PF5 Problems & Errors: Report & Discuss

[fresh_42]

There is a orange left side border to show new vs old alerts. I think the background changes to grey too. Do I need to make more apparent?

I think the confusion is another. The orange bar is ok for one or two threads, but not for 20. I (we?) used to click on alert to see the list and then proceed bottom - top to check what we have missed while away.

Now the first click removes the red number whereas a second is needed to list all threads in the alert list. But meanwhile the new-old marker has vanished due to the first click. This was definitely better in the old version.

And a refresh updates the list, but does not update the number, which is disturbing. Similar with PM. If I have a current exchange of messages, back and forth, then - and this is better now than before - additional messages occur without an explicit contact to the server via refresh or so. However, the red number tries to catch my attention to what I actually just read. There is no check, whether those alerts or messages are nonsense because I'm already there.

 

[Wrichik Basu]

Actually @Tom.G tried to say something like this:

When you hover/click upon the alerts, then the system assumes that you have read all the alerts at one go before closing the dropdown. But if someone reads one alert at a time - sees the alert, clicks on the thread, replies to the thread - and again checks the alert dropdown, then already all the alerts have been marked Read, and the person loses sight of which alert he has responded to, and which not.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

When you hover/click upon the alerts, then the system assumes that you have read all the alerts at one go before closing the dropdown. But if someone reads one alert at a time - sees the alert, clicks on the thread, replies to the thread - and again checks the alert dropdown, then already all the alerts have been marked Read, and the person loses sight of which alert he has responded to, and which not.

I understand that and maybe there is something I can do, but in general, it's just a notification system, not a watched thread tracker. When you get multiple alerts I would scan them all. If there are multiple threads, go to your watched thread page.

 

[fresh_42]

I understand that and maybe there is something I can do, but in general, it's just a notification system, not a watched thread tracker. When you get multiple alerts I would scan them all. If there are multiple threads, go to your watched thread page.

That isn't the same. I get alerts for new threads in watched forums, but not on watched threads. The watched forums list would be double action in comparison to alert. And, at least for me, watched forums isn't really what I want to know. New threads, yes, new answers on the 100th QM thread, no. So the alert functionality was just perfect. The calculation routine for the little red numbers however is sub-optimal.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I get alerts for new threads in watched forums, but not on watched threads.

Please check your settings
https://www.physicsforums.com/account/preferences

 

[Orodruin]

I understand that and maybe there is something I can do, but in general, it's just a notification system, not a watched thread tracker. When you get multiple alerts I would scan them all. If there are multiple threads, go to your watched thread page.

This adds extra clicks because you would need to find that in a separate menu. Is there some way of adding a link to the watched threads page in the alerts drop-down?

 

[fresh_42]

Please check your settings
https://www.physicsforums.com/account/preferences

Sorry, I was unclear.

A new thread from a watched forum creates an alert. Good.
A new thread from a watched forum does not create an entry in the watched threads list. Sure, isn't on watch, yet.
Going to the watched threads list to cover this gap results in too many posts I'm not interested in anymore.

Thus, the alert list is a perfect tool to show new posts and watched threads; without having to check all forums.

 

[jim hardy]

Thanks a Million Greg !
It Works.

old jim

 

[Tom.G]

What Orange border?

 

[Wrichik Basu]

What Orange border?

View attachment 242139

That has been changed to red recently.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

What Orange border?

I changed it to red to match the alert counter. Only when you have new alerts.

 

[fresh_42]

Just a remark.

This summary thingy in SR/GR and QM was a brilliant idea! 2 lines to read instead of 30 just to find out whether it is of interest for someone or not.

 

[dlgoff]

@Greg Bernhardt Lately I've noticed pages (tabs in firefox) reloading without manually doing so via the firefox browser. What is the reason for this?

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

@Greg Bernhardt Lately I've noticed pages (tabs in firefox) reloading without manually doing so via the firefox browser. What is the reason for this?

The server is repolled for alerts every 30sec. We did this in PF4 too.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

This summary thingy in SR/GR and QM was a brilliant idea! 2 lines to read instead of 30 just to find out whether it is of interest for someone or not.

Great, I can keep expanding it to other forums

 

[Orodruin]

Great, I can keep expanding it to other forums

Unfortunately, it is impossible to quote from it - just like the problem statement in homework. In a summary, being able to quote it is even more relevant.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

Unfortunately, it is impossible to quote from it - just like the problem statement in homework. In a summary, being able to quote it is even more relevant.

Yup, working on it

 

[jim hardy]

Greg -- Oh No it disappeared !

 

[Tom.G]

This seems to be a condition that does not have a high priority attached to it. I posted about it here a few weeks ago and there was no action taken then either. If others find it annoying and/or a reduced usability problem, chime in about it so it has a chance of being corrected.

Just one problem at a time and we will hopefully get back at least the usability of PF4.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

This seems to be a condition that does not have a high priority attached to it. I posted about it here a few weeks ago and there was no action taken then either. If others find it annoying and/or a reduced usability problem, chime in about it so it has a chance of being corrected.

This is not design but a result of low screen resolution. What device are you using @jim hardy?

 

[Tom.G]

My window size is 1241x816 on a screen of 2048x1152. 102 pixels-per-inch, 4 pixels-per-mm.

Window height must be greater than 918 to show any part of "[->Log out"

 

[fresh_42]

I remember that I also found it disturbing at the beginning when I couldn't find it. It is certainly visited more often than "reactions received". But I admit that this is a general issue of many websites. Log out has to be at the end. Says who? It reminds a bit of ad fade-ins where you can't find the cross to close them.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

@Tom.G @jim hardy @fresh_42 how about now?

 

[fresh_42]

I think this is perfect.

But now I'm thinking about what "update your status" should mean, except for a copy of fb status.
Can I answer this by a quotation: "McCOY (on viewscreen): Aside from a touch of arthritis, I'd say pretty good."?

 

[jim hardy]

This is not design but a result of low screen resolution. What device are you using @jim hardy?

my laptop screen
is this an answer ?

That's the selection with highest numbers - is that resolution ?

 

[jim hardy]

Perfect ! Thank you Greg !

 

[Wrichik Basu]

By the way Greg, did you figure out what bug is causing this error that I mentioned some time back? Actually now it's happening with all the dropdowns like Alerts, Conversations, etc. On my phone (desktop view on), I cannot read the alerts until I zoom in, but as soon as I zoom in, the dropdown just runs away.

 

[Orodruin]

Even if it is not intended as an unread watched thread counter, I believe it is how many people have been using it.

Let me also be clearer with this. It is not just watched threads, but all things watched that create alerts. Including new threads in watched forums. The functionality used to be that alerts were marked as read when you visited the alerts page - meaning that they were marked as new when you did so. Now the alerts are matked as read upon drop down of the alerts menu, meaning that they are no longer marked as unread when you go to the alerts page.

This can be changed by a setting, but regardless of that setting new alerts are not highlighted on the alerts page in the same way they are highlighted in the alerts menu. (All that is different is that they do not have a ”mark unread” link.)

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

This can be changed by a setting, but regardless of that setting new alerts are not highlighted on the alerts page in the same way they are highlighted in the alerts menu. (All that is different is that they do not have a ”mark unread” link.)

There is a setting for this in
https://www.physicsforums.com/account/preferences

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

By the way Greg, did you figure out what bug is causing this error that I mentioned some time back?

Honestly I don't know how to solve this. Dealing with zoom level for browsers is really messy to detect and implement. Zooming with the menus works fine in Chrome.