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Strange "marked as read" behavior — Parallax Forums

Strange "marked as read" behavior

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
edited 2010-08-08 21:48 in General Discussion
Something rather bizarre just happened. All the posts below a certain level in all the forums have suddenly become marked as "unread", even though there are no unread posts in them. (I've been consistently logged in all day.) Has this happened to anyone else? Jim, was there some kind of global change to the forum (i.e. a disturbance in the Force) that might have caused this?

-Phil

Comments

  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2010-08-08 19:53
    I've noticed this too. Also, I have noticed that some should be marked as unread but aren't.

    Rich H
  • Jim EwaldJim Ewald Posts: 733
    edited 2010-08-08 21:02
    That was something I did earlier this afternoon trying to resolve an issue where cookie-based setting was automatically marking threads as read. There are three options available. I set it to #3 but didn't think it would reset all the threads in between. After seeing what option 3 does, I would like to go to to option #2. I just don't like a system to assume that you have read everything when you actually have not.


    This option controls how threads and forums are marked as read.
    • Inactivity/Cookie Based - once a user has been inactive for a certain amount of time (the value of the session timeout option) all threads and forums are considered read. Individual threads are marked as read within a session via cookies.


    • This option is how all versions of vBulletin before 3.5 functioned.
    • 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. However, in order for a forum to be marked read when all threads are read, the user must view the list of threads for that forum.

      This option is more space and processor intensive than inactivity-based marking.
    • Database (automatic forum marking) - this option is the same as a previous option, but forums are automatically marked as read when the last new thread is read.

      This is the most usable option for end users, but most processor intensive.


    Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) wrote: »
    Something rather bizarre just happened. All the posts below a certain level in all the forums have suddenly become marked as "unread", even though there are no unread posts in them. (I've been consistently logged in all day.) Has this happened to anyone else? Jim, was there some kind of global change to the forum (i.e. a disturbance in the Force) that might have caused this?

    -Phil
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-08-08 21:14
    I would prefer one of the database options. With two computers constantly logged in, the cookie-based option (assuming that's what was running before) was giving me two sets of "marked as read" depending on which computer did the reading. It got quite schizoid in a hurry. I'm glad something else is available. (I was actually considering writing a proxy server for the forum just to keep a common cookie.) A database approach is also best for people who use separate computers at work and at home or have laptop and mobile phone access.

    Which method (2 or 3) most closely approximates that used by dotNetBB? That one worked very well.

    -Phil
  • Jim EwaldJim Ewald Posts: 733
    edited 2010-08-08 21:27
    The second option is closest to what the old dotnetBB system used. It would really plaster the database server when someone who had been away for a while marked a whole forum as 'Read'. I have run into the same issue with a cookie-based marking system. Using my home system to read the forums would give me a deja vu experience.

    This site is set to option #3. The docs warn that this option may be more database intensive but I think we'll be ok.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-08-08 21:27
    A different "marked as read" hiccup: When I've read all the threads in a forum or used "mark all as read", I go back to the main page and do a page refresh to clear my browser cache. (dotNetBB did that for me during its redirect.) But the unread thread indicator for that forum does not change. It takes one or two more returns to the same forum and maybe another "mark all as read" to make the indicator go out.

    -Phil
  • Jim EwaldJim Ewald Posts: 733
    edited 2010-08-08 21:33
    There are settings somewhere in the vortex of the admin interface on this system that may address that issue. The settings are there to help manage loads on the database buy doing forum-level refreshes at scheduled intervals.
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-08-08 21:36
    Oh, okay. I figured it might be something like that. Thanks.

    -Phil
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2010-08-08 21:48
    Jim,

    I've been messing with this some more, and the problem seems to have gone away. I can't say for certain that I've seen it since you changed the marked-as-read settings to "database". It may just have been "cookie lag" -- if there is such a thing.

    -Phil
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