The showcase and missing posts/ activity

Ok, theoretically I could track threads I am interested in from the Showcase category, but the issue is, I use the PHP category to keep track of the active threads in that category. Discourse does this pretty good.

However, when a thread is changed to be a showcased thread, it is never shown in its original category any more, so I basically lose “track” of it.

Hahaha…yeah, I know. I could track it, like I mentioned above. But then, I have to remember to track threads I’ve participated in. I don’t want to track the whole “showcase” category either.

I think the “Showcase” shouldn’t be its own category, but rather just a page that looks like a category, but where all the threads listed link back to the original threads in the original categories (to avoid double content issues with SEO).

Or,

allow the automatic tracking of threads I’ve participated in, (which I’ve suggested be added to this forum in another thread). It would pick the activity up here considerably. I’d bet on it. :smile:

Scott

Oooh… sorry. Change “tracking” to “watching” above. Automatic watching of threads I’ve participated in (but didn’t start myself) should be possible.

Scott

You can do this on an individual topic level. But as far as I know, it’s basically automatic. Once I’ve looked at a topic (not even participated) I get updates on it in my Unread tab. (I think I’ve mentioned this to you before.) This is where you’re informated of any new activity in topics you’ve been reading / participating in.

You may have mentioned it, but I didn’t get it. LOL! :smile:

Ok. Looking constantly at the Unread tab is also a way to track activity and a solution to my losing track, but not the solution to my second suggestion. I’d rather not have to go to the activity (by reading the Unread tab). I’d rather have it come to me via notifications (and not per email). I’d even love to see the notifications come up as a number in the browser tab. Something sites like Facebook and Twitter have (although FB notifications suck and Twitter’s number in the tab is unread new tweets).

At any rate. Thanks for answering. :sunny:

Scott

IIRC, most Showcase topics have started off there, rather than been moved from elsewhere, so I’m not sure this is a big issue.

Also, if a topic is posted in a category you’re watching - say, PHP - and then moved to a category which you’re not watching - say, Showcase - you will still receive notifications for it based on your settings for its original category.

I know this to be true, because when we first moved to Discourse, I was bemused by notifications for topics which were not in any of my watched categories. The topics would say at the bottom “You are receiving notifications because you are watching this category” and I eventually worked out that they had been moved from a category I was watching. So unless this has changed in the last few days, you should still receive notifications for any moved topics.

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Thanks @TechnoBear. That may be the case, but the tracking feature only give notices, when someone mentions you or replies directly to your post (why not quoting your post too?). I’d like to simply see the posts I have participated in automatically set to watching, so that the fidelity of notifications is better. Can’t that be made a user option?

Scott

The option would need to be created within Discourse itself. As yet, the facility doesn’t exist, although it has been requested.

Yes, the problem with issues like this is that it’s our of our hands, so it’s worth posting functionality changes to the Discourse site itself—just like you’d go to WordPress to suggest core features for that system.

There is no possibility for extensibility in Discourse? :worried:

Scott

I see your point, and you can indeed extend it in various ways. However, it’s possible that a lot of the recent upgrade woes may have been partly related to customizations, so perhaps the “once bitten” rule applies here to some extent. :smiley:

I think you are wanting this feature to be completed
https://meta.discourse.org/t/automatically-set-topics-to-watching-after-posting/21230

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Yes, exactly the feature I am looking for.

Doesn’t look like anyone started the PR. (don’t know why Jeff asked for a PR. Not everyone asking for an enhancement is a programmer of Discourse :flushed: ).

Do you want to start an issue in the Discourse Github repo? Or should I?

Scott

Actually, it would be better if you responded to the topic on Meta (I know that is asking a lot). They rarely use GitHub as a means for discussion.

If you do not mind creating an account on Meta and voicing your liking for such a feature, that’d really help! I’ve wanted to try and produce that change, but it hasn’t made it on my schedule between Real Life and my actual Job! :smile:

No problem. I’ll ask, if I should start an issue in Github too.

Scott

Done!

Scott

Well, Jeff answered, but you can’t create issues in their Github repo. So, you guys have Ruby devs, don’t you? How about making a PR? :smiley:

Scott

Also, one last note and another suggestion. Now that I know about the usefulness of the “Unread” tab. :smiley: It is a PITA to have to go to the index page to get to it all the time. It is always one click too many away. My suggestion is to move the navigation bar on the index page into the header.

From this:

To this (of course with better styling for the header! :wink:)

Edit, Ok, I just noticed you blend in the title of the thread in the header, taking up some of that empty space. The navigation would be more important than such a big title text though, don’t you think?

Scott

Ok, this is what the thread header could look like. :smile:

Scott

Already discussed here. Would it be possible to make the Discourse navigation available in individual threads?

Again, feel free to add your weight to the request at meta.discourse: https://meta.discourse.org/t/navigation-bar-always-visible/26786

And in the meantime you can use the keyboard shortcut g,u to reach unread posts from anywhere.

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That is so developer mentality like… LOL! :smirk:

Scott