how tell active threads from stale?

[TriumphGT6]

At first I assumed that threads to which someone has added a new post would be bolded when next their forum was opened. But that doesn't seem to be the case-- I've seen bolded threads that had nothing new (to me) on them, and I've seen un-highlighted threads that had in fact been posted to, since I last viewed them.

But on reflection, since el C. is a gentleman and does not leave cookie crumbs around on visitors' machines, how would m1911.org know which threads you/I have read, and which ones have new posts added since the last time we logged in? Without cookies, it'd be a chore.

So I really have two questions--

-- when a thread's title is bolded in a forum, what does that signify?

-- and, short of opening up and reading every single thread every time I log in, how can I tell stagnant threads from active ones?

Oh heck I'm on a roll, here's another. How does one get to be an "old timer?" ;)

[gottripletsNC]

as far as Old timer I do not know, but for the active threads vs. inactive, what I do when I log in, I scroll down about an inch from the top, and click on the New Posts link, and it brings up the posts that have been added or added to since the last time I came here. Don't know about the cookies, but I do know it brings up new posts everytime.

[TriumphGT6]

Thanks! I hadn't noticed the "new posts" thing.

[John]

There you go, got your answer.

One thing to keep in mind. If you get in the first page of the site, and do nothing, then close the browser and come an hour later, those posts wouldn't show. The bloody thing does not understand that you didn't check them, that you just visited the site and did nothing. Instead, it just compares your last visit time with the time of the last change, and since you have visited before, it just forgets about the posts.

An alternative I've added for your convenience (and I'll try to put that in a more easily-accessible point), is to go into Search/Advanced Search and in the Search Options, select to Find Posts "from Yesterday". That will bring up all new posts since yesterday. Much more accurate than the New Posts thingy.

Rgds

[TriumphGT6]

"Since yesterday" sounds like it really would be useful. Or if you're ambitious, "since fill-in-the-date" but it's not clear to me whether that would really be siginificantly better than current "since last visit" behavior.

Thank you for a most informative and enjoyable set or forums! (fora?)

[John]

The since "Yesterday", two days ago, three days ago, etc. thingy, was a customization I made to this forum, just to solve my problem with the since Last Visit threads.

Several times, I come to the forum, and because of my beloved twins, I have to stop what I am doing and go take care of them. Then when I come back to the fora (very correct), I found that the "since last visit" link, was showing me only the threads that were posted, after I left the computer and went baby-sitting.

If you use the "since yestarday" etc., you will see all the threads since ... yesterday, which is what I was looking for. I assume this can be broken down even more, like "since 6 hours ago", or 12 or 18 hours, but for the time being, the yesterday link is OK for most users.

Rgds

[John]

OK, since this came up, I figured you guys need some help here.

Since today, the "New Posts" link in the navigation bar, has a drop-down menu, which allows you to select what topics you want to see. Since your last visit? Since the last 3 hours? Since yesterday? Since last month?

Your choice!!

Rgds

[TriumphGT6]

very useful, John, thanks!