Impossible to start reading unread thread from first post

[Paul M]

Good to hear its being looked at.
I just want to start at the beginning of a thread ive never visited, without having to guess which link to click.

 

[Sejper]

I must admit that I hated this in the beginning but now like some others I just get frustrated when I visit non-xenforo board and I must click an seperate icon.

 

[Jaxel]

It took me a while to get used to the whole thread title going to new posts thing...

But now that I've been using it for several months now... I HATE reading threads on other forums... I click on the thread name, hoping it takes me to unread posts... but it takes me to the beginning... dammit. Then of course, because I did that, the thread gets marked as read... and now I can't find where I left off.

 

[HannahP]

We are going to experiment with some changes to this soon.

That's too bad.

If 99% of the time, you want to go to the first unread post (which is what I always do and I know other people do as well), then this focuses on the "normal" behavior that people have...

One of the things I like about your XenForo thingie here is that it rethinks procedures from a real world use perspective. When you do that, you're obviously going to change some long-standing, accepted behaviors, and people are going to weep and wail. But it's good to stand by those changes if you think they're right, and not give in to a dozen (or 2 or 3 dozen or hundred) people complaining that something is different, and they don't like it.

This feature is a perfect example of that. The change in function from the standard, accepted method caters to the needs of the frequent user, not the first-time user, and that is as it should be. The new user should have the burden of not selecting the thread title (clicking the date link), not the other way around.

One of the most irritating things about vB has always been the need to focus your click on a tiny icon to get to the first unread post. This behavior fixes that defect. It should be left as it is. It's correct. It doesn't matter if people aren't used to it or some don't like it.

Heaven forbid anyone should have to retrain themselves and deviate from their habits. What a tragedy!

 

[Decent60]

While I do love this feature the majority of the time, there are a few times where this is actually an annoyance. Such as when trying to view a video tutorial. Maybe you could have an option that will deactivate it for specific areas on the forum. Such as like an Announcement section or News section could have this turned off while rest of the forum has it on.
[Edit]
I do want to make this clear, though, that the main reason why I love this site/webware (is that even a word?) is because it's radically different! It doesn't have the conformity that is expected when getting a new forum software/webware, to which you guys are making ripples in a calm sea of forum software/webware in more ways than one (major one is that vB being a bit intimidated by you but that's all I'll say on that matter )

 

[Paul B]

Having different behaviour in different forums on the same board would be extremely confusing for all users.

 

[Daniel77]

How would a new user know to click on the datetimestamp to see the first post?

 

[HannahP]

They wouldn't. At least not until this becomes the standard forum software. In the meantime, you would have to teach them.

But to me, the convenience of the regular user outweighs having to teach new users a trick or two.

 

[Paul B]

How would a new user know to click on the datetimestamp to see the first post?

The popup on hover?
Doing it the first time and then remembering?
An announcement in the relevant forum from the site admin?

None of use had used XenForo before 4 months ago but it didn't take long to work out what to click and why.

 

[Ahmed]

After having used XenForo for quite a bit now, going back to a vBulletin forum where it's done the old way, you end up feeling frustrated getting the same old posts in your face over and over again, or having to scroll to find where or what.

I am glad XF does it this way.

I agree, well, not exactly.
I want to go to the first post in a thread when I've never been in that thread and never read it regardless the auto mark read age/time. That's it, in the most other cases, I'd like the title takes me to the first unread post.

 

[Nick]

That's too bad.

One of the things I like about your XenForo thingie here is that it rethinks procedures from a real world use perspective. When you do that, you're obviously going to change some long-standing, accepted behaviors, and people are going to weep and wail. But it's good to stand by those changes if you think they're right, and not give in to a dozen (or 2 or 3 dozen or hundred) people complaining that something is different, and they don't like it.

This feature is a perfect example of that. The change in function from the standard, accepted method caters to the needs of the frequent user, not the first-time user, and that is as it should be. The new user should have the burden of not selecting the thread title (clicking the date link), not the other way around.

One of the most irritating things about vB has always been the need to focus your click on a tiny icon to get to the first unread post. This behavior fixes that defect. It should be left as it is. It's correct. It doesn't matter if people aren't used to it or some don't like it.

Heaven forbid anyone should have to retrain themselves and deviate from their habits. What a tragedy!

Well-said. I really hope the changes they try out don't make that much of any difference. If it changes the function to the point where it is hardly similar, I believe it will serve as a major hit to XenForo's vision of advancing and being uniquely effective and simple.

 

[kilcher]

The date permalink is the first page link.

As far as I can tell that link is not clickable in search results if you want to go to the first post in the thread.

I kind of like the thread title going to the first unread post but... I would like a more obvious way to go to the first post because it pretty much works the opposite of what everyone is used to. Glad to hear it's being reevaluated.

 

[kilcher]

The popup on hover?
Doing it the first time and then remembering?
An announcement in the relevant forum from the site admin?

None of use had used XenForo before 4 months ago but it didn't take long to work out what to click and why.

Yeah, but how many times has it been asked so far? And how many times in the future?

 

[whynot]

Yeah, but how many times has it been asked so far?

Too many. (Once by me)

And how many times in the future?

As long as there will be other forum software on the market:many.

 

[Shelby]

The popup on hover?
Doing it the first time and then remembering?
An announcement in the relevant forum from the site admin?

None of use had used XenForo before 4 months ago but it didn't take long to work out what to click and why.

Well, I suppose it depends whom Xenforo is targeted at. If it's targeting existing communities, then making transitions easier for users and their admins makes sense. If it's brand new communities, than sure, new people will learn the new community functions all by themselves.

 

[Deleted member 2163]

Because I like beating dead horses, I'll add to this again.

I want to clarify to those worried about the whiners "ruining" this feature. I, and I suspect (but don't speak for) others, don't want the feature to change competely. Quite the contrary, in fact: I simply want it to differentiate between my read status and the global one for when I click on the thread title.

Let's have a look at some practical use cases on how I think this feature should work:

1. I click on a thread that I've never been to and is < X days old. Title is bold. I get taken to the first post.
2. I click on a thread that I've never been to and is > X days old. Title is not bold. I get taken to the first post.
3. I click on a thread that I've been to before, and there are no new posts. It takes me to the last post I've read.
4. I click on a thread that I've been to before, and there are new posts. It takes me to the last post I've read.

I can't really think of a situation that I'd want to be taken to the most recent post in a thread if I haven't read (or at least seen) everything up to that point.

 

[Taxi]

One of the most irritating things about vB has always been the need to focus your click on a tiny icon to get to the first unread post. This behavior fixes that defect. It should be left as it is. It's correct. It doesn't matter if people aren't used to it or some don't like it.

If you thought the vB icon for reading new posts was too small, why didn't you change it to something bigger?

I never found it to be a problem myself, but personally I prefer the way it is now on XenForo. "How do I get to the first post of a thread" will probably be a frequent question in the feedback forum, but one that is easily answered, so it doesn't seem like a dealbreaker to me.

 

[Daniel77]

After actively using this website as well as surfing numerous other XenForo based forums, I have changed my mind. I like the way it is now. I was wrong. I thought I knew I what I was talking about, but I see now why it is set up the way it is. I had an "AhHa" moment.

I love the XenForum software, and when my check come sin i will be purchasing a copy of it. I have a few questions on how to do particular items, but using the XF script has sold me on it.

Once XF saturates the market, we will no longer have to explain to most people how to see the first post, because everyone will be already be familar with it.

 

[Mike]

This has been tweaked, and the change has actually been running here all week. Have you noticed it? (It's also in beta 5.)

When we don't think you've read a thread (and you haven't marked the forum as read), you will be taken to the first post. Previously, you would roughly be taken to the first post within the last 28 days. If you've read the thread, you'll be taken to the first post.

There is a situation where this can be wrong, but it can be worked around by significantly increasing the read marking data lifetime, if you're willing to handle the potential performance concerns.

 

[HannahP]

This has been tweaked, and the change has actually been running here all week. Have you noticed it?

Yes.

And even though I argued against changing it, it would seem to be an improvement. It seems a bit more "accurate" anyway.