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MollyD
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Post by MollyD »

Lately when I get to this forum everything is marked read! Just now I read the post on Ls.Kaleidoscope which I know I've never seen before.

Is there something in my settings I should change so that new post are marked unread?

Thanks!
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whamadiddle
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Post by whamadiddle »

are you logged in?
Ken
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MollyD
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Post by MollyD »

Yes I'm logged in otherwise it would not have let me post a new topic!

:D

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Post by whamadiddle »

good point :blush:
Ken
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Post by MollyD »

Don't worry! Even I wondered if I was logged in :lol:

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Post by Chris_W »

Hi,

That is controlled by cookies, so make sure cookies are allowed, never deleted (unless there is a problem, then delete them once and it will be rewritten), and only use https://www.perennialreference.com/forums/ as your bookmark.

One way to know for sure if it is working for you is to click on "View posts since last visit" when you get here. If it says no new posts then there is something wrong with your cookie file (or we were all sleeping). At the top of the forum it will also tell you when your last login was. If that time is only a minute or two off, then it was a random hiccup causing a second autologin. It happens every once in a while. Just remember, though, this is new posts since your last visit, not unread posts. Once you leave all posts become old posts whether they were read or not.

Hope that helps.

Chris
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MollyD
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Post by MollyD »

Chris I haven't changed a thing on this computer. It's set to accept cookies. Don't have this problem on other forums I'm on.

Does it matter that I never log out?

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Post by Chris_W »

Hi Molly,

If it is logging you on then it is fine and you don't need to fix anything. Like I mentioned, it is new posts since last visit, not unread posts.

For example, if I'm here browsing the forum and someone posts I may not see it or read it, then when I leave, the forum counts it as an old post, whether I read it or not. When I come back it will look like a new post to me, but it won't flag it that way since it was here the last time I left...

And there is a separate cookie file for each forum you visit, plus the other forums you visit probably use other methods of tracking your visits (cookies are a very outdated way to do it, actually, but I am waiting for more time to update the forum software).

Hope that makes sense.

Chris
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MollyD
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Post by MollyD »

It does make sense Chris but this is something new that I'm experiencing. No matter how long I'm gone when I come back it marks everything as read even if they are brand new post that happened while I was away.
Never use to happen before the site upgrade. :-?

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Post by Chris_W »

Hi,

Not a single thing got changed with the forum when we moved to a new server and it is functioning perfectly, so if there are never any new posts since your last visit, ever, then the cookie file that tracks your session is corrupted or missing or being misread. Open the cookies in your browser and delete all of the cookies for perennialnursery.com, hallsongardens.com, and if you ever used the ip address to visit here then delete any cookies associated with that address.

Also, make sure you are not using a bookmark that goes to hallsongardens.com as there will be old cookies associated with that mirror site. So while you are in the cookie list, delete all cookies for hallsongardens.com too (if there are any) and update your bookmark so that you never use that address again and only use the main address.

Also check for cookies for www.perennialnursery.com. Delete any you find.

The next time you come back you will have to log in again and you will want to check the autologin box again. There really will be no new topics this time because the cookies were deleted, but it should be fixed on your future visits.

Once you've deleted every cookie you can find that might be associated with this forum, only visit the forum using one address:

https://www.perennialreference.com/forums/

Don't use any IP (numbered) addresses, and don't use hallsongardens.com Every time you use a different address it looks for another cookie just for that address, but then when you log in (or it auto logs you in) it will take you to perennialnursery.com and there won't be any cookies to read.

If you are still having trouble please call me, toll free, (866) 568-1474 and I'll try to explain it better and help walk you through it.

Since so many operating system updates, virus updates, and other issues often turn cookies off or wipe them clean it can cause problems with issues like these. Also, the cookie file is an individual record for this forum that gets written over and over and over again. After a while that record gets corrupted and just needs to be deleted then rewritten. I'm not sure what is going on, but promise you I haven't changed anything other than the server and removed that mirrored address.

I'm sorry that you are having trouble, but nothing was changed with the forum during the move other than we had some server issues at first that bounced us back and forth between the old and new forums. Even with that issue the forum here was working fine and still is. Really, just give me a call or drop me an email. And let me know if you get it fixed, what it was, so others who might be having the same issue can also fix it.

Chris
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Post by largosmom »

Sometimes this happens to me when I accidentally open up a second browser and log in.

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Post by ViolaAnn »

Chris - do cookies also control the notifications for forums we are watching? Lately those notifications have been hit or miss.

I know that I changed something in the cookie settings on Firefox that deletes some of them - for instance, I now have to log in each time. Maybe it's all related.

Ann
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Post by Chris_W »

Hi Ann,

No the cookies really only control the autologin and whether or not a topic is new or has new posts since your last visit (not unread - just whether or not there are new posts to it). These are the two things that are dependent on your computer so when problems go wrong with either of these it is (unfortunately) not at our end of things.

The topic notification is done by email, and sometimes will be flagged as spam or even filtered out before they get to you. Lots of email is filtered by our internet service providers, more than people realize, so they can get missed.

If there is a specific topic you are watching the forum won't send you notifications if you post to it, since it assumes you already saw it, but if you ever want me to check on a topic to see if you are watching or not just let me know and I'll check it in the database.

Hope that helps. And Molly, let me know if you still need help with this.

Chris
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