Can't "STOP_WATCHING_TOPIC" in forum -<WRONG #>

[otropogo]

Today I tried to reduce the list of my viewed topics in the forum by using the "stop_watching_topic" option.

But the only thing that happens is that the switch on those threads that I've elected to stop listing with the "view your topics" option now show the toggle as "start_watching".

All of the threads I've deselected still appear in my "view your topics" list.

[Flash]

I don't know what to say. How do you see the "view your topics" list? I've not noticed it.

[otropogo]

I don't know what to say. How do you see the "view your topics" list? I've not noticed it.

After logging on to the forums, I click on the "view your posts" link above the top right margin of the forum's index window, below the "view posts since last visit" and above the "view unread posts" links.

This starts a search for threads I've elected to keep watching, which are then presented in descending chronological order of their most recent post.

I have my preferences set to keep watching any thread that I've posted to, and have also selected others via the "watch this thread" option.

My "view your posts" index is now several pages long, and several of the more active threads are of no immediate further interest to me, so their continued presence in my list serves only to impede my tracking of those threads that I do wish to follow.

[paulh177]

I click on the "view your posts" link ... This starts a search for threads I've elected to keep watching,

Surely that just lists only the threads in which you have posted rather than those which you are watching?
Or have I compeltely misunderstood phpBB all these years? (which is perfectly possible of course)

[GeoW]

I believe Paul is exactly right, I cannot find a thread using the
"View Your Posts" link that that does not contain a post from me.

Your Posts are posts that you have made, not threads you have
selected to watch.

I think, if you select "Stop Watching This Topic", you will stop getting
eMail notification when new posts are added.

There is no "View My Posts Except in Topics I have Stopped Watching".

[otropogo]

I believe Paul is exactly right, I cannot find a thread using the
"View Your Posts" link that that does not contain a post from me.

Yes, I see now that you and Paul are correct.

My sincere apology to you, Paul. I misunderstood what you were saying, and should have given you the benefit of the doubt by asking for clarification.

Unfortunately this means that my complaint is not about a glitch that might have been corrected, but about a design error in the board's search functions that makes it impossible to:

a) follow threads reliably except by posting at least once to each one, and

b) stop listing those threads in the "view your posts" list when you no longer want to follow them


"watching" threads, as I now understand it, has already become unwieldy for me, as has my list of "view your topics"

In fact, it's probably the very length of that list that prevented me from noticing that the topics I had chosen to merely "watch" don't appear in it.

So to keep track of threads to which I haven't contributed, I should have to either religiously view the list of new postings since my last log-on, every time I log on, or contribute a post, no matter how uninspired, to any thread I want to follow.

I already know that the first option isn't viable for me. The second is not only distasteful, but will serve to further inflate my "view your topics" list . As, lacking the ability to removed threads from that list, popular threads that no longer interest me will tend to crowd out the less popular ones that do - first, toward the bottom of the page, and eventually, off the first page altogether.

I wonder how many pages long such lists must be for users who've been posting for several years?

[GeoW]

otropogo,

I use "Watch This Topic" - then I get eMail notification when
something new is posted and I just click on the link in the eMail.

If nothing is posted - I get no eMails.

If I "Stop Watching This Topic" I no longer get eMails for that topic.

I leave the notifications for the topics I may want to reread in my
inbox - I can revisit them at any time. The others I label "PupTop"
and archive - I can still revisit them - just not as easy.

This is all using Gmail - I do not know how it works on others.

Is this close to what you want?

GeoW

[otropogo]

otropogo,

I use "Watch This Topic" - then I get eMail notification when
something new is posted and I just click on the link in the eMail.

Not quite as simple for me. I get my notifications from Gmail too. But I get them on my Windows machine, which I don't use to access the forum. I often save parts of threads to disk, and I don't want to fragment that collection.

If nothing is posted - I get no eMails.

If I "Stop Watching This Topic" I no longer get eMails for that topic.

I leave the notifications for the topics I may want to reread in my
inbox - I can revisit them at any time. The others I label "PupTop"
and archive - I can still revisit them - just not as easy.

This is all using Gmail - I do not know how it works on others.

Is this close to what you want?

GeoW

Too cumbersome for me. I'm struggling with my mail inbox all the time. I'm going to have to "stop watching" most of my topics, but I guess I could follow your lead and make a mail folder for all of the topics I'm no longer "watching".

This doesn't solve my other two problems though:

1. the ever growing list of "view my topics", and

2. the inability to track topics I haven't posted to

Right now, when I log on I always review "my topics" for any new postings, So I really don't need to get e-mail notification of new posts.

But I don't always review "new posts since last log-on", and when I do find one of interest, I'm not always able to remember its title later .

[paulh177]

I'm not sure whether this will go any way to meet you needs but how about trying the RSS feeds from the forum that tombh organised -- see http://www.puppylinux.org/wiki/how-tos/easy/rss-feeds

paul

[otropogo]

I'm not sure whether this will go any way to meet you needs but how about trying the RSS feeds from the forum that tombh organised -- see http://www.puppylinux.org/wiki/how-tos/easy/rss-feeds

paul

Thanks for your suggestion. I'm afraid though, that I'll have to find out what "RSS feeds" are, and how they work, before I can respond meaningfully...

For now, I'm soldiering on by reducing my "watch" list and reviewing the "new posts" and "my posts" methodically.