Watched Threads Email Notifications

[TheRealTMA]

What happened overnight? The email alerts used to contain the text of the post. Now they are all just blank?

I made no change so what happened on AFF?

Is this another CDN problem? Do you need to upgrade the CDN cache frequency?

 

[Dr Ralph]

What happened overnight? The email alerts used to contain the text of the post. Now they are all just blank?

I made no change so what happened on AFF?

Same for me.

 

[support]

What happened overnight? The email alerts used to contain the text of the post. Now they are all just blank?

I made no change so what happened on AFF?

Is this another CDN problem? Do you need to upgrade the CDN cache frequency?

Can you forward a copy of an email to support for me to have a look at.

As for the CDN, the more data it serves the more the service costs to run. At this stage we are evaluating how much data it uses and whether there is a noticeable speed improvement when content is served from the CDN.

 

[Ansett]

Same here

 

[support]

In response to those seeking clarity on the subscribed thread notification emails, I now understand what you are referring to.

Over the weekend a change was made to possibly fix an issue some members are having with subsequent replies to threads they are watching. As you will note if you have received a "watched thread" notification, at the bottom there is text that states "you will not receive any further emails about this thread until you have read the new messages" linked to from that email. We have found that users receiving a preview of the text in the thread opt not to login and view the thread, resulting in no more email notifications. An increasing number of support requests about broken email notifications have resulted.

If you received an email notification for a thread now, you will no longer see a preview of the content. However, you will be more likely to click through to the content and this should enable further email notifications. It is important to remember though, if you are not logged-in when clicking through, the system will not know that you have caught up on the new content.

 

[TheRealTMA]

In response to those seeking clarity on the subscribed thread notification emails, I now understand what you are referring to.

Over the weekend a change was made to possibly fix an issue some members are having with subsequent replies to threads they are watching. As you will note if you have received a "watched thread" notification, at the bottom there is text that states "you will not receive any further emails about this thread until you have read the new messages" linked to from that email. We have found that users receiving a preview of the text in the thread opt not to login and view the thread, resulting in no more email notifications. An increasing number of support requests about broken email notifications have resulted.

If you received an email notification for a thread now, you will no longer see a preview of the content. However, you will be more likely to click through to the content and this should enable further email notifications. It is important to remember though, if you are not logged-in when clicking through, the system will not know that you have caught up on the new content.

OK. Thanks for the detailed answer. Personally I'm not convinced it's for the best. Yes that is a small issue with the new forum software but one can see what one is subscribed to from the top right flagged button and immediately select and follow the subscribed threads. It would be good if this was user specific..

IMHO It’s far far more useful to see the posting rather than have to click on 20 different buttons in 20 different emails to see 20 different posts only to find out, disappointingly, they are about someone's golf handicap!

 

[get me outta here]

I really liked the preview and considered it a very good improvement. I still logged in later to carry out a more thorough catch up. Perhaps those that wondered/complained that they got no new notifications as they hadn't logged in could just get with the new program.

 

[Pushka]

I’m watching a couple of threads but when I click ‘watched threads’ it says there are none.

 

[support]

Perhaps those that wondered/complained that they got no new notifications as they hadn't logged in could just get with the new program.

It is hard to please everyone, but we will certainly be monitoring the new changes to see if they make a difference.

 

[TheRealTMA]

It is hard to please everyone, but we will certainly be monitoring the new changes to see if they make a difference.

They do! They make using AFF much more difficult and far less enjoyable. IMHO you've thrown out the bathwater just to find the dropped soap.

 

[Mr_Orange]

I agree that having the message preview in the email is beneficial.

Also, this is not a feature that is unique to XenForo and could have been implemented in vBulletin too. It just requires a bit of education for the few who don't understand that reading an email does not update the server that you have caught up with the thread.

 

[TheRealTMA]

I agree that having the message preview in the email is benefical.

Also, this is not a feature that is unique to XenForo and could have been implemented in vBulletin too. It just requires a bit of education for the few who don't understand that reading an email does not update the server that you have caught up with the thread.

Make the point to Admin.

 

[get me outta here]

Could there be a standard reply explanation of the improvement change and the need to log in etc, as outlined below instead of reverting to the old way of doing things?

In response to those seeking clarity on the subscribed thread notification emails, I now understand what you are referring to.

Over the weekend a change was made to possibly fix an issue some members are having with subsequent replies to threads they are watching. As you will note if you have received a "watched thread" notification, at the bottom there is text that states "you will not receive any further emails about this thread until you have read the new messages" linked to from that email. We have found that users receiving a preview of the text in the thread opt not to login and view the thread, resulting in no more email notifications. An increasing number of support requests about broken email notifications have resulted.

If you received an email notification for a thread now, you will no longer see a preview of the content. However, you will be more likely to click through to the content and this should enable further email notifications. It is important to remember though, if you are not logged-in when clicking through, the system will not know that you have caught up on the new content.

 

[boomy]

It is hard to please everyone, but we will certainly be monitoring the new changes to see if they make a difference.

Yes It is hard to please everyone but how about trying to please the majority of the active users? Since the recent website/app changes I heard and read very little positive comments. Now instead of making an effort to improve the new format and make it more user-friendly we see another inconvenient change.

 

[junbugging]

Since the recent website/app changes I heard and read very little positive comments.

It is now much easier to see that Denali agreed with what Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Jennifer Rachel Abergavenny "Betty" Slocombe née Yiddell's Pushka said about JohnK on the off-topic thread, though, you have to admit.

Information about actual flying, not so much.

 

[get me outta here]

I am still disappointed that the preview has gone. I got used to it really quickly, but am not adjusting so quickly to loosing it.

 

[TheRealTMA]

Admin: Since we've now had the loss of Preview for a week so you could establish whether it resolves a problem for some others, can we now have the preview back please.

 

[wingtip626]

I really enjoyed the preview. I felt I viewed the threads more frequently after receiving the rich notifications than the non-preview notifications. It would be great to have the feature reinstated!

 

[rainbowgirl]

For better or worse, returning the previews in the email would result in members getting to see posts which were later deleted or amended.

 

[TheRealTMA]

For better or worse, returning the previews in the email would result in members getting to see posts which were later deleted or amended.

No, since notifications are done on a timer and not immediately. And even so, why would that an great issue?

The reason, we are told , that previews were changed as to resolve an issue of some users not understanding the new system and thus not receiving notifications of threads to which they had subscribed. Actually, this is still an issue, so the posted reason for the change is not supported by the evidence.

Message previews was one of the major improvements for the new forum software, and now we have been denied the advantages.

Lack of previews makes AFF far less readable and less enjoyable, useful. They need to be reinstated.