How come sometimes I see and some times I don't see

  • Thread starter Thread starter phinds
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The discussion revolves around the inconsistent visibility of "watched tags" in the forum's drop-down box, with users expressing annoyance over its random appearance despite not actively tracking any tags. Participants note that the ability to add tags may be linked to user roles, such as Gold membership, which also appears to fluctuate unexpectedly. Some users find the tagging system ineffective due to poorly chosen tags that do not provide meaningful categorization. The conversation highlights confusion regarding membership status and the functionality of tags, with some users questioning the overall value of the tagging feature. Ultimately, the thread reflects a shared frustration with the forum's tagging system and membership inconsistencies.
phinds
Science Advisor
Insights Author
Gold Member
2024 Award
Messages
19,336
Reaction score
15,483
the "watched tags" in the drop down box for FORUMS. I am not WATCHING any tags so don't need this and find it a minor annoyance (yes, I'm easily annoyed, grump, grump) that it seems to just show up or not at random

PF without watched tags.JPG
PF with watched tags.JPG


EDIT: I also find it annoying that we can't edit subject lines, dag nabbit ! (Espacially sinse I can't smell)
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
Yeah I've been seeing that too.

It must be a figment of our collective imaginations or because the watch tags are related to the current session threads that were commented on.

Hmm, I just checked it and I wasn't tracking any tags very strange.
 
jedishrfu said:
Hmm, I just checked it and I wasn't tracking any tags very strange.
As I said, I'm not tracking any tags either.
 
Who would track tags? (I guess I will find out)
 
Evo said:
Who would track tags? (I guess I will find out)
OK, I can see how some folks might want track tags, having come from other forums where people actually USE tags. I don't think folks here add them (I certainly don't). If everyone DID add them (and I am NOT suggesting it) then you could, for example, track the tags "HUP" and "Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle" and see any relevant posts to that area of interest. It's a nice feature but more work, I think, than is worthwhile.

EDIT: hm ... I just looked and I don't even see any way to add them here if you wanted to. If we don't even HAVE them, why do we have the option to track them? o_O

EDIT EDIT: Ah ... maybe the ability to add them comes and goes with the ability to track them

da da DA da, da da DA da ... you are now entering ...
 
  • Like
Likes Ahmad Kishki
As a mentor, I can add tags, it's part of editing, but my abilities and members are very different. I believe that you can add them when you create a thread because I've seen some absolute garbage as tags, things like "new" "problem" "fact" "unknown", basically, people do not know how to use tags.

Previously Greg had set the software to pick about 5 random words from the first couple of sentences as tags and they made absolutely no sense. I don't know if that is what is still causing the bizarre tags or if it's members only now. (Sorry Greg, I mentioned it to you). :(
 
  • Like
Likes Ahmad Kishki
phinds said:
I just looked and I don't even see any way to add them here
You as the creator of the post have the option to add tags when you create the thread.
 
Bystander said:
You as the creator of the post have the option to add tags when you create the thread.
Ah ha ... I was trying to add them in EDIT mode ... guess you can't do that?
 
Evo said:
... I've seen some absolute garbage as tags, things like "new" "problem" "fact" "unknown", basically, people do not know how to use tags.

BAN ALL TAGS ! (grump, grump)
 
  • #10
phinds said:
BAN ALL TAGS !
And be picked up by animal control as a stray post?
 
  • #11
Evo said:
Who would track tags? (I guess I will find out)
If you are interested in string theory you'll be alerted to any thread that has been tagged with "string theory". It's quite handy.
 
  • Like
Likes Ahmad Kishki
  • #12
Greg Bernhardt said:
If you are interested in string theory you'll be alerted to any thread that has been tagged with "string theory". It's quite handy.
I personally love the ability to tag. I died when I found out that all of the threads I had tagged were lost when we switched to the new software. The problem is the meaningless tags that a lot of people use. They do no one any good. Where a two word tag would have meant something, they instead make two tags, one of each word and it's nonsense. Like "uncertainty principle", they make two tags "uncertainty" and "principle". :olduhh:
 
  • #13
Greg Bernhardt said:
If you are interested in string theory you'll be alerted to any thread that has been tagged with "string theory". It's quite handy.
Yes, that's what I said in post #5. Pay attention, dammit. Grump, grump. :smile:
 
  • #14
Bystander said:
And be picked up by animal control as a stray post?
AAAIIIEEEE ! I completely forgot about my name tag and rabies tag. Arf!
 
  • #15
I see we still don't have any mentioned resolution to this issue, although I haven't noticed the "watched tags" in a while. Did you get rid of it?
 
  • #16
phinds said:
I see we still don't have any mentioned resolution to this issue, although I haven't noticed the "watched tags" in a while. Did you get rid of it?
It's a gold member perk :)
 
  • #17
I see this too. As I told Evo and DaleSpam, I sometimes become gold and then go back to normal. When I'm gold, I can see that "watched tags" too. I guess phinds is the same as me in this issue.
 
  • #18
Greg Bernhardt said:
It's a gold member perk :)
Damned tree frog !

But seriously, I haven't seen it in a while. Could be just coincidence but I was wondering if you did something or are going to just ignore this coming and going
 
  • #19
Shyan said:
I see this too. As I told Evo and DaleSpam, I sometimes become gold and then go back to normal. When I'm gold, I can see that "watched tags" too. I guess phinds is the same as me in this issue.
Ah ha. Another clue or another mystery? I hadn't noticed til you mentioned it, but didn't we used to have some sort of indicator that Gold members ARE gold members (in addition to the fact that we have avatars) ? I just realized that sometimes I don't see any. Right now I DO see it and I DO see the the "watched tags" so I'm with Shyan on this. Good catch.

So tree frog, let me restate my question ... how come Gold Membership comes and goes? I don't' see my my money coming and going ... it just stays there with you :smile:
 
  • #20
phinds said:
Ah ha. Another clue or another mystery? I hadn't noticed til you mentioned it, but didn't we used to have some sort of indicator that Gold members ARE gold members (in addition to the fact that we have avatars) ? I just realized that sometimes I don't see any. Right now I DO see it and I DO see the the "watched tags" so I'm with Shyan on this. Good catch.

So tree frog, let me restate my question ... how come Gold Membership comes and goes? I don't' see my my money coming and going ... it just stays there with you :)
So you're actually a gold phinds? Interesting. I'm not!
 
  • #21
You both should be because you got the first responder promotion
 
  • #22
Greg Bernhardt said:
You both should be because you got the first responder promotion
Ooh...I didn't know that. So its only that some people with gold membership sometimes become normal! And I guess they're not the ones who paid for it!:D
 
  • #23
Something isn't quite right though, I can see. Unfortunately I am on vacation till new years.
 
  • #24
Greg Bernhardt said:
Something isn't quite right though, I can see. Unfortunately I am on vacation till new years.
Its OK. I'm sure I can do without constantly being gold!
 
  • #25
Shyan said:
So you're actually a gold phinds? Interesting. I'm not!
Uh ... how do you have an avatar if you are not? In fact I THINK, but would not bet money on it, that the last time I signed in I saw "gold member" under both our avatars. This time I don't see it on either. I think Greg is just messing with us :smile:
 
  • #26
Greg Bernhardt said:
Something isn't quite right though, I can see. Unfortunately I am on vacation till new years.
Have a great holiday vacation Greg !
 
  • #27
phinds said:
Uh ... how do you have an avatar if you are not? In fact I THINK, but would not bet money on it, that the last time I signed in I saw "gold member" under both our avatars. This time I don't see it on either. I think Greg is just messing with us :)
Looks like I'm actually gold as Greg said. But its a long time I have this avatar, even before I get the first responder promotion. I always wondered why people say only gold members can have avatar.
 
  • #28
OK, ANOTHER data point ... I just logged in again and this time I see me as Gold and I do see the "watched tags" thread but Shyan is not gold. I guess the avatars come with the First Responder thing in addtion to if you bribe the tree frog but the Gold only comes from bribing the frog. I notice that this time I'm in FireFox and last time I was in IE. I'll try to pay attention (very hard for me ... dogs have a short attention span) and see if that's consistent.

EDIT: WTF? NOW I see Shyan as gold but last time I saw me as gold and him not. There seems to be "coming and going" of attributes even within a thread, to say nothing of within log-in sessions.

another data point. Just did a copy/past of this thread's URL to IE and now I'm logged into it in IE and I still see us both as gold and I see the "watched tags" so there's no consistency regarding which browser is in use.

Weirder and weirder.

Still, it's all so minor that I'm beginning to be sorry I even opened this can of worms in the first place.
 
Last edited:
  • #29
Right now Shyan is not gold. He said that he isn't a gold member but he keeps getting switched back and forth constantly.

Also, we did start allowing avatars for non Gold members some time ago.
 
  • #30
Evo said:
Right now Shyan is not gold. He said that he isn't a gold member but he keeps getting switched back and forth constantly.

Also, we did start allowing avatars for non Gold members some time ago.
Read post #21!
 
  • #31
Shyan said:
Read post #21!
Is that when this problem started? So does everyone get free gold forever? I just checked the thread where Greg announced it and it doesn't specify how long the free gold membership is for.
 
  • #32
Evo said:
Is that when this problem started? So does everyone get free gold forever? I just checked the thread where Greg announced it and it doesn't specify how long the free gold membership is for.
I don't know for sure and Greg didn't mentioned which level of first responder he meant.
And I don't know about the rule.I just realized it from that post and know nothing further. But it clears the fact that I'm actually gold now and the problem is why it comes and goes! At least we know that I didn't become gold for no reason!
 
  • #33
Shyan said:
I don't know for sure and Greg didn't mentioned which level of first responder he meant.
And I don't know about the rule.I just realized it from that post and know nothing further. But it clears the fact that I'm actually gold now and the problem is why it comes and goes! At least we know that I didn't become gold for no reason!
I wonder how many others are having this problem and don't understand what's going on?
 
  • #34
Evo said:
I wonder how many others are having this problem and don't understand what's going on?

OR ... who are not so easily annoyed as I am and never even notice. :smile:

Another data point ... This log-in, I'm in IE, I see me as Gold, Shyan as not gold, and I do see the "watched tags"
 
Last edited:
  • #35
I'm thinking some sort of a "gold star" quantum superposition problem. I bet Greg will observe and all will be well.
 
  • #36
I have been given a gold star for part of every day since back around mid November, then late each afternoon the medallion is snatched away and stored for safe-keeping until being pinned on all over again next day!

Perhaps there just aren't enough medals to go 'round, so each one is being time-shared between 3 recipients?

At the time of posting it's been taken away already! That's less than 3 hours today, I think. I'd better get to and answer a few more homework questions or I might not be loaned the star again today.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Likes dlgoff and Evo
  • #37
Evo said:
Also, we did start allowing avatars for non Gold members some time ago.
I was going to say - non gold members not having the ability to set avatars?!
 
  • #39
Phinds & Shyan are gold, Nascent Oxygen is not. There's someone else I've noticed who comes and goes.
 
  • #40
Greg Bernhardt said:
I see both as Gold.
I figured you would.
dlgoff said:
I bet Greg will observe and all will be well.
 
  • #41
Greg Bernhardt said:
Is this still happening? I see both as Gold.
It was still happening yesterday. I'll give a report some hours later!

P.S.
Yesterday is not very far, because its just 8:15 AM here!
 
  • #42
I'm not gold, atm.

And I'm not worried about it. Just bemused. :-p
 
  • #43
NascentOxygen said:
I'm not gold, atm.
Were you at some point?
 
  • #45
Well that is very disturbing. It started in Nov? Perhaps it was the promotion. I have disabled it for now.
 
  • #46
Started in either mid-Nov, or the last week in Oct. I just forget exactly, but am more inclined to think Oct.
 
  • #47
I haven't noticed it for the last couple of days. I see gold every day and "watched tags" every day. I'd like to keep the gold, lose the "watched tags" :smile:
 
  • #48
Today I was a gold full-time!
 
Back
Top