Forum subscription notifications question

[+Doctor A]

I hope this forum is an OK place to post this- I don't see a forum related specifically to the forum website, but I have a question about the forums. I often mark threads to get instant email notifications when I want to follow them. Whenever I get the emails, it always tells me that so-and-so has replied to a thread I'm watching, but that:

 

There may be more replies to this topic, but only 1 email is sent per board visit for each subscribed topic. This is

to limit the amount of mail that is sent to your inbox.

 

(Copied and pasted from one such email) Yet before I can go back and visit the boards, I may get ten such emails if it's a hot topic, all telling me that there's been a reply to that thread. So the very thing that I'm being told they want to achieve- to limit the amount of mail sent to my inbox- is happening- my inbox is getting cluttered with so many notifications that at times I want to just unsubscribe from everything. One notification is certainly enough and can stay in my inbox as a reminder to go back and check the site.

 

Do other people get mulitple notifications? Am I doing something wrong when I sign up for the notifications or does anyone know how to stop this deluge of emails?

 

Thanks so much.

[+BoMS]

I haven't got a clue of how to help you, sorry. All I can say is that I only get one mail notification for each topic. And I don't think I have done anything special when signing up for the notifications.

[+dfx]

yeah the forums are broken like that. i've tried all the settings and it kept doing it for me. eventually i stopped subscribing.

[Skippermark]

Jeremy posted a note awhile back that new forum software is on the way. Hopefully, it should fix things like this. No ETA was given for the rollout.

[+BoMS]

All I can say is that I only get one mail notification for each topic. And I don't think I have done anything special when signing up for the notifications.

Scratch that. I just got two notifications on the same topic

[+addisonbr]

Does using the "Daily Email Digest" option for subscriptions help? "This option will send out a daily digest showing all new replies or topics for that day"

 

I understand that's not what you're shooting for, but maybe as a workaround it beats getting dozens of emails a day.

[+Lovejoy and Tinker]

I just got 56 messages into my inbox. That'll teach me not to post in the Really Difficult Cache... thread and put the cache in question on my watch list

 

I've set up a message rule in Outlook that sends any forum related mail into a subdirectory of my inbox called, logically, Forum. There's only really 2 main titles that are used on forum emails so it was quite easy to set up.

 

So although I get loads of emails from the forum, they all disappear straight into that folder keeping the main inbox uncluttered and I can sift through them when I have time.

[+Doctor A]

Does using the "Daily Email Digest" option for subscriptions help? "This option will send out a daily digest showing all new replies or topics for that day"

 

I understand that's not what you're shooting for, but maybe as a workaround it beats getting dozens of emails a day.

 

I had thought about that and may start using that for some threads. I'm more active on the geocoin forum and there are times that I do want those notices to come asap, like if a coin is going on sale and I don't want to miss out on something, but I may start using that daily option for threads that I want to stay on top of but aren't that time critical.

Edited October 15, 2010 by Doctor A

[+Don_J]

I just got 56 messages into my inbox. That'll teach me not to post in the Really Difficult Cache... thread and put the cache in question on my watch list

 

I've set up a message rule in Outlook that sends any forum related mail into a subdirectory of my inbox called, logically, Forum. There's only really 2 main titles that are used on forum emails so it was quite easy to set up.

 

So although I get loads of emails from the forum, they all disappear straight into that folder keeping the main inbox uncluttered and I can sift through them when I have time.

 

I'll take your 56 and raise you 89.

 

Big debate in one of the other threads.

[+Lovejoy and Tinker]

I'll take your 56 and raise you 89.

 

Big debate in one of the other threads.

Yeah, I'm on that one too.

 

You can quote me all the numbers you like and claim your 89 is better than my 56 and that makes you a better email receiver than me.

 

I bet I've got more pleasure from my quality 56 than you have from your easy peasy 89. So na na ne nah nah.

 

But the numbers don't tell the whole story, I mean how many minutes was it since you last checked your email?

I could leave mine for an hour and get hundreds, or check it every 2 minutes and only get 10.

 

It's not all about the numbers !!!

 

 

(Just trying to get this thread hot)

[+dfx]

Does using the "Daily Email Digest" option for subscriptions help? "This option will send out a daily digest showing all new replies or topics for that day"

i think i tried that and it still kept doing the same thing. don't quote me on that though.

[+Doctor A]

 

 

(Just trying to get this thread hot)

 

Just trying to get MORE notifications in your inbox?

 

I had read the thread that generated so many email notices to you both, and your comments here prompted me to go back to it and boy was I glad I hadn't subscribed to that one!

[+dakboy]

Jeremy posted a note awhile back that new forum software is on the way. Hopefully, it should fix things like this. No ETA was given for the rollout.

I remember that. It was 2 years ago I think? Fixing the forums is clearly a very low priority compared to adding features to the site which aren't explained well, if at all.

Edited October 17, 2010 by dakboy

[+BlueDeuce]

Jeremy posted a note awhile back that new forum software is on the way. Hopefully, it should fix things like this. No ETA was given for the rollout.

I remember that. It was 2 years ago I think? Fixing the forums is clearly a very low priority compared to adding features to the site which aren't explained well, if at all.

 

Well maybe, but keep in mind they don't maintain/develop the forum software.

 

I'm sure there are sites that have more postings but I wonder how many are as link/photo/reply intensive AND user demanding as this one. (and I don't mean demanding as a bad thing)

[+dfx]

I'm sure there are sites that have more postings but I wonder how many are as link/photo/reply intensive AND user demanding as this one. (and I don't mean demanding as a bad thing)

according to the forum itself, the most it ever handled was 1,719 simultaneous users. that's not a whole lot really, especially considering most of them are just reading and not posting. there's much larger forum installations on the 'net (and i'm talking live load), and those perform just fine.

 

links and pictures don't count as they're really a no-op. the exception would be uploading pics or other attachments directly, but that's not even supported here. so the only real load is raw page loads.

Edited October 17, 2010 by dfx

[+dakboy]

Jeremy posted a note awhile back that new forum software is on the way. Hopefully, it should fix things like this. No ETA was given for the rollout.

I remember that. It was 2 years ago I think? Fixing the forums is clearly a very low priority compared to adding features to the site which aren't explained well, if at all.

 

Well maybe, but keep in mind they don't maintain/develop the forum software.

Which makes it that much easier. Buy something off the shelf & install it. Contract with the vendor to migrate the old posts into the new system.

 

I'm sure there are sites that have more postings but I wonder how many are as link/photo/reply intensive AND user demanding as this one. (and I don't mean demanding as a bad thing)

The photos here aren't hosted by the forum itself, so that's a non-issue. As for volume, peruse http://photography-on-the.net/forum/ . 11 million posts (more than twice this forum) across 900K threads, and a quarter-million members (and the "registered members" count here is misleading, as any gc.com member is a forum member, regardless of whether they use it or not). Presently there are 2164 users on POTN, whereas this forum's record for most users online at once is 400 fewer than that (IOW, their base load is higher than this site's highest ever). I have never found POTN to be slow/unresponsive in the way this forum is.

 

It certainly can be done, it's just a question of how much TPTB actually want it to happen.