Missing notification

[Ston3y1]

I noticed this afternoon that I haven't had a notification for a new post in a thread I'm subscribed to (and have posted in before/received notifications about). I only saw it because of another notification for the same thread.

This post did not generate a notification (and I've checked it isn't in dismissed either). - https://www.buffyforums.net/forum/bu...413#post750413

Other posts this user has created today have generated notifications, but not this one.

[Wayne Luke]

Not every reply will create a notification. When possible, they will be combined. However:

1. If you're viewing the topic at the time the post is made, then you will not receive a notification.
2. If you have an existing notification and have not visited the topic since it was created, a new notification should not be created.

[Ston3y1]

Not every reply will create a notification. When possible, they will be combined. However:

1. If you're viewing the topic at the time the post is made, then you will not receive a notification.
2. If you have an existing notification and have not visited the topic since it was created, a new notification should not be created.

Thank you. I'll bear these points in mind going forwards if this is something that happens again. I don't believe I was in the topic at the point that the person posted. I would have said when that has happened in the past it has created a notification that is instantly dismissed, though I could be wrong. I've definitely been in the topic since it was created. I'll just look out for if it happens again and think at the time whether I was in the topic when the post is noted as happening.

[Ston3y1]

We are having a problem with this again but it seems to perhaps be specifically about the Groups. It is inconsistent if people are receiving notifications and there is a thread in a hidden group that notifications don't seem to be working for (I've had none for it despite being subscribed). Another in the same Group some are receiving notifications for and others are not.

[Wayne Luke]

Really need specifics…

Which groups?

Which topic?

Which usergroups?

[Ston3y1]

Okay, sorry, no problem.

The definite issues I noticed was in this group. This is a 'hidden' group. But one created by limiting viewing of it to a usergroup membership (as the hidden groups function was reported as a tech bug a while ago, this was our interim solution). I wasn't able to add your admin user into it as it wouldn't let me affect any changes to your user (not surprising). Usually I have to change a member's primary group to the Fanfic discussion group for them to be able to accept an invitation to join the group and then change it to being an additional usergroup for them after they accept.

This is the thread in there that no one seems to be receiving notifications for new posts in. I'm definitely subscribed to the thread, but get nothing. Then there is also this tech issues thread where I posted to ask if people were receiving notifications for that post or any in the other thread. Some received notifications for the tech issue post thread, but not everyone (I didn't get notifications of replies).

I also posted a new thread in a different group (here) to see if the problem with receiving notifications was just for the hidden group. It wasn't 100% clear from the responses, but it did sound like those who didn't get a notification of that one just weren't subscribed to the group and I did get notifications of their responses in there. So it may well just be related to the hidden group.

All members in there will be members of the user group Fanfic discussions, as it is the only way to see the group. Their primary usergroups are probably mostly main users, but I'm an admin and am having the same issue with zero notifications for activity in there. I'm fairly certain I've had notifications for threads in there in the past.

[Wayne Luke]

I've subscribed to the latest three topics in the group and logged out. I will check for notifications later.

However, a reminder that you will not get a notification for every new post. You should get one notification until you visit again. If you are visiting, you won't necessarily get a notification if there is new content at the moment of the visit. Visits are a rolling 15 minute period by default. Though this can be increased/decreased by the Admin by adjusting the cookie timeout. This can probably be improved in the future but work on Notification performance needs to be implemented first.

[Ston3y1]

Thanks for looking at this. I haven't had any notifications for that initial thread that I mentioned. Not its creation or any of the posts or responses in it, so it isn't just the notification parameters I don't think.

[Wayne Luke]

So. I logged into your site and received two notifications for the group in question.



To receive these, I clicked the "Subscribe" button for each topic. I did not click on Join and the user's notification settings has everything turned off.

How are users subscribing to the topics? Join is not the same as Subscribe. If someone clicks on Join but does not click on Subscribe for the group, they will not get notifications unless they manually subscribe to the individual topics.

[Ston3y1]

So. I logged into your site and received two notifications for the group in question.

To receive these, I clicked the "Subscribe" button for each topic. I did not click on Join and the user's notification settings has everything turned off.

How are users subscribing to the topics? Join is not the same as Subscribe. If someone clicks on Join but does not click on Subscribe for the group, they will not get notifications unless they manually subscribe to the individual topics.

When you say 'the user's notification settings has everything turned off' do you mean the option to automatically subscribe in user settings?

I will check with others but I do auto subscribe to threads I post in, but I also click manually for subscriptions for areas/groups/threads too. In terms of that specific group, I have manually unsubscribed and manually resubscribed to the thread itself to try to trigger notifications. In the past, when I have stopped receiving notifications for a thread, this sometimes has helped.

I'll ask for some more feedback from others.

[Wayne Luke]

When you say 'the user's notification settings has everything turned off' do you mean the option to automatically subscribe in user settings?

That setting is turned off as well.

Do you know your numerical userid on the site? Will have to look into the database directly.

[Ston3y1]

Sorry, I'm not ignoring this, I'm just waiting on the feedback from the others and will pull together some info and userids to go with that hopefully later this week.

[Ston3y1]

Hi Wayne Luke , sorry this response has been so long coming.

It isn't just myself of course that is having these inconsistencies with notifications for threads in the Group, other group members say it is hit or miss whether they receive notifications. Anyway, my userid is 31346.

As further examples, I have not been receiving notifications for a new thread in that group that I am, in theory, subscribed to. This is the sequence I've noted on this:

I am subscribed to the thread ‘Group Read – The Time We Had’ by Dusty but am not receiving notifications. https://www.buffyforums.net/uncatego...e-had-by-dusty

I went into the thread (after seeing it appear in the ‘new posts’ link off the home page). At 08.27am on 26^thAugust the posts went up to #17 (posted at 07.40). I refreshed the page and saw there were no extra posts since I went in it and then exited the thread using the home page button (where I could see that there also had been no new posts in the thread since I left it).

At 05.38am on the 27th I went back on the site. I had no notifications for the thread but could see it was in the Latest Thread Activity column on the home page again with new posts. I went in the thread from the New Posts link and it now had another post #18 (added at 05.30 am). I checked I was subscribed and that button is definitely ticked in the thread itself (and I have posted in the thread in the past, so I would normally receive notifications as it is a thread I post in). I again refreshed the page before exiting and checked on the home page that no new posts had been added to the thread while I was in it. I also checked that I was subscribed to the group itself overall and that button is also ticked as 'subscribed' in the home page of the group.

At 10.50 am I went back on the site. Again, I had no notifications for that thread but I could see there were new posts in it from the Latest Thread Activity column on the home page. Entering the thread from there I found two new posts (taking it to #20). They were posted at 06.08 and 08.16 am and definitely weren’t there when I’d visited the thread last.

[Wayne Luke]

Are you joined to the group and subscribed? They are two different things and as far as I am aware both are required to get notifications. I haven't been able to recreate the issue with the user provided.

Only thing I can suggest is that users unsubscribe and leave the group then rejoin and resubscribe.

[Wayne Luke]

Maybe moving it to be a forum channel will be easier to manage.

[Ston3y1]

Are you joined to the group and subscribed? They are two different things and as far as I am aware both are required to get notifications. I haven't been able to recreate the issue with the user provided.

Only thing I can suggest is that users unsubscribe and leave the group then rejoin and resubscribe.

Yes, I'm joined, I'm the owner of the group and definitely subscribed. As I said, a few group members are having the same problems and have checked their subscriptions. The issue comes and goes anyway, but I've not had any notices for this new thread. I've tried unsubscribing and resubscribing to the discussions too and that has on occasion worked in the past, but it still remains unreliable and can randomly not notify you again.

We wouldn't want to make it a general forum channel as the groups area is kept distinct to the activity in the main channels and different restrictions apply. That specific group is only visible to a certain usergroup too and we wouldn't do that for discussions on the main forum.

If the subscription button's functionality is glitching, doesn't it count as a bug that could be fixed?

[Wayne Luke]

I feel like we're going in circles here.

You are supposed to get one notification per topic each time you visit the topic. If you get a notification and ignore it, you should not get anymore. This may reset on dismissal but I've never had cause to test that.

Provide me with the usernames and passwords to check each user having the problem. You can send them via Private Message on this site. I cannot recreate it with the user provided which was supposed to have the exact same settings as the problematic users. Down to the settings in their Notifications panel and subscriptions.