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Heads up - Improvements to watched threads coming

868 replies

BeccaMumsnet · 04/08/2015 12:52

Hullo everyone,

Just a heads-up: we wanted to let you know we've been working on some changes to improve the way our 'watched threads' option works, and we’re going to be releasing them today.

As you know, at the minute, if you want to receive an email notification when someone posts on a thread you yourself have posted on, you have to check the ‘watch this thread’ box when you post your message. From today, the box will be automatically checked.

Our thinking was that because, in the immortal words of Ferris Bueller, , it can be easy to miss replies to threads you’ve posted on, so it’d be useful to keep you updated as a matter of course.

Some crucial points:

  • Fear not: we absolutely won’t email every time someone posts after you have - and if you’re still looking at the thread, we won’t mail you at all.
  • You’ll only get ONE email after you’ve left the thread, to say it’s been updated.
  • If the idea of receiving any such emails makes you want to weep/tear out your hair/throw a toddler-style tantrum on the kitchen floor, DON’T PANIC: you can do a one-time-only opt out, by clicking on customise at the top of any thread, and unchecking ‘Auto-watch threads I start’ and/or ‘Auto-watch threads I post on’.
  • If you’d like to adopt a mix-and-match policy and be alerted to replies on some threads but not others, simply uncheck the auto-watch options in customise, and check the ‘watch this thread’ box underneath the message box on the thread you’re interested in.

Hope all of this makes sense, and sounds useful. Do shout if you've any questions (we know we can rely on you Wink)

Thank you all Flowers
MNHQ

OP posts:
Thread gallery
31
MixedBerrys · 05/08/2015 08:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bakeoffcake · 05/08/2015 08:40

Just had a thought!

Maybe they've taken away the colours inorder to make us read the full threadWink

midnightvelvetPart2 · 05/08/2015 08:35

Just marking place as I'd like my colours back please.

magimedi · 05/08/2015 08:11

We need to contact the Daily Fail & put our sad faces on! Sad

That'll sort 'em!

Sparklingbrook · 05/08/2015 07:43

We need a petition and a FB/Twitter awareness campaign.

cashewnutty · 05/08/2015 07:37

I think we need to all head over to Flouncers Corner (or whatever it's called) and have ourselves a mass flounce. That'll learn 'em!

MovingStress · 05/08/2015 07:32

What would be useful I is notifications of updates by the op

DoItTooJulia · 05/08/2015 07:27

Finding it hard to follow without the colours being right/correct highlighting.

When is it likely to be fixed? I'll come back then!

gordonpym · 05/08/2015 05:45

I am not interested in following all the threats I am posting in. For example the "what are you having for dinner " type. On the other hand, some threads I really like, because they are funny or useful or emotional, I want to keep an eye on. So having my precious watched list thrashed with dozens of threads I have no interest to follow is NOT an improvement for me. Sorry

Crosbybeach · 05/08/2015 05:36

Think the verdict on not wanting to be emailed is pretty unanimous too. A simple bit of research in advance might have highlighted that....

CuttedUpPear · 05/08/2015 05:33

Well the verdict on the colours seems pretty unanimous.

On that note, please have sympathy for those of us using the app where there are no colours apart from the first post Shock Sad

mathanxiety · 05/08/2015 05:15

And in addition, on TIO I used to have only the last ten posts shown. Now it varies. Some threads have 18 most recent posts showing. This makes for a long, long scrolling down experience. (Apparently life moves fast on some threads).

So I would like my option to have only the last ten posts appear back too.

mathanxiety · 05/08/2015 05:08

We've been trying to reduce the number of items in customise and have a clear out of some of the rarely used options.

As part of that we have removed the option to choose different colours. It shouldn't have changed the choice you had already though

Well it did. MNHQ posts are still all light blueish, but all other posts are indistinguishable from one another. In my case I only had OP posts highlighted as my customised option, not my own.

This happened as soon as I went on 'customise' after clicking the link. Only the first post on all threads is now highlighted, in a light grey. This is not necessary since I know a first post is the OP's post.

I loved the coloured OP posts. It made reading threads really easy, and I want mine back!

I am on a desktop, if that makes any difference.

*Incidentally, why are you duplicating a function that already exists with TIO with this new TIW device? TIO automatically gets rearranged when a thread I am on gets a new post. I don't see how TIW or the emails, etc., could be necessary since I can already see that a thread has had another post.

Are you getting rid of TIO? If not, then this 'improvement' makes no sense at all.

RealHuman · 05/08/2015 04:24

This is going to sound horrible, but how come MN struggles with tech stuff, time and time again? Cf. heartbleed, that appalling alpha version of a mobile site, restrictions in the system making what should be simple admin tasks take ages, the app... Are there just not enough resources or something? It must be a nightmare to administer and mod. I know it's all about the marketing and the media visibility and selling ads and evidence of user engagement and trust levels that you can show to potential investors and all that stuff, but shonky tech stuff has to make all that so much harder.

Crosbybeach · 05/08/2015 04:13

I've turned the bloody annoying emails off and lost the colours.

The colours were a useful feature, the emails are not, particularly as mumsnet won't recognise my personal email (a different gripe) and I had to sign up with my work one so I'm going to go back to find work in box clogged up tomorow am .

Really annoyed that the emails didn't explain how to turn them off, I thought it was a glitch, and that you started effectively spamming me. Daft idea.

emotionsecho · 05/08/2015 01:23

On a different note on the mobile site I keep getting a dark grey bar with icons in it one of which is an envelope which has a red 1 on it, it flashes, I thought it might be a message from MNHQ but it appears to want to take me to an advertising site I won't complete the link - what is it and can I stop it appearing as it is very annoying?

DonkeysDontRideBicycles · 05/08/2015 01:05

I couldn't care less about 'Watching' I usually know where threads I am interested in are but
I WANT COLOURS BACK please. Sad
How do I pick out the OP's posts in a sea of replies?

HeartsTrumpDiamonds · 05/08/2015 01:01

I ain't clickin on nuthin if it messes with my colours bro

Rosesareblack · 05/08/2015 00:44

I have turned off the annoying e.mails and lost the colours which was the only option I have ever used or wanted to use, although there may have been others that I never got around to trying which have also vanished.

Please re-instate the highlighted OP and replies so I don't have to read all the posts on a thread, especially the place marking ones.

cozietoesie · 05/08/2015 00:37

Yes - if you click 'Customise', you seem to be stuck in the new version.

Out of interest, Customise used to have a whole lot of options including some which only applied to Mumsnet new - and also allowed you to switch between 4 styles of Mumsnet viewing. All of those are now gone - eg Mumsnet Classic, Mumsnet Sober Workplace (?) and something else which I temporarily forget. Have those alternate styles now been disposed of as well? (EG Does anyone posting here not operate on Mumsnet New?)

DarkEvilMoon · 05/08/2015 00:31

FFS and now it has eaten my post!!

In short - box under post is ok and leaves colours, customerise route is the work of evil atm

littlebear i totally agree, Am fed up of unchecking boxes, heading over to tiw to delete threads i don't want to watch. I don't want emails unless it is for a specific purpose (reports etc) Grump is perfectly valid imo

nickelbabe · 05/08/2015 00:19

when i unticked the box in customise i lost my colours straight away,
and didn't get them back when i reversed it.

LittleBearPad · 05/08/2015 00:17

Sorry Dark for being grumpy. Thanks for the suggestion.

LittleBearPad · 05/08/2015 00:15

Yes but I don't want to have to faff about I checking boxes every time I post on a thread. Making adding to TIW the default is silly.

DarkEvilMoon · 05/08/2015 00:06

here:

Heads up - Improvements to watched threads coming