It depends on how much time passed since you last viewed the thread.
The same is true for "new posts" - you don't get all the posts since your last visit, it is limited by date.

Ahhh, thanks, that may well be the issue.

I've been visiting the forum less frequently due to other demands on my time. So the thing that has changed is likely my behavior.

The pandemic caused me to look for a hobby (which ended up being finding and rehabbing vintage sewing machines) to avoid spending endless time on the internet. This hobby took up a lot of time, in a good way.

Thanks, eeyore!


omni

 

[Jerry1]

The pandemic caused me to look for a hobby (which ended up being finding and rehabbing vintage sewing machines) to avoid spending endless time on the internet. This hobby took up a lot of time, in a good way.

Thanks, eeyore!


omni

Wow. Cool hobby idea. Good to hear you found something that captured your attention. Do you sell them(or give away) or, do you keep them? Maybe start a new thread on what you're doing. Sounds interesting.

 

[omni550]

on my browser (safari), I have a button "view first unread", which takes me back to where I was on a post.

Digging a bit further into the working of this forum, I see that there's a "View first unread" button , which becomes visible once I have opened a thread.

I used to be on the forum a lot. And this is likely why the other button "Go to first new post" worked for me for years.

And, thanks to your post, I have found the new-to-me button "View first unread" which seems to be the answer to my needs.

Problem likely solved!

Thanks, pacergal,


omni

 

[omni550]

Wow. Cool hobby idea. Good to hear you found something that captured your attention. Do you sell them(or give away) or, do you keep them? Maybe start a new thread on what you're doing. Sounds interesting.

Jerry1,

At the risk of derailing my own thread (which I think I may now have the answer to).

These are awesome 'heirloom quality' all-metal machines from the 50s-70s.

My plan was to donate them to [deserving] folks who would make use of them.

I found a local charity or two that used to hold sewing training classes for women escaping domestic abuse situations and also for rehabbed drug users. They were taught sewing skills and then were paid wages for sewing various items. Those who were serious with their focus and participation, after some time in the program, were gifted a vintage machine to take home. (similar to "Teach a person to fish vs give a person a fish".)

Sadly, all of this training was put on hold due to Covid. I hope these charities are viable post-Covid.

And my machine-rehabbing was put on hold by my snowbirding from Michigan to Florida.

So, I have about 17 machines ready to go in Michigan. Worst case, I can always sell them on Marketplace.

BTW, I did acquire a few machines that I plan to keep for myself as well as a few highly-prized "collectible" ones (at great prices) that I will sell.

omni

 

[street]

This site has so many great features it's unreal! Lol It so advanced compared to any other site that I visit. Outstanding features and options.

 

[cathy63]

"Go to first new post" from the topic list and "View first unread" from an open thread should do the same thing. They both go back 10 days from the current time if it's been longer than that since your last visit to the thread. This is a setting that can be configured by the server's administrator.

Other things that can mess up the placeholders are merged threads and deleted posts. vBulletin usually handles those things well, but sometimes it gets confused if a post that would have started a new page was deleted, or if you already read the last post and then a merge put earlier posts ahead of it.