Question about "New Posts"

[onlydarksets]

Is there a way I can view only New Posts in the SPT forums? The link at the top brings back everything. Given that I don't have a Zune and my digital camera is a 3 year old subcompact, the other sites don't really interest me as much.

Thanks!

[onlydarksets]

Is there a way I can view only New Posts in the SPT forums? The link at the top brings back everything. Given that I don't have a Zune and my digital camera is a 3 year old subcompact, the other sites don't really interest me as much.

Thanks!

[scottb]

I would be interested in this too.

[Sven]

Definately need an easy way to get all the new posts within SP Thoughts since last login.

Ack- found it...Search...Advanced Search...New Posts

Double Ack - That's new posts in all the Thoughts forums it appears. As much as you want it, not everyone is interested in all of them. How about a new posts in each Thoughts site.

[Jason Dunn]

That's the #1 problem with this approach of having multiple sites using the same set of forums, but I haven't yet found a solution. I realize it's a hassle, so I'm hoping to find some way of isolating the forums from each other regarding the new posts search. I still have no clue HOW I'm going to do that, but I do understand that not everyone wants to see the posts from every site. And of course the problem will only get worse once we bring in Pocket PC Thoughts and Digital Media Thoughts.

All the other benefits (single unified login, less server load, easier multi-site posting, etc.) were too important to not take this step however...

[onlydarksets]

I know there is a lot involved in this migration, and I understand the motivations behind doing it, but I wouldn't underestimate the importance of the "New Posts" feature for connecting users to the sites. I don't have time to look through each forum for updates, so it's critical functionality for me (and, I suspect, for others). I would imagine it's a relatively simple query, but one that just hasn't been written yet.

Hopefully others will weigh in on this as well to give you an idea of whether it is, in fact, critical functionality.

[onlydarksets]

I found this:
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=93766

I think this could fairly easily be extended to allow for "New Posts by Site". Of course, "easy" is a relative concept...

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by onlydarksets

...but I wouldn't underestimate the importance of the "New Posts" feature for connecting users to the sites...Hopefully others will weigh in on this as well to give you an idea of whether it is, in fact, critical functionality.

I apprecaite the feedback, I know you're giving it to me because you care about the site, but what about my response above would give you the idea that I don't consider it critical functionality? I pointed out that it's our #1 issue, so clearly it must be very important, because there's nothing higher than #1.

If you're suggesting that this issue is so important that it should have negated the merger completely, then no, I disagree with you - I moved ahead with the merger believing that somehow we'll come up with a solution to this challenge.

It's been less than 24 hours - please give me some time to come up with a solution before you give up on Smartphone Thoughts.

[onlydarksets]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

I apprecaite the feedback, I know you're giving it to me because you care about the site, but what about my response above would give you the idea that I don't consider it critical functionality? I pointed out that it's our #1 issue, so clearly it must be very important, because there's nothing higher than #1.

Your post didn't say that it was your #1 issue - just that it was the #1 problem with this approach. "#1 problem", to me, meant that it's possibly a cost of the "single-site" approach, which you hoped could (but can't guarantee would) get fixed. Given that interpretation, I didn't see anything indicating where you prioritized this issue.

However, you have clarified that it is your #1 issue, so we're on the same page! BTW, my post only asked others to weigh in to help determine whether (or not) it is critical functionality - not to gang up on you.

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

It's been less than 24 hours - please give me some time to come up with a solution before you give up on Smartphone Thoughts.

Fine, you have 24 more hours, then I start deleting my posts and "migrating" them to Brighthand.

Having done more than a few migrations, I know that they are miserable experiences, and that end-users are the bane of a system administrator's existence. I certainly don't want to add to your headaches or to take away from this huge achievement. I guess it's true that no good deed goes unpunished.

That said, you have 23:58 and counting...

[scottb]

There's another forum I visit occasionally that presents a list of fourms to search when you click the New Posts link. It's a multi-select list so you can choose exactly which forums to search. I don't know what forum software it is, but at least we know it can be done.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by onlydarksets

However, you have clarified that it is your #1 issue, so we're on the same page!

Ah, ok then. My apologies for not being crystal clear about this: these sites are nothing without the community of people that frequent them, so anything that detracts from the community experience is extremely important for me to fix.

I sent Fabrizio the URL to that script you found, I think we may implement something like that...