Unread threads: can we bold only the pages that have unread messages on them?

[AristosQueue (NI)]

If I open a particular forum, such as this one, I see a list of all the topics in that forum. The ones in bold face are the ones I have not read. Frequently, for long threads, there are many page numbers listed, like this one:

system exec: Bad execution of commands [ 1 2 ]

The topic is in bold face because I have not read some messages in the thread. But do I need to open page 1 or page 2? I know I have already read some messages in this thread, but I don't know if I have read all of page 1. It would be nice if the numbers were in bold face for pages we have not read and in plain font for pages where we have read all the messages. 

[Darren]

I'm pretty sure if you click the thread title link (as opposed to one of the numbers) it automatically takes you to the first message you haven't read yet...it figures out the correct page.

-D

[RavensFan]

Actually right click on the number that is in the New column.  That takes you to the first unread message in the thread.  So if a thread so 80 replies, 5 new.  Click on the 5 and it takes you to the first unread message.  (Actually, I usually right click and Open in New Window).

[tst]

I use the method Ravens Fan mentioned and it works great, but has two problems -

1. The site doesn't use placeholders for images, so if you open a page with large images (e.g. the Rube Goldberg thread), the new post might be "pushed" down as the images load and you end up looking at an older post.
2. The link points to the newest unread post. If you click it and then click another link (e.g. an image) and then the back button, it will go to the newest unread post. If the entire thread has been read, this will be the first post in the thread. I don't remember checking this recently, so it may have changed.

[AristosQueue (NI)]

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Darren wrote:

I'm pretty sure if you click the thread title link (as opposed to one of the numbers) it automatically takes you to the first message you haven't read yet...it figures out the correct page.

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Ravens Fan wrote:
Actually right click on the number that is in the New column.  That takes you to the first unread message in the thread.  So if a thread so 80 replies, 5 new.  Click on the 5 and it takes you to the first unread message.  (Actually, I usually right click and Open in New Window).

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I gave kudos to both of these as workarounds, but these are both hidden aspects of the interface, whereas I think mine would be a more "discoverable" way of getting to the first unread message. I'll hold off giving "Solution" to a post from IT that says "we'll think about it." 🙂

[tst]

Just to clarify, in case someone tries it and doesn't understand why it doesn't work - Darren's method doesn't work and never has. You have to click on the link in the New column (and yes, I agree that this is too hidden).

[Darren]

Hmm, my method works and always has.  😉  If I'm looking at a forum, and there's a thread that's bold, and it has a bunch of pages...if I click the bold thread title, it takes me to whatever page has the most recent message I haven't read.

-D

[tst]

Fair enough, the preferences page has a checkbox called "Automatically Jump to the First Unread Message in a Thread" which toggles this. I don't remember it being there in the past, but it's possible I just never noticed it.

[tst]

OK, I set my own preference to work like this and I'll see if I can get used to it.

By the way, Darren, this is seriously off topic, but I figured I'd ask you a quick question while I've got your attention -

I'm trying to write to an Excel spreadsheet, but saw that my 2D string array is not being interpeted as numbers even when I explicitly set them that way. I then looked at the RGT VIs and saw that after writing the Value2 property for the range (gotta love the way MS handles version changes), you read it and then write it again. This works for me as well, but is undocumented in your code. Is this officially documented somewhere?

[Darren]

I've seen that weirdness in the code, too.  Unfortunately, that read/write of the Range property pre-dates my ownership of the toolkit.  I really have no idea why it's done that way.

-D