quick expiring??

Have you tried using the admin bar?  Its front end, but unread topics stay there until you read them…

There is already an explicit page with new, unread posts for the admin…  you can find it on:

http://yoursite.com/forum/newposts

so between the admin bar and the newposts page, not likely we will add another one…

However, I agree with your point on the dashboard. Those links should go to the last page. I have opened a ticket on it and will get that fixed up before the 4.3 release.

Thanks!

“quick expiring??” – perhaps I do SPF a disservice. Let me rephrase it by saying the dropdown obviously has limited capacity and appears to time out and lose the Red Entries after a (reasonable) period, so I do not depend on it after a day or two away from the forum. No complaints!

That /newposts page is a great tip, Mr Papa – thank you. It also saves on server load because i do not have to visit the full forum to keep an eye on things. Excellent.

By “Admin Bar” do you mean the forum panel on the WP Admin dashboard?

No… the admin bar is a front end ajaxy thing (NO page loads needed – just like the newpost page I mentioned but its visible on every forum page) for reviewing and moderating new posts…  meant for exactly what you are doing…  you have to turn the admin queue on in the forum – admins – global options and then choose to see it on forum – admins – your admin options…  see the admin bar in the wiki for more info…

I have committed the changes for the dashboard for version 4.3…  If interested, you can view the changes here and implement them yourself.

Fast work! Thanks Mr Papa – must put you top of my list when next I need a contractor

I will apply that code fix later this evening.

Re the Admin Bar – it's time for me to go and re-read the Wiki. I have not RTFM in over 6 months.

np. glad to help!

Getting back to the timeout of the unread topics count for normal members. I had another complaint today from a user who returned from a break and discovered she had 40 unread topics. She visited two and obviously took some time to compose posts. But then the counter timed out and showed 0 unread topics. I empathise with her frustration.

Is it possible to adjust the timeout period? Would that have any adverse implications for the system as a whole?

Odd but this has never come up before.
We do not offer the timeout as an option although we could consider that. It is currently set to 20 minutes. The main effect of making it longer is simply that users in the online list in the stats box who have left but not actually logged out will hang around for longer. Not a disaster of course.

If you wish to change it you will find the code /library/sf-support.php and it is, in fact, in the very first function. Look for the INTERVAL 20 MINUTE clause in the query – easy to spot.

Thanks, Andy. I think it is worth extending it to 45 minutes on my site and observe the results.

Just to double-check: in sf-support.php

There are two occurrences around line 108 and 121, the SELECT and DELETE operations.

I modified the setting in both: INTERVAL 45 MINUTE

And, yes, I have noticed inactive members lounging about when I know they have left the house!

How about Guests – the numbers now appear higher than normal but that is a subjective and unmeasured view. Is that count inflated for the same reason?

Yes – guests online are subject to the same conditions