New Follow Setting for Forums

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   Ari Lamsteinposted 12 years ago

   We recently made a small change to how forum notifications work. 
   
   Previously you had an option to get a notification when someone replied directly to your post.  Now you have an option to "Follow" the forum topic.  Not only will "following" notify you when someone replies to your post, but it will notify you when there are other posts in the thread which we think that you might be interested in. 
   
   The "follow" checkbox defaults to "checked", and you can modify that in the Forums You Follow page.

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   Cagsilposted 12 years ago

   Hey Ari, last time this was brought to our attention, we(as a community) asked for it to be optional, not automatically set.

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   Rafiniposted 12 years ago

   I think having both as options would be nice.  I don't really think I'd ever want to follow a forum topic, but there are times when I'd like to be notified when someone replies to my post - and having to hunt for it through an entire forum doesn't really serve that purpose.  I could do that without following the forum.

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      Ari Lamsteinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Rafini,
      
      The previous system had a significant problem: Namely, if a user posted a reply in the chronological view (which many did), it did not register as a "reply".  In this way many important "replies" were getting missed by the system.   We hope that this new system provides a valuable improvement to your experience in the forums.
      
      Ari

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         Rafiniposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Oh, well.  In that case, I agree with Cagsil.  I'd prefer the default of follow this forum topic be unchecked rather than automatically set to follow.  Always having to remember to uncheck the box is a chore , but if I were really interested in seeing the replies then I wouldn't have an issue with checking the box.

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      2. 70

         Rafiniposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Ari - just saw the link and changed the settings.  That was a great idea!  I think it probably takes care of my concerns, right?  Cuz I can check the box if I want to, to follow an individual forum topic, but it wont automatically affect all forum topics that I post to, right?  Only the one I check the box for - unless I go back and change the setting.  I can handle this.

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   Mutiny92posted 12 years ago

   I concur with Cags...I just got 10 or so emails from HP that someone posted on a thread..yikes!

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      Ari Lamsteinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Mutiny92,
      
      There may be some fast moving threads which are causing a high volume of email to followers right now.  We are currently working on handling that case right now.
      
      Please be patient!
      
      Ari

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   Beth100posted 12 years ago

   it is optional.  The setting is set as a default to follow but you can toggle this off.

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      Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Beth, that isn't optional. That is set to "auto".

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         Beth100posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Hey Cags.  I know that it's a toggle because I had just turned it off. 
         
         And, Ari, thank you for confirming that I was correct.    (it's always such a nice feeling!!    )

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   2. 0

      Ari Lamsteinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Beth, this is correct.  You can toggle the default value on and off by following the link in my original post.  Doing this will permanently remember your preference.
      
      This is an improvement from the old system, which relied on a cookie which would expire.

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   Mutiny92posted 12 years ago

   Thanks. I found the setting and turned it off. Worked like a champ!

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   wildernessposted 12 years ago

   I turned mine off.  I've received probably 50 emails in the last couple of hours from one thread.  While I like knowing when someone replies to any of my posts, I can't have an email every few seconds coming through. 
   
   It would be better if we could still have the option of following our own posts but not the entire thread.

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   Stacie Lposted 12 years ago

   I've unchecked both boxes for notification and now are getting even more than before! whats the problem?

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      Ari Lamsteinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Stacie,
      
      After unchecking the boxes you must click the "save" button.  You will then see confirmation that your changes have been saved.  Please visit the the Forums You Follow page to do so.
      
      Note that this will only change the default preference for the checkbox going forward.  You might want to manually stop following any forum topics which you are following that are particularly active.
      
      Ari

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         Stacie Lposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         of course i did...how long before it takes effect/

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            Ari Lamsteinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Stacie,
            
            I am not sure why you were unable to do this, however I done it for you.  It  will take place immediately.
            
            Ari

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   wildernessposted 12 years ago

   Ari, this improvement is not only useless to me, but has removed a feature (email notification when someone replies to my post) that I found valuable.
   
   After the forum settled down a little yesterday I turned it back on.  This morning I had well over 50 emails to sort through, and got another 20 or 30 in the next couple of hours.  It's back off, which means that I have trouble finding replies to my posts and have to search each thread I have posted to.
   
   For me, either make an option to notify only replies to my own posts or simply remove the improvement - I can't use it and really miss the old method.

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      Ari Lamsteinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Wilderness,
      
      I appreciate that you are giving your candid opinion about this feature.
      
      Please be assured that since the first feedback that we received yesterday I (as well as other members of the team) have been working very hard behind the scenes to improve it. 
      
      Please bear with us.  I hope that by the end of today we can unveil a "version 2.0" of this feature which will be a big improvement to your experience on HubPages.

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         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Ari, I didn't mean to be an eternal gripe - sorry if it came across that way.  My first post was an initial reaction based on a few hours.  With considerable more time playing around it just got worse for me and I left the second post as an "update" so to speak on my expanded experience and likes.
         
         I appreciate that you guys are working on it and using our feedback as some kind of guide.  Thanks for the effort.

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    psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

    Please, please, please make 'not follow' the default or make the setting 'sticky'.  Every time I forget to click the little box my inbox gets more choked up.

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    1. STAFF

       pauldeedsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       You can set the default status of the follow check box here, it is eternally sticky.
       
       http://hubpages.com/my/activity/forum-topics-following

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          Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Thank you Paul.

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          1. STAFF

             pauldeedsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             You are welcome, but I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that a link to that same page was in Ari's original post! (in the last sentence)

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                Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Okay. Then you've done your job.

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    psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

    Thank you for pointed out where to turn it off. 
    
    I still think it should be opt in, not opt out.

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