Forever New

[Josette]

The "stuck" topic at the top of the regular board, "OT:  A message for unregistered members" - which hasn't had a new post since March 18 - has a "New" indicator the last two days.  There is clearly nothing new there, but it always says it is.  No big deal, but I was wondering about it!!

[Mysterious Benefactor]

There is clearly nothing new there, but it always says it is.  No big deal, but I was wondering about it!!

Remember how older topics would change back to their unread color on our other forums after a certain amount of time had passed? Well, the same principle applies here. Every registered member of the forum has a log file that records all the topics they've previously read and that's how the system knows whether or not to display the "new" icon if something new has been posted to a particular topic since each individual member last read it. However, after 14 days have passed, all the entries in every members' logs that are older than 14 days are removed (so the logs don't become too cumbersome and slow everything down). The time between March 18 and April 3rd is more than 14 days, so anyone who read that topic no later than March 18 has most likely had the entries for that topic removed from their logs.
Now, where this gets more complicated is the fact that that particular topic has been flagged so it will always remain atop the first page in Current Talk (so unregistered members are more likely to see/read it). If it were listed on page 12, where most of the other topics that were last posted to on March 18th are currently listed, the "new" icon wouldn't display in front of it because the system knows those are all older topics. But because it's being displayed atop page one, and most members' log files have had the entries for it removed from their logs, the system is interpreting it as if it were a new topic by virtue of the fact that it appears on page one.

If the display of the "new" icon in front of older, flagged topics bothers people, I can probably alter the script that controls the display of that icon so it won't display in this instance. But considering that the date of the last new post is already listed for the topic, I suspect that, like you, most people will realize on their own that nothing new has been posted there.

I hope that explains it for you, Josette. And aren't you really glad you asked?

[Josette]

The explanation makes sense, MB, except . . . .

The first time I encountered it yesterday, I DID click on it, assuming there must be something new.  So, the "new" should have disappeared.  I was surprised all last night when it was constantly there.  And when it was still there today, I was even more puzzled!!

I'm going to click on it again now to see what happens.!

[Luciaphile]

Josette wrote:

The first time I encountered it yesterday, I DID click on it, assuming there must be something new.  So, the "new" should have disappeared.  I was surprised all last night when it was constantly there.  And when it was still there today, I was even more puzzled!!

I thought it was just me!  I even clicked that thingy to mark all messages read and it still reads as "new" when I come back to the page.

Luciaphil

[Mysterious Benefactor]

I thought it was just me!  I even clicked that thingy to mark all messages read and it still reads as "new" when I come back to the page.

I don't know what to tell you, Luciaphil, because "Mark Topics as Read" removes the "new" icon in front of both flagged topics for me. I've tried with both Netscape 6.2 and MSIE 6.1. Are you using something different? If so, maybe you should try clicking on the topics themselves because that should definitely get rid of the "new" icon for another two weeks.

Sorry I can't be any more helpful.

[Luciaphile]

I played with it a little more and logged out and back in again.  That seemed to make the "new" tag go away.  Thanks though  

Luciaphil

[Josette]

I've never figured out the point of "Mark Topics as Read" - as it seems that it remembers what threads I've seen or not seen.  Anytime I come back, even just going back to "Home" or reloading the page, anything that's new since what I've already seen appears with the "new" tag, so there doesn't seem to be a need for that.

Also, if one could mark a specific topic, perhaps, but since it's listed in the plural, I assume it refers to everything, so one would have to be careful that everything has really been read first.

Anyway, after making sure that I was caught up with everything yesterday, I tried the "Mark Topics as Read" - and sure enough, today the "new" tag is gone from that post!!