Go to first new post

I am curious about the recent appearance of "Go to first new post" in front of the thread titles. I don't understand its purpose.

At first I assumed that in a subsequent session it would take me to the next post ofter the last one read in the thread. It does not. It takes me to the first post in the thread.

There are two other ways to reach the first post in the thread: 1) Click on the thread title and 2) click on the number "1" below the thread title. As it is now this uselessly adds clutter to the thread titles.

I should mention that I am using Firefox as my browser.

Was my original assumption wrong?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by al olson

I am curious about the recent appearance of "Go to first new post" in front of the thread titles. I don't understand its purpose.

At first I assumed that in a subsequent session it would take me to the next post ofter the last one read in the thread. It does not. It takes me to the first post in the thread.

There are two other ways to reach the first post in the thread: 1) Click on the thread title and 2) click on the number "1" below the thread title. As it is now this uselessly adds clutter to the thread titles.

I should mention that I am using Firefox as my browser.

Was my original assumption wrong?

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I think you have to be logged in for that button to even appear, so not being logged in probably isn't the problem.

But if you browser or security system is set not to store cookies, the forum software may lose track of that last time you viewed threads, and I suspect that's how it determines what you have and have not read. It's not perfect in any case. Some forum software keeps a database of users and what they have and have not seen (Delphi Forums comes to mind) but that isn't done on the usual public forum software.

Rick "for whom the feature works but not perfectly" Denney

From what you are saying, I guess my assumption that it should take me to the next post in my subsequent session was correct.

And obviously I had to be logged on to start the thread.

My browser is storing cookies. It has been several months since I cleaned them out. So I guess that is not the problem.

That said, I will ignore that feature.

I don't think it's a matter of cookies, because I use two different computers (at work and at home), and this feature still works fine.
I'm using Firefox on both computers, in case that matters.

Recent? What do you mean? It was there when I joined this forum more than one year ago. And I've been using it right from the beginning. I find it very useful and use it all the time. (I wish Photo.net implemented it, too). And it works fine most of the time (I'm saying "most of the time" instead of "always" just to avoid being too radical, but the truth is that I can't think of a time when it didn't work :)).

Your assumption is correct - it should take you to the first unread post. Very useful, especially in a multiple page thread (if it works, that is :D)

I should elaborate that there was a short period of perhaps a week before my OP, where this phrase was showing up immediately before the topic in the thread/thread starter column.

A few days after my OP it again ceased to appear. Neither before it began to appear this month had I ever seen this phrase, nor am I seeing it now. I attributed its appearance to possible upgrades to the forum software.

It would seem to be a useful tool and apparently from your comment it works on some computers/browsers. On my computer (with Windows XP and Firefox) it simply added clutter in the thread/thread starter column.

Cheers

If a thread has at least one new post, then next to its name you'll see a small blue rectangle with an arrow pointing downwards. Clicking on that arrow will take you to the first unread post in that thread.

When a web server responds too slowly, pictures are usually (depending on your browser and the web page design) the last thing to load. Some images have an optional text defined, which is displayed in place of the actual image for a short time before being replaced by the image itself. This text is also displayed if your browser is configured not to display images at all. Sometimes, if the server is really slow to respond, the browser gives up waiting for the image, and you end up with this text instead.

I believe you saw the alternate text of the "go to first new post" button. If you can't see the text, then you should see the blue icon instead.