Expect to see these additions around 2PM PST today 12/14/06.
Here is a quick run down of items:
--My tracked discussion--
Most of you probably already know that this feature has been buggy ever since the launch of the new forums--where it was sending out multiple duplicate email at once. This ultimately lead to the decision for us to shut off this feature for the time being.
Well, in this next release, we've changed it up a bit. Instead of receiving periodical digest of updates to the discussions you are tracking, you will now receive instant e-mail notifications whenever someone updates any particular discussion you are tracking.
With the next release you will also notice on the "Create new post" and "Reply to post" submission forms the ability for users to track a discussion on the fly rather than having to return to the discussion and then tracking it. You'll now see a check box on the submission forms asking if you would like to track the discussion you are posting to or creating.
--Next unread post links--
Not a new feature, but because many of you requested it back, so we will be adding this back into the new forums. This feature will be available in all 3 forum display views. The Tree view functionality will remain exactly as it was in the old forums. For the threaded and flat views, any time you land on the root discussion post (first post of the thread) you will see a link for "Next unread". Clicking on that link will directly take you to the next "Unread post" and so fourth... until there are no more unread messages.. This is extremely helpful in an event that you are return to a long discussion and just want to go through what you haven't read.
--Forum preferences page--
We have added a Forum preferences page which will be available through a link located on the forums left hand navigation under the subheading "CNET forums". This page will allow you to select which forum display view you'd prefer --tree, threaded, or flat and in addition allow you to select the number of post displayed per page in the threaded or flat views.
--Back to top link--
In the thread and flat views we've also added a "Back to top" link so that if it is a long thread you can easily navigate back to the top of the page without scrolling.
I think that about covers it. Tell me how you like theses little additions to the forums. We are working on others, so stay tune. As you all already know--things don't always go out the door near perfect, so if you see any weird stuff going on--you know the drill--duck and run for cover
.
Thanks everyone!
-Lee

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