An alert notification without a reason

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A user received an alert notification for a new thread despite not engaging with it, raising concerns about the forum's alert system functionality. They noted that the alert appeared in the notifications dropdown but were unsure why they received it without actively watching the thread. The discussion highlighted confusion over how the "Watch" feature operates, particularly regarding replies and likes not triggering alerts. Users shared experiences of inconsistencies in receiving notifications for watched threads and forums, suggesting that the alert system may not be functioning as expected. The conversation concluded with users agreeing to monitor their settings and notifications for clarity.
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Forum gave me an Alert for one of the topics, although I never posted to it, never responded with LIKE, and never clicked on the WATCH button. Not a big problem but just something that should not happen. It appears to be a new topic posted with only a single post today.
 
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Greg Bernhardt said:
What did they alert say?
It was in the listing of Alerts at the bell-icon with the red square and the white count of alerts.
 
symbolipoint said:
It was in the listing of Alerts at the bell-icon with the red square and the white count of alerts.
What is the exact text I mean.
 
The topic discussed there seems interesting and is something that I could click to WATCH, but as I looked at the posting, above it I could see the WATCH button, indicating that I had/did not yet click to WATCH the thread; so really I wonder if THAT functionality is not working right. I do NOT remember if I did or did not click to WATCH that thread/topic.

Now looking at the topic again, I see the button still says WATCH as if giving me the option to click on it to watch, so I am not sure what is happening. Where is the opposing button which should say UNWATCH?
 
Copy the exact text of the alert and paste it here, it should still be in your alert dropdown or alert page. :smile:
 
Pasting exact text in the Alert:

Greg Bernhardt replied to the thread an alert notification without reason. There may be more posts after this.
1 minute ago https://www.physicsforums.com/account/unread-alert?alert_id=11109546

Not the right one. Let me try again.

---
Misidentified what I was looking for. See post #11 for what you asked me for.
 
  • #10
symbolipoint said:
@Greg Bernhardt replied to the thread an alert notification without reason. There may be more posts after this.
1 minute ago https://www.physicsforums.com/account/unread-alert?alert_id=11109546
No, the alert that you are questioning about
 
  • #12
That sounds like the alert you get if you are watching the forum. Is anything listed here: https://www.physicsforums.com/watched/forums
 
  • #13
Greg Bernhardt said:
That sounds like the alert you get if you are watching the forum. Is anything listed here: https://www.physicsforums.com/watched/forums
Yes; but it is only listing two items, which I will try to quote here now:Educators and Teaching
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I should expect to see more items listed since I am fairly sure I am watching more than just those two items. I have responded or LIKED other topics in the last several days.
 
  • #14
Watched threads and watched forums are two different things. You should get an alert each time a new thread is posted in either of those two listed forums.
 
  • #15
My Watched threads listing: This is empty.

My Watched forums listing: This has the two items I pasted in post #13.
 
  • #16
symbolipoint said:
My Watched forums listing: This has the two items I pasted in post #13.
That is the answer to your original question.
 
  • #17
Greg Bernhardt said:
That is the answer to your original question.
Does this mean I lost the watching of all the other topics to which I replied to or LIKED? If so, then this is a change for the PF forums. Used to be, if we replied to a topic, or registered a LIKE, or directly picked "Watch", then when anything was added to the topic, we were given an Alert. Have the WATCHES been reset or something?
 
  • #18
symbolipoint said:
Used to be, if we replied to a topic, or registered a LIKE, or directly picked "Watch", then when anything was added to the topic, we were given an Alert.

Even long before the switch to the new Xenforo system was (at least sometimes) loosing information about watched threads. My guess was that if I was alerted but for some reason ignored the alert, thread was automatically removed from my list.
 
  • #19
Watched threads always worked for me. Once I watched it (via the watch button or via writing a reply) I had it in the watched thread list forever (even after years). Just liking a post in there shouldn't have been enough to watch the thread.

Watched forums stopped working for me with the new forum, no matter what I try I don't get alerts about new threads.
 
  • #20
I will look at what I am doing with replies, LIKES, and WATCHES and see what appears in the list of watched forum threads and watched forum forums; and that will be how I know what to expect. Just will be a matter of watching what I do and learning the results.

-
I just now clicked a LIKE to one of the recent topics. It did not make an appearance onto my Watched forums nor Watched threads. It was also a topic to which I contributed a posting (I asked a question after someone elses' reply).
 
  • #21
symbolipoint said:
I just now clicked a LIKE to one of the recent topics. It did not make an appearance onto my Watched forums nor Watched threads. It was also a topic to which I contributed a posting (I asked a question after someone elses' reply).
Liking does not trigger a watch since they are post based, not thread based, you must either reply to the thread or explicitly click the watch button at the top right of the thread.
 
  • #22
Greg Bernhardt said:
Liking does not trigger a watch since they are post based, not thread based, you must either reply to the thread or explicitly click the watch button at the top right of the thread.
I DID make a reply but doing it did not activate a WATCH for the topic. "Contributed" a post means, somebody started a topic, and I contributed another post to the topic.
 
  • #23
Maybe this was already covered, but when you click My PF, Preferences, does this configuration look similar to mine? (I no longer enable e-mail notification for Alerts):

243321
 
  • Like
Likes Greg Bernhardt
  • #24
berkeman said:
Maybe this was already covered, but. . .
I fixed every thing just by typing into the address bar. . . about:robots . . :DD

Then press enter. . . try it .
243324


See ? .
ff.gif
 
  • #25
berkeman , post #23,
YES. Mine looks just like yours does.
 
  • #26
symbolipoint said:
berkeman , post #23,
YES. Mine looks just like yours does.
So if you Reply in a thread, you don't start getting notifications?
 
  • #27
berkeman said:
So if you Reply in a thread, you don't start getting notifications?
Yes. NO notifications.
Uncertain. I am trying to check on this.
I seem to be receiving some notifications but I find only two WATCHED 'forums'. Nothing listed in WATCHED threads.

example: Topic of PhD Topic Change, I made a response (actually an added question), so I should expect that this to put into the WATCHED list; but it is not listed in watched forums nor watched threads.
 
  • #28
symbolipoint said:
Yes. NO notifications.
Uncertain. I am trying to check on this.
I seem to be receiving some notifications but I find only two WATCHED 'forums'. Nothing listed in WATCHED threads.
By default, watched threads shows only threads that are unread. There should be a button on the upper left that says unread. If you click the x on this button to clear the filter, you should see your full list of watched threads.
 
  • #29
Ygggdrasil said:
By default, watched threads shows only threads that are unread. There should be a button on the upper left that says unread. If you click the x on this button to clear the filter, you should see your full list of watched threads.
I believe I see what&where you are describing. I will leave that set as it is, and find what happens.
 
  • Like
Likes berkeman
  • #30
Also check to see if you have any tags watched. I have one for 'light' I believe, so when someone tags their thread with 'light' I receive a notification.
 
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