PLEASE can you add a way to organise 'Threads I'm Watching'?

[HellyR]

On TIW I see the most recent 3 posts previewed for every thread I'm watching, plus a number in a speech bubble which is presumably the number of new posts since I last viewed. However, this number doesn't seem to change once I've been in a thread and read the latest posts, and I can't 'bump and reset' so that I'm only viewing the most recent post or be able to collapse ones that haven't got any new posts.

So there is no way of scanning TIW and seeing what is actually new to me. If the number could be 'zero' that would help (although I don't know what it would be based on - even posting on a thread doesn't bump it to zero - my post could be the most recent and it'd still show i have 99 posts in the speech bubble - unless that is supposed to always be the total number of posts in the whole thread since it started? Which doesn't add anything for me at all in TIW, that's not how I use it.

Ideally I would like a quick equivalent to 'bump and reset' so that only the most minimal info about that thread (eg thread title, or only one post previewed) is visible when I'm scanning TIW.

I post a LOT on MN and this might be the thing that stops me using it so much - it's genuinely prohibitive for how I use it.

I know I can 'pin' a thread in TIW but I can't see that many times I'd do that - it still doesn't have any functionality to show whether there are or aren't new (to me) posts.

I was in touch with MNHQ some time ago when they were planning the removal of 'bump and reset' so I had anticipated this but I thought there might be a way to even note for ourselves whether we are caught up with a thread's posts or not.

I haven't previously used 'bookmark' very much but I've tried going into a thread and bookmarking the most recent post - which I am more than happy to do if it would update the TIW page, as it is a natural place to be able to do that as you are reading the thread - but it doesn't affect anything on TIW.

Could TIW be a collection of your bookmarks or something? (Or just the default 3 most recent posts if you don't have a bookmark)?

Have you lost threads from your watch list too, OP? I can only see 15 of my threads, it seems to be the really old ones that I've lost

Yes FGS now that you point it out, I have lost about 50 older ones. Would be really good to have those reinstated please MNHQ?

It used to show you approx 50 on the first page of TIW then you had the 'load more' button that would show you up to 100. I don't have that any more.

I never used TIO as it never seemed to work properly, so TIW really was my first point of call to MN most times and how I navigate thread activity and participate in the threads, while keeping a record of threads I've been interested in historically/keeping for reference, but could ignore if no new posts were showing.

Hey @HellyR

The threads I'm watching list is set to show the most recently updated threads first since you last looked at your list - this is the same as bump and reset but you don't have to click anything.

You can also reorder the list to show you it in the date that you watched them either oldest first or newest first.

Does this help?

Thanks Katy but I can't see a way to change the number of previewed posts to anything other than 3 (bump and reset changed this to 1 or 0 - can't remember!) or see any indication there are 0 new posts.

Nothing is being "bumped and reset" or anything changing on TIW when I go into the thread and read all posts - should it?

Just to clarify, it's not the order of threads I want to change necessarily (although b&r was good for this as it put the thread I reset to the top of the list) - I want to be able to see which have new posts since I last viewed/watched/bookmarked - whatever I need to do to mark a thread as having been all 'read' - and which haven't.

I'm sure when you clicked the notification for new posts on a thread you were watching, it used to take you to the first unread post. Now it seems to be taking me to the OP's first post on page 1, no matter the length of the watched thread, which is annoying.

I don't use notifications either (if you mean the little red number by the 'my mumsnet' person symbol?) but yes that is annoying.

Maybe a 'mark as read' sort of indication is what I'm looking for on TIW actually.

If they fix the 'notifications' to go to the most recent unread post then perhaps I'll use that more than TIW but it's a shame to lose the b&r functionality.

I guess eventually the older un-updated threads will fall to the bottom of the list and hopefully pop up when they are updated as KatyMN said, which I possibly could get used to.

In my mind when I see a thread title and more than one previewed post, that automatically indicates to me they are new/unread - because otherwise I would've bumped & reset it - so I am reading the same few previewed posts over and over thinking they are 'new'.

I've the same problem, can we have the "bump and reset" option back, please?

Adding my voice to this too!

Thanks for clarifying this is really helpful insight!

We’re probably unlikely to bring back ‘bump and reset’ because the language doesn’t make sense to new users (and even some longer term users).

We can look at improving it based on your needs here though.

As I understand it, what you want to see in threads I’m watching is a clear indication if there are updates you haven’t seen yet on your watched threads. Let me know if I’ve got that wrong?

And the ability to "reset" the posts listed in each thread I'm watching. Either because I've read the updates, or just because I want to.
At the moment, even going to the new, top post in each thread, it doesn't reset the list.

@KatyMumsnet would it be possible to save your preferred view in Watching. Having to change it to your preferred option each time might be a bit annoying as it’s an area I imagine many users flit in and out of.

No, before the upgrade the posts just accumulated, until you went and had a look at the thread.
Now, only the last three are visible

As far as I can see, the number in the bubble is the total number of posts in the thread. This is not useful information to me.

What I want to see is whether there are any new posts since I last looked at the thread (and how many new posts).

The few words from the last 3 posts on the thread are not useful either; although I have a pretty good memory, I usually can't recall from a few words whether it is a post I have already read.

So the combined changes mean that I have to click on each of the TIW, and only then do I work out (often by re-reading a bunch of posts) whether there are new posts, or whether I've wasted my time re-reading a bunch of posts.

This is very well described by TheElementsSong

As far as I can see, the number in the bubble is the total number of posts in the thread. This is not useful information to me.

What I want to see is whether there are any new posts since I last looked at the thread (and how many new posts).

this is exactly the problem

@TheElementsSong thanks for that great explanation - we will look into this!

What @TheElementsSong said!

@KatyMumsnet echoing all the above about being able to clearly see which threads have been updated since I last looked at them. Any insights into where all my older TIW have gone? I had about 30 saved (I think) but can only see 15 now, they seem to be the most recent ones. Can the older ones be retrieved somehow?

Yep that's it - basically want to see which threads there are 'new to me' activity on, without having to remember what time I likely last looked. So perhaps the number in the speechbubble, or perhaps even a way of incorporating the bookmark function in-thread? (I imagine, but no idea, that these are quite separate though).

Before, I distinguished by 'resetting' them, or posting on a thread', which made that thread in my TIW appear with only one/no previewed posts under.

I think the automatic 'order by most recently updated' could be handy, though.

Ive never been able to successfully go back to a thread where I left it the last time, its so frustrating, I lose posts and threads all the time because of this. Its the most unusual forum Ive been on in that respect. I dont always comment on a thread but sometimes want to keep reading it, Ive followed the advice about bookmarking in the home it took me to the last post I read and it never does, just back to page one

Re the issue of threads missing from the Threads I'm Watching list: I found one of my missing threads via search so that I could re-watch it. When I went to click on "watch", it actually said "unwatch", suggesting I'm still watching it, even though it doesn't appear in my list. @KatyMumsnet can you investigate?

(Sorry to hijack your thread, OP, it just seemed a good idea to put all the issues with watched threads in one place)