Read threads marked as unread when Database Read Marking Limit is increased

Main topic of this thread:
vbopitons->vboptions->general settings-> Database Read Marking Limit

Want to change from 10 to 30. When I do that the threads between 10 and 30 days old are now marked as unread, even though they were already read.

I'd like to increase this number without causing mass confusion.

How can I do this? I've been told that this can be managed by telling people to mark all posts read and use the "todays posts" button. Is there a better way?


Second separate question:
-If all threads in a forum are read (not highlighted/bold)
-an already read thread is moved into that forum
-the forum is marked as unread (forum button is highlighted).
Is there any way to not have the forum marked as read?

Thread/Forum Read Marking Type = "Database (automatic forum marking)"

It is a long shot but maybe someone has an idea.

 

This is normal because there is no record stored in the database that they have been read for the user.

Each time a user reads a thread, a record is entered into the threadread table. It contains the time, userid and threadid. If there is no record than the system has to assume that it hasn't been read if its newer than the cutoff date. It can only work with the information provided.

The only way to prevent mass confusion would be to either insert record for the threads or notify your users that you're making the changes and have them manually mark the threads read using the link at the bottom of the Forum Home page. They can mark individual forums as read by double-clicking its status icon.

 

Much appreciated Wayne. I've put up an announcement to let people know what their options are.

Changing from 10 to 30 days will be slightly painful in the short term but will reap huge benefits in our particular situation in the long term.

 

I've been wishing we could do this on the thread level... or would that be too server/database intensive?

 

:doh:

I thought that could be done, I'll edit my announcement. Thanks.

 

Yeah, I wish we could do it too. Like maybe double-clicking the thread icon or something (from the forumdisplay page).

 

Double-clicking the thread icon was implemented to lock a thread by staff. I agree though it would be more logical to follow the forum level action down to the thread so you could easily close. I am not sure how much chaos it would cause now to change it.

 

get this - I didn't even know that you could lock a thread by clicking on the thread icon

 

hehe... :lol:

 

Me neither. Somewhere on my site is now a couple of locked threads that I can't find.

:doh:

 

it would be neat if one click marked the thread read and two locked it.

 

Well here's the thing: locking a thread from the forumdisplay page is useless, in my opinion. How many of us see a thread and will lock it without entering the thread? Normally we go in, find something that makes us want to lock it, make a reply as to why it's being locked and then lock it using the Thread Tools menu. At least that's what I do.

On the other hand, marking a thread as read from the forumdisplay page is useful and makes more sense. I can decide, based on a thread's title, if I don't want to read it and easily mark as read instead of having to click into it and then back out.

 

Double-click lock threads all the time on vB.com. You can tell by the title if its a support question so I double-click lock it if its in the wrong location. Then I can paste in the Priority Support Response. Its much quicker that way.

Though I would like to see double-clicking mark a thread as read as well. Staff should be able to right-click the icon and choose actions from a context menu if they wanted to. Will probably be one of the first things I work out when I get ahold of the vBulletin 4.0 style.

 

Is that what you call the standard responses? I was always curious about that.

"You are showing up as unlicensed, to..."

 

Well in my notebook, its officially labeled as "Can't Post" but it directs them to the priority support form in the member's area. I have about 200 "quick notes" in Microsoft Onenote that I use on a regular basis. There are probably 200 more quick responses built into the vBulletin ticket system. Most support questions are very repetitive.

 

That does seem to be the case.

I really appreciate when someone takes the time to answer a question instead of the standard responses though. I asked Steve in a thread if he had heard of any mod that does a certain thing on vB.org, he said no, and that was big help because it saved me much time searching on vb.org.

I really appreciate those types of things.

 

Not all forums will have a need for locking threads in the fashion you describe. Marking a thread read, or choosing an action from a menu, would be more useful. It would be even more useful if you could set the default behavior yourself (i.e., double-click sends thread to moderation queue, right click brings up context menu)

 

Finally a modification that does this! Double-click the icon to mark a thread as read! :woohoo:

Mark Thread as Read - vBulletin.org Forum

 

Oh finally, I've been needing this for a long time. Thanks Nick.