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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Bug in the Active Topic Notification system?

Discussion in 'Communications' started by jcgoble3, Aug 2, 2011.

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  1. jcgoble3

    jcgoble3 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2010
    I believe I have discovered a bug in the active topic notification system. When adding a topic to the notification list, the forum asks for an expiration date expressed in number of days, up to 365. The problem is that this date does not always seem to stick; sometimes the forum will reset that date to an earlier date without notifying the user. This is a problem because the notifications can expire well before the user thinks they should, and as a result, he/she may think that there are no new posts in a topic when in fact there are new posts but the user just isn't getting the emails to tell him/her this. For example, I rely on this system to notify me of new posts in the Elite League Limmie game and library threads in the RPF and RPR forums respectively. A couple of months ago, the notifications expired without me knowing about it, and as a result I fell several days behind.

    As a test, on July 25, 2011 at 10:48 pm EDT, I reset the notifications on both of those threads to expire in 365 days on July 24, 2012 at 10:48 pm EDT. Today I checked my watched topics list, and while the library thread still has the correct expiration date, the game thread now shows an expiration date of August 29 at 8:47 pm EDT. I did not reset it to that date, so the board must have done it on its own. If somebody could figure out what's going on and fix it, I'd appreciate it.
     
    jcgoble3, Aug 2, 2011
    #1
  2. Harpua

    Harpua Chosen One star 9

    Registered:
    Mar 12, 2005
    People still use this?
     
    Harpua, Aug 2, 2011
    #2
  3. Grimby

    Grimby Technical Consultant & Former Head Admin star 7 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2000
    If there is an error in the system that is causing this (and I wouldn't doubt it), the short answer is that there is no way to fix it, unfortunately. IGN is no longer under any obligation to provide us any technical support for our forums (you can read more about that here). The good news is that we don't plan on using this board system for much longer. (Of course, that's another issue you can also read about in the newer posts in that same link.)

    In the mean time, LAJ and/or some of the other users who frequently use the Active Topic Notification feature may be able to provide more insight into the problem and maybe even make some suggestions on how to fix it. My first suggestion (keeping in mind I do not use the feature myself) would be to try setting the expiration date to another number, like, say, 364 days or 360 days and seeing if it still changes the date on you. As stupid as that might sound, things like that actually do work around here from time to time.
     
    Grimby , Aug 2, 2011
    #3
  4. jcgoble3

    jcgoble3 Chosen One star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2010
    I half-expected that to be the answer, but figured it couldn't hurt to ask.

    Yep, that does sound stupid, but I'll give it a shot. Thanks.

    EDIT: More details on the bug: it seems the bug may be linked to posting. As soon as I made this post, my notification expiration for this thread was instantly reset for 30 days (it had previously been 365 like the others). I checked, and the reset expiration for the RPG game thread was precisely 30 days after my first post in the thread after originally setting the notification. I've reset everything for 360 days now; we'll see what happens.
     
    jcgoble3, Aug 2, 2011
    #4
  5. Boba_Fett_2001

    Boba_Fett_2001 Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 11, 2000
    lol, riiiiiiight
     
    Boba_Fett_2001 , Aug 2, 2011
    #5
  6. Grimby

    Grimby Technical Consultant & Former Head Admin star 7 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Apr 22, 2000
     
    Grimby , Aug 2, 2011
    #6
  7. LAJ_FETT

    LAJ_FETT Tech Admin (2007-2023) - She Held Us Together star 10 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    May 25, 2002
    I don't use the Active Topic Notification system so I won't be much help. I believe when I joined the boards there was a problem using it with AOL email addresses so I never bothered.
     
    LAJ_FETT , Aug 3, 2011
    #7
  8. FlareStorm

    FlareStorm Jedi Grand Master star 6

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2000
    Set the expiration date to 2999, and reset/delete manually through your profile

    ...I knew the Y2K bug would hit us eventually. TIME TO HOARD
     
    FlareStorm, Aug 7, 2011
    #8
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