Forum behavior

[Dave Labrecque]

I know there's some kind of time threshold setting that Bob's set for messages to be marked as read after you visit, but I can't figure out how it's supposed to help.

Sometimes all my read threads are bold again when I return (I know the workaround for this is to use the "mark all threads as read" option before leaving). But also, sometimes I will not have read them all, and the forum will have been updated to show in bold only messages posted since my last look. I think this happens when I leave my browser open for a while and go do something else. That's a drag, cuz then all my unread threads are no longer marked that way. I leave it open because I'm not done yet, and don't want to lose my place, as it were.

Maybe we need a "mark read threads as read" feature, which seems silly, but apparently that's what we need.

Why can't it just mark read threads read when you read them and leave it at that? :confused: Why the timer deal at all?

[Bob L]

This is not my doing... it is a problem with browser based newsgroups such as this one.

The VBulletin designers are constantly trying to improve the situation... but there apparently are programming problems in trying to do this within a PHP browser based system.

There is nothing I can do directly at this time.... once you sign in... read... then use the Mark All threads as read and leave... it works fine... although hopefully will get better as they continue to update the code.

Bob L

[Dave Labrecque]

This is not my doing... it is a problem with browser based newsgroups such as this one.

The VBulletin designers are constantly trying to improve the situation... but there apparently are programming problems in trying to do this within a PHP browser based system.

There is nothing I can do directly at this time.... once you sign in... read... then use the Mark All threads as read and leave... it works fine... although hopefully will get better as they continue to update the code.

Bob L

Thanks for 'splaining. The big problem for me is that if I don't read fast enough, the dang thing can update and mark all my unread threads as read. :(

I'll Google Evelyn Wood... :p

[Ian Alexander]

While we're at it:

Is it possible to reduce the minimum length of a forum search string? Often the word I want to find is deemed "Too Short!" In some cases, it's tough to think of other longer words that will appear with the short word, but ONLY with the short word, and yield a useful result. Of course, right now I can't think of an example.:o

[Dave Labrecque]

While we're at it:

Is it possible to reduce the minimum length of a forum search string? Often the word I want to find is deemed "Too Short!" In some cases, it's tough to think of other longer words that will appear with the short word, but ONLY with the short word, and yield a useful result. Of course, right now I can't think of an example.:o

Ian,

Maybe you should learn more long words. :p When I journeyed past single syllable words, a whole new world opened up for me. :D

But seriously...

I agree with Ian. :)

[Ian Alexander]

Ian,

Maybe you should learn more long words. :p When I journeyed past single syllable words, a whole new world opened up for me. :D

But seriously...

I agree with Ian. :)
I tried.


Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search : antidisestablishmentarianism

[Dave Labrecque]

I tried.

Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. The following words are either very common, too long, or too short and were not included in your search : antidisestablishmentarianism



LOL! :p

[Bob L]

I'll have Jeanne see if that is an administrative option.

Bob L

[MikeDee]

I'll have Jeanne see if that is an administrative option.

Bob L

For what, antidisestablishmentarianism?

:D hee hee :rolleyes:

[studio-c]

While we're at it:

Is it possible to reduce the minimum length of a forum search string? Often the word I want to find is deemed "Too Short!" In some cases, it's tough to think of other longer words that will appear with the short word, but ONLY with the short word, and yield a useful result. Of course, right now I can't think of an example.:o
I can. I was looking some old posts of Bob's that talked about software to encode video for burning DVD, cuz he'd found that some encoded an already encoded file or somehow messed it up unnecessarily. Info I really needed.

"DVD" is too short.

[Jeanne Quinn]

Is it possible to reduce the minimum length of a forum search string?

This has been reduced to a minimum of two characters. As the database builds a search index based on the minimum word length, the index (and conversely the database) is considerably larger the smaller the number, so let's try this and see if it's better.

-Jeanne

[Dave Labrecque]

This has been reduced to a minimum of two characters. As the database builds a search index based on the minimum word length, the index (and conversely the database) is considerably larger the smaller the number, so let's try this and see if it's better.

-Jeanne

Hey, thanks, Jeanne!

[Jay Q]

Thanks, Jeanne! That'll definitely make the search functionality more useful. Will there be any way to search on exact phrases? That's what I find to be the most frustrating thing.

Jay

[Jeanne Quinn]

Will there be any way to search on exact phrases?

Hi Jay,

I changed the search type to a fulltext search. You may now search for exact phrases by using quotes around your search phrase.

Thanks,
-Jeanne

[bcorkery]

On the other side of the coin, I come back to the forum and find that the messages/threads I've already read are marked as unread. With my memory being what it is, it takes me a while before I realize I've read theses before. Always good reading but not a real time saver. :p

[Ian Alexander]

Thank you Jeanne!

[bcorkery]

For example, I know I read this thread earlier and even posted. After my last session, I came back to check the forum and the whole thread was marked unread. Is there something I should be saving or something I'm missing?

Thanks,
Bill

[Ian Alexander]

Bill, there is a minimum "time away" before you are considered to have started a new session on the forum. I think it's about 3 hours. To get around this, click Quick Links, then Mark Forums Read. Then you can return ten minutes later and see what you expect.

I actually like the minimum time away. It keeps me from wasting the ENTIRE day here.:o

[bcorkery]

Ian,

It's easy to spend a lot of time here, I wouldn't call it wasted though ... I call it information gathering ... eh, research ... um statistical explorations.

OK now I'm wasting time!

Thanks,
Bill

[Bob L]

Use the Quick Links Mark Forums Read option everytime you leve... it works perfectly for me, even if I come back on ten mins later.

Bob L

[bcorkery]

works for me too ... BUUuuuUUTTT, If I have a few minutes while I'm waiting for a client, this is my favorite hang out so I'll pick a few select threads and come back for them later. I think that's what's getting me in trouble.

Thanks,
Bill

[Pedro Itriago]

works for me too ... BUUuuuUUTTT, If I have a few minutes while I'm waiting for a client, this is my favorite hang out so I'll pick a few select threads and come back for them later. I think that's what's getting me in trouble.

Thanks,
Bill

Yeah, kick your client away, that will fix your forum problem

[UpTilDawn]

The "View first unread" button is a useful indicator when a thread you've been reading has been updated to bold again. It's in the top left corner just above the first post of the thread. If it shows up in a thread you've been following, then there's new posts to read. If it's not there, then nothing new has been added.

There's the BOLD, then the "not bold", then the "grey" threads..... What screws me up is when I check out the forum, have to leave before I've checked all the threads, then get back online to find that many of the threads that were bold before are "not bold" now. I use the "first unread" button as an indicator that I have or haven't read a thread that is no longer bold.

Even that isn't perfect, since for some reason, many of the posts that I hadn't before aren't included in the view first unread result, so I have to scroll back a couple of posts to find where I left off.

DanT

[Dave Labrecque]

For example, I know I read this thread earlier and even posted. After my last session, I came back to check the forum and the whole thread was marked unread. Is there something I should be saving or something I'm missing?

Thanks,
Bill

Bill,

As Bob has pointed out, the workaround for this forum behavior is to click on Quick Links/Mark Forums Read before you sign off.

The problem I have that doesn't seem solvable as of yet is that sometimes all the messages will be marked as read when I haven't read them yet -- this happens while I'm on-line; I go back to the main threads list page and they're all non-bold. D'oh!

[DominicPerry]

When I do a search for three characters (e.g. PCI) I don't get told the search string is too short, I just don't get any results. Is it just me?

It would be really handy to be able to search for
PCI
RME
MME
PMC
etc etc?

Any chance ?

Thanks

Dominic

[Dave Labrecque]

Just an update to my forum interface behavior complaints heretofore... it appears to be working perfectly now! Threads aren't marked as read till I read 'em or mark 'em that way. And they're read/unread state persists as long as I do. So far, anyway.

Great! Thanks, Bob and Jeanne! :)

[Naturally Digital]

I'm seeing major improvements to the way the forum operates, marks messages etc. Thanks for making it even more enjoyable!

[Tree Leopard]

When I do a search for three characters (e.g. PCI) I don't get told the search string is too short, I just don't get any results. Is it just me?

It would be really handy to be able to search for
PCI
RME
MME
PMC
etc etc?

Any chance ?

Thanks

Dominic
I too have grumbled many a time - such is the peskiness of the vBulletin search engine ... But yet again our friends at Google have cooked up a handy set of search operators.

Try this in your google search box:

site:http://www.sawstudiouser.com/ VST, latency
And as a reminder for the man himself as he slogs away at v4.0 ...

site:http://www.sawstudiouser.com/ VST, Bob, thanks!
More info here: Google Hacking Mini-Guide
http://www.informit.com/articles/article.asp?p=170880&rl=1

Andre

PS: This method needs a little refining - you don't always directly get to the page you want, even when you open the "Cached" link. However ...

site:http://www.sawstudiouser.com/ VST, post .. looks more useful - you can often get straight to the thread link and number. (e.g. this thread = 48698)

[bcorkery]

Yeah, I can go away, come back and everything is as it shoud be. Now I just have to pay mroe atnttion to my slleping.