Alert Improvements by Xon 1.5.6

[Xon]

Xon submitted a new resource:

Alert Improvements by Xon - A collection of minor improvements to the XenForo Alerts system.

A collection of improvements to the XenForo Alerts system.

Features

• For threads, automatically marks alerts as read from content on a given page when viewed.
• Mark unread link for individual alerts on the Alerts page.

Performance impact

• 1 extra query per thread page request when the user has more than zero active alerts.
• 1 extra query if any alerts are marked as read.

Installation

I recommend using...

Read more about this resource...

 

[Kerby]

Screenshots?

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

This is great, thanks @Xon for coming up with this.

I figured out that when you have XenPushover installed and your user account is subscribed to Pushover (both of these conditions in place) then your alerts are automatically "cleared" as you visit the threads for which the alerts are generated - regardless of how you actually visit those threads For instance, if you go straight to the site, and you click "new posts", etc, then read a thread that had generated an alert for you, that individual alert gets cleared and your alert counter bubble decrements by one. If you have multiple alerts and some of these are "likes" for instance, and you hover over Alerts, the drop down will actually momentarily show all alerts, including the recent ones that were just cleared (unbolded) as well as the "likes" that are bolded.

I thought this was due to an addon installed at TAZ (when using pushover) but then I saw it happening on one of my own sites, and not on the other...one with Pushover, one without. That's when I made the connection.

By default, XF does not clear any alerts until you hover over them (exception: ACP setting for length of time to retain alerts, but this is usually a long time). So if you get 50 email alerts, 20 likes, etc in one day, you'll have 70 alerts. You could have click the link on every email and viewed every thread, but all of your alerts would remain if you had never hovered over the alert tab. I've let this go for days and the alert bubble would reach into the 100's. This has always been a pet peeve of mine, one of the very few with XF but probably the one I found most annoying. Reason? If you view all the threads you were alerted to, but they don't all clear off the list, then you have a bunch of other non-thread related alerts that are all muddled in with thread alerts.

Within about 7 hours, @Xon came up with this addon. And to paraphrase him - I can't believe that no one came up with this before.

So what happens now is that if you read all the threads that you got pushes (by any means, TT or Pushover) or by clicking the email links, those clear and all you are left with is...everything else. That tells you that you have more alerts than just threads, and alerts you would not get e-mails for (like alerts sent via ACP using new 1.5 features). But mainly, your alerts don't blow up to huge numbers.

Great addon, thanks again @Xon

 

[Xon]

@Floyd R Turbo Thank you very much for the kind words

Screenshots?

I've added a screenshot, it isn't particularly complex.

 

[imthebest]

Hi Xon, thanks for releasing this!

Do you find feasible for your add-on to also deal with this issue? https://xenforo.com/community/threads/prevent-duplicate-alerts-for-profile-post-comments.80932/

 

[Xon]

Hi Xon, thanks for releasing this!

Do you find feasible for your add-on to also deal with this issue? https://xenforo.com/community/threads/prevent-duplicate-alerts-for-profile-post-comments.80932/

It should be doable, but I'll need to investigate it. I do something with my Report Improvements for the report comments that may be applicable. That add-on only sends a new report comment alert if there are no unviewed alerts for that report.

A similar tactic could be reused on profile post comments. But this would be separate from profile posts themselves.

 

[sbj]

Hello Xon,

coincidentally there was this thread yesterday (which has to do with alerts):
https://xenforo.com/community/threa...-havent-been-visited-since-last-alert.104911/

And some time ago I also had the same question:
https://xenforo.com/community/threads/alert-trigger-for-watched-theads.95946/

Is it possible to extend your add-on? Could you change the alert triggering? Maybe an extra option for those who would want to use it or not?
Just asking. I think this would be an improvement.

 

[imthebest]

@sbj your issue could be solved by educating your members to periodically review their Watched Threads: https://xenforo.com/community/watched/threads

I have to say however that it isn't an issue and the way in how the system deals with it is the optimal approach, imho.

 

[sbj]

I don't agree with you that it is ideal. If it would be ideal, I wouldn't have to periodically check my watched threads.
Many people don't use the links in the navigation bar. Before Xenforo I never used the watched threads feature in a forum, never. With Xenforo I got used to it. But many people don't know this feature at all or use it. Or even if you do, this is not the first thing you do.
When you visit a forum, the first thing you do is to check your alerts and then looking for some new posts. Maybe, after a while, you remember that you also should check your watched threads.
It happens to me often, that I don't have the time to spend time on forums so I quickly see what kind of new alerts I got. And then leave the forum. So just checking for new alerts and leaving. But as explained then you won't get new alerts for the watched threads ever, you must visit them. But I don't have the time always to read them. So maybe for days the thread I am watching is getting new answers after new answers but I don't realize this as I don't get new alerts. So it can happen that you are missing actually something.
I find this behaviour very odd.
An alert is supposed to give you literally an alert if there is something new happening. But in this case no alerts are happening, even when there is something new happening.
I find this very confusing.
But don't want to hijack this thread about this, I just wanted to ask Xon if he has the time to implement this or if he wants to do.

 

[imthebest]

I appreciate your your clear explanation, thanks for it! Let's see what @Xon says

 

[Xon]

Is it possible to extend your add-on? Could you change the alert triggering? Maybe an extra option for those who would want to use it or not?
Just asking. I think this would be an improvement.

It isn't something I'm planning to implement, because it produces way too many alerts.

For example, in my Report Improvements add-on, originally it would send an alert for every update on a report. This was unmanageable, and something I quickly changed once I stated serious work on it.

Perhaps a 'reminder' alert could be generated if the user hasn't visited that thread after a while.

 

[sbj]

It isn't something I'm planning to implement, because it produces way too many alerts.

I don't get why it would produce way too many alerts.

When you don't visit a forum for a week for example, and there are 150 new replies in a thread you are watching. How many alerts do you get? Only 1. So when you visit this site again, you will only see 1 new alert for that thread.
With my suggestion it doesn't change this behaviour.

But if you say with each visit, you would get new alert for the watched thread, it is correct. But this is exactly the point. So you are always aware of that thread, and if it annoys you, unwatch it.
All people check their phones if there is a new message (Facebook, Twitter or WhatsApp). Everyone is looking every minute on their phones.
And like this you want to get an alert everytime after you visited the website, but without needing to visit the actual thread. Just to be informed. With keeping the "unread post" marker, so when you have time, when you visit that thread, it starts from that point you left the last time.

Anyway, I don't try to convince you, just I don't understand how it would produce way too many alerts. It is not like your example with the Report Improvement add-on. There it would actually alert you for every update. It is not like this. Not alerting for every new message. Just for every visit. There is a big difference.

Anyway, thanks for your reply.

 

[Xon]

Xon updated Alert Improvements by Xon with a new update entry:

Maintenance update

• Show mark as unread link for recently read alerts

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[vanucci]

I get this using waindigo

Callback SV_AlertImprovements_Listener::load_class is invalid (Invalid Class).

 

[Xon]

I get this using waindigo

Using what? The name of an add-on brand isn't useful.

Callback SV_AlertImprovements_Listener::load_class is invalid (Invalid Class).

Please make sure you upload the contents of the 'upload' folder in the zip into your webroot directory.

 

[vanucci]

Using what? The name of an add-on brand isn't useful.


Please make sure you upload the contents of the 'upload' folder in the zip into your webroot directory.

Apologies

Positing in the "
Alert Improvements by Xon " Thread i thought gave away the add on.


Using waindigo does all the upload jazz,

I'm FTPing right now to see it it is waindigo auto intsall issue

 

[Xon]

Xon updated Alert Improvements by Xon with a new update entry:

Maintenance update

• Prevent rare deadlock when viewing a thread page when the viewing user has unread alerts from that page.

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[Xon]

Xon updated Alert Improvements by Xon with a new update entry:

Feature update release

Support marking alerts as read for the following add-ons:

• Post Rating
• Conversation Improvements
• Report Improvements

Minor tweaks to reduce the risk of deadlocks when marking alerts as read.

Read the rest of this update entry...

 

[FloV]

@Xon this is an awesome Addon (as all you AddOns are)! Thanks for this!

Would it be possible to group multiple alerts into one alert? For example "5 user commented on your status message" or "UserA, UserB and 3 other replied to your thread"

I would fund the development of this with 100%!

 

[Xon]

@Xon this is an awesome Addon (as all you AddOns are)! Thanks for this!

Would it be possible to group multiple alerts into one alert? For example "5 user commented on your status message" or "UserA, UserB and 3 other replied to your thread"

I would fund the development of this with 100%!

I have plans to implement something like this, but haven't yet found the time.