improve check for repeat alerts

[Jake Bunce]

I get a situation sometimes where I receive an alert for a watched thread but for whatever reason I neglect to follow through with it and forget about it. Then I don't receive any new alerts because I didn't view the thread yet.

I would like to request that new alerts be allowed if previous alerts have been viewed.

 

[Digital Doctor]

Well .. I got an alert for it. (It was a non-bolded thread in my watched list).

Q: Do you think you receive alerts for all threads which are NOT bolded in the Watched Threads list ?
(as Bolded = unread).

 

[Jeremy]

Yes. You receive alerts for threads you've read. That is the same functionality that's always been in the software.

 

[Martok]

View attachment 55327

Well .. I got an alert for it. (It was a non-bolded thread in my watched list).

Q: Do you think you receive alerts for all threads which are NOT bolded in the Watched Threads list ?
(as Bolded = unread).

Yes, I would receive alerts for these if there were new posts in them, at which point they would display in Bold. When they are not bold they have either been read or marked as read.

 

[Digital Doctor]

Does Mark Forums Read reinstate old watched threads for which alerts have expired ? Hmmm. (I never use Mark Forums Read)(Neither does Jake ?)

 

[Jake Bunce]

To make it clearer, my suggestion was to allow for one new alert when there are no existing unread alerts for the thread in question, as opposed to the current system which checks the unread status of the thread itself. That way if you check your alerts but don't visit the thread then you will receive one more alert to remind you.

I don't advocate unlimited alerts for a thread, nor does my suggestion necessitate another user option.

 

[erich37]

What about this:
View attachment 55309

I would just uncheck that box if I wanted alerts to keep coming in the advent I accidentally missed one.

great mockup, great suggestion

you see how easy this issue could be solved.......

 

[erich37]

the interesting thing is this:

I just received an alerts that somebody "liked" my post in an old thread, like this thread for example:
http://xenforo.com/community/thread...tcoms-new-megaupload.43569/page-2#post-478419

But I did not receive an alert that somebody has posted in this thread, although I am watching this thread.....

 

[Jeremy]

Like alerts are handled differently and have nothing to do with how watched alerts are handled. They are completely different concepts when it comes to the content they are dealing with.

 

[psTubble27]

What you call an "EASY" solution ... reflects your knowledge of Xenforo.
A very large majority forum users will not understand Alerts expiring because they miss one alert.

Agreed. This may be related to my Inconsistent Alerts defect thread, and is at the very least highly unituitive - which goes contrary to XenForo's design principles.

 

[Martok]

Does Mark Forums Read reinstate old watched threads for which alerts have expired ? Hmmm. (I never use Mark Forums Read)(Neither does Jake ?)

Yes, it does reinstate alerts for watched threads where alerts have expired. I've just tested this on another forum - marked a watched thread with new posts as read by using Mark Forums Read. When a new post was made in that thread I received an alert.

To make it clearer, my suggestion was to allow for one new alert when there are no existing unread alerts for the thread in question, as opposed to the current system which checks the unread status of the thread itself. That way if you check your alerts but don't visit the thread then you will receive one more alert to remind you.

I don't advocate unlimited alerts for a thread, nor does my suggestion necessitate another user option.

Your suggestion does make sense and as such I have liked it.

 

[Digital Doctor]

What partially exacerbates this problem is that the Red Alert box about New Alerts seems to go away so quickly.

Unread Inbox items last forever.

How does the Red Alert popup work ?

Seems to me it goes away quickly.

What is the mechanism for a New Alert to become an Old alert.
To me it seems to go away too easily.

If I only checked one alert of the five, when I return ... why can't the Red popup display 4 ?

 

[Jeremy]

Alert read status, unlike PCs, are based on whether or not you viewed the alert itself, not the content (since a direct viewing of the content can't be 'established' for most items and not all alerts need a viewing for them to be noted). So visiting the alerts page or loading the tab marks alerts as read. Functionality hasn't changed in 3 years.

 

[Digital Doctor]

I get a situation sometimes where I receive an alert for a watched thread but for whatever reason I neglect to follow through with it and forget about it. Then I don't receive any new alerts because I didn't view the thread yet.

I would like to request that new alerts be allowed if previous alerts have been viewed.

Would be a great to have more options for watching.

Your suggested tweak works for your specific need.

Many people who don't like the transient nature of Alerts (Miss one and Done).
A majority of new users don't know about the transient nature of Alerts (Miss one and Done).

I suggested this https://xenforo.com/community/threads/alert-improvements-by-xon.104951/page-2#post-1083824

Some alerts should *NOT* go away .... UNTIL you visit the thread or that you actively dismiss the alert.
Consider it a more permanent version to xenforo's stock notifications (maybe call it a subscription).

So there would be a third option here.

Options:
(1) Receive emails
(2) Receive alerts (expire if you ignore alerts)
(3) Receive alerts (never expire)

I guess you want
(4) Receive alerts (never expires if you follow one alert)

I think most people want 3, not 4.