"What's new" link in navigation bar going away soon - here is how to keep it

[danny]

As has been discussed previously, the "New" feed provides the same functionality as the "What's New/New Posts" feature, plus a lot of other useful functions.

When we first introduced the Feeds interface along with the "New" feed, there were quite a few complaints. Most of the complaints were from users who were simply used to looking for the words "What's New", not actually a complaint about the interface or whether or not the "New" feed was working correctly. However, there was one issue where certain threads were not getting added to the "New" Feed, but were showing up in "What's New/New Posts". That issue has been resolved, so the "New" Feed in its default state should now be showing the same content as "Whats New/New Post".

In an effort to simplify our interface, particularly for new users, we will be removing the "What's New" link for the sub-navigation bar on desktop (and the slide out navigation menu on mobile). However, for those of you who are committed to continuing to use "What's New/New Posts", for whatever reasons you may have, you can do so by going to your Account Preferences. Then look for the option that is called "What's New" link and then select the checkbox next to Add "What's New" link to the navigation. Then select "Save" and this will add a What's New link back into the navigation bar/menu so you can continue using "What's New" as you did before. Please note: it may take some time for the link to actually show up, but it should within a few hours at most.

At the moment of writing this, the normal "What's New" link is still visible, but I will most likely be taking it down within the next day. I will put up a notice at the top of the site when I do.

If you see any issues with the "New" Feed, please let me know.

Thank you.

 

[EVRider-FL]

I tried the New feed when you first rolled it out, but one difference I noticed from the What’s New feed is that New didn’t indicate which posts haven’t been updated since my previous visit, so I continued to use What’s New (New Posts). Has that changed?

 

[danny]

I tried the New feed when you first rolled it out, but one difference I noticed from the What’s New feed is that New didn’t indicate which posts haven’t been updated since my previous visit, so I continued to use What’s New (New Posts). Has that changed?

They both can filter for "Unread content" so that you only see threads that have content that you have not yet seen.

I am not sure about What's New specifically indicating that content is new since your last visit, but perhaps you can clarify what you mean by that. Thanks.

 

[EVRider-FL]

I am not sure about What's New specifically indicating that content is new since your last visit, but perhaps you can clarify what you mean by that. Thanks.

This shows what I mean:

 

[danny]

Oh I see, thanks for pointing that out. While I see how that may be appreciated by some, I don't think its a particularly essential feature as what most care about is whether there is unread content in a thread or not, and one can easily view how recently a thread was updated by simply viewing the date/time of the most recent reply (on the right side). In any case, if that is important to you, you can continue to use What's New/New Posts and indicate in your preferences that you would like the link in your navigation bar/menu.

 

[JRP3]

"Community" and "New" seem to function exactly the same, other than "New" disappearing when scrolling down, making "Community" much more functional for me. Is there supposed to be a difference?

 

[Pluto]

Wow this is my first time using the "New" feed and I'm loving it. I was able to set it as the home/default, and won't need to use the "Watched Threads" link anymore. Just two questions: is there any way to hide the filter at the right of the "New" feed, and is there any way to revert my homepage/default to the forums list again?

It may be worth renaming it to "Latest" instead, since "New" almost demands quotes every time you reference it by having a too generic name...

Oh I see, thanks for pointing that out. While I see how that may be appreciated by some, I don't think its a particularly essential feature as what most care about is whether there is unread content in a thread or not, and one can easily view how recently a thread was updated by simply viewing the date/time of the most recent reply (on the right side). In any case, if that is important to you, you can continue to use What's New/New Posts and indicate in your preferences that you would like the link in your navigation bar/menu.

For me, the red dot on the left is way more important than the date to the right (not sure if you meant to reference both but separately). I rely on that heavily!

 

[danny]

"Community" and "New" seem to function exactly the same, other than "New" disappearing when scrolling down, making "Community" much more functional for me. Is there supposed to be a difference?

Community is a parent link of all the links that display under it (in the secondary navbar). By clicking on Community, you are taken to the website home page, which can be set as Blog, Hot, New, Question, or Forum List. In your case, it sounds like you have "New" set as your default homepage, therefore clicking on New or Community is basically the same thing for you. For more information on how to change your default feed, please checkout the website tutorial: TMC Website Tutorial

Wow this is my first time using the "New" feed and I'm loving it. I was able to set it as the home/default, and won't need to use the "Watched Threads" link anymore. Just two questions: is there any way to hide the filter at the right of the "New" feed, and is there any way to revert my homepage/default to the forums list again?

Yes, you can hide the filter by hiding the sidebar, which you can do by clicking on the 3 dot icon on the top right, and selecting Toggle Sidebar when on the feeds page:

To make the "Forum list" your default homepage, navigate to your Account Preferences, look for the "Default feed", set it as "Forum list" and then click "Save". The website tutorial may be of use: TMC Website Tutorial

It may be worth renaming it to "Latest" instead, since "New" almost demands quotes every time you reference it by having a too generic name...

Many websites (including Reddit) use the word "New", though some forum platforms such as Discourse do seem to use the word "Latest". I'm open to changing it but I am not sure if there would be much benefit, especially given that we've been using the word "New" for some time now so many users have gotten used to it. Also, the nice thing about the word "New" is that it sounds similar to "What's New" and "New Posts" which is a good thing, as it does basically the same thing, just with much more flexability and filtration options.

For me, the red dot on the left is way more important than the date to the right (not sure if you meant to reference both but separately). I rely on that heavily!

Yes, the red dot is the easiest way to quickly tell that a thread has unread content in it. The date is simply useful to get a sense of how recently something was updated.

 

[GSP]

The ”new” button does not offer an option to go the the third from last page in a thread and read from there. It first loads page 1, which allows me to select the last page, then I finally have a button to take me to the third from last page. At least that is how it works on my iPad with my account settings.

”What’s New” lets me review threads and select the second or third from last [or last page, but I rarely use that] and start reading.

GSP

 

[danny]

The ”new” button does not offer an option to go the the third from last page in a thread and read from there. It first loads page 1, which allows me to select the last page, then I finally have a button to take me to the third from last page. At least that is how it works on my iPad with my account settings.

”What’s New” lets me review threads and select the second or third from last [or last page, but I rarely use that] and start reading.

GSP

Actually, "New" offers the same thing in this respect as "What's New". My guess is that you are viewing the "New" feed in what we call "Card" mode, when you should be viewing it in "List" mode if you want access to those links that take you to the last few pages. To switch between Card and List mode use the following buttons in the interface:

Again, please read the Website Tutorial, specifcially the Feeds section toward the bottom: TMC Website Tutorial

If you believe that I am not correct please share some screenshots. Thanks.

 

[JRP3]

Community is a parent link of all the links that display under it (in the secondary navbar). By clicking on Community, you are taken to the website home page, which can be set as Blog, Hot, New, Question, or Forum List. In your case, it sounds like you have "New" set as your default homepage, therefore clicking on New or Community is basically the same thing for you. For more information on how to change your default feed, please checkout the website tutorial: TMC Website Tutorial

I prefer the permanence of "Community" when scrolling so I'll leave it as is.

 

[danny]

And here is another screenshot relevant to my last post:

 

[EVRider-FL]

Using the same filters I was using in What’s New/New Posts, the New feed is only showing me threads that I’ve posted in. Is that expected behavior? I think the filters are watched forums, watched threads, and unread content.

 

[danny]

@EVRider-FL My guess is that all your watched threads got watched when you participated in them, so that's why you are seeing those such threads. The "New" feed uses an "AND" function when multiple filters are selected. In fact What's New/New Posts also uses an "AND" function for the most part, as you will notice that the filters of both "New" and New Posts both say "Show only" which indicates "AND" function.

However, New Posts by default had the filter "Watched Content" and didn't distinguish between "Watched Forums" and "Watched Threads". Our developer actually had to develop a modification to separate the two. However, in doing so, we seems to have used an "OR" function between those two specific filters. This was actually a mistake on our part because as you can see, it still says "Show only" next to the selected filters in the horizontal bar above the results, which suggests it was supposed to be an "AND" function. So for New Posts, you currently are getting results for the following logic "Show me all threads that have unread posts; AND are in a forum that I watch OR that are watched (threads)". Whereas the "New" feed is giving you "Show me all threads that have unread posts AND are in a forum that I watch AND that are watched (threads)".

The point of this being that "New" is actually working as designed. I can see that some users may or may not prefer AND vs OR for given filter configurations. It certainly would be possible to develop a feature that allows users to switch the function, but there are pros and cons to weigh in doing so.

 

[MorrisonHiker]

It looks like the What's New button still shows up in mobile, even when I don't have the option set in preferences. Shouldn't it change to just be "New"?

 

[aesculus]

It appears you also removed the Mark Forums Read button which made it simple to clear the list. Now I have to select Forums and then scroll to the bottom of the pull down to mark the forums read. Can you put the button back on the forums list again or tell me where it is?

 

[Pluto]

It appears you also removed the Mark Forums Read button which made it simple to clear the list. Now I have to select Forums and then scroll to the bottom of the pull down to mark the forums read. Can you put the button back on the forums list again or tell me where it is?

It looks like it's an option when clicking the vertical ellipsis on the top right of every page now, that is probably the easiest way to access what you used to before:

 

[aesculus]

It looks like it's an option when clicking the vertical ellipsis on the top right of every page now, that is probably the easiest way to access what you used to before:
View attachment 816933

Thanks. About the same amount of steps from using the Forums pull down. I miss the direct button on the page, but also admit you had to scroll to the top of the page to get it, so this could be better.

 

[danny]

It looks like the What's New button still shows up in mobile, even when I don't have the option set in preferences. Shouldn't it change to just be "New"?

That is because you are using the "TMC" style/theme, instead of the "TMC 2022" style/theme. The older "TMC" style is there simply to keep folks happy who did not like the changes we made last year.

It appears you also removed the Mark Forums Read button which made it simple to clear the list. Now I have to select Forums and then scroll to the bottom of the pull down to mark the forums read. Can you put the button back on the forums list again or tell me where it is?

This is not a new change to be clear. It is still in the drop down menu for "Community":

And you can also access it with the menu button (3 vertical dot icon) in the top right of the navbar. But I see now that @Pluto has helpfully clarified this

 

[JRP3]

Something changed and the Global Warming thread is now showing up with my other unread watched threads