Display members who have recently read a thread

This modification is no longer available or supported.

If you have the new thread reading system enabled then this hack will use it to display anyone who has recently read a thread. The time limit is determined by your vb options thread marking limit.

You must be using the database thread marking system for this hack to work.


To install this hack, unzip the xml file and import it via the product manager.

The ACP settings are in vbulletin options > thread display options.


Upgrades:

To upgrade from version 2.18 or before, to version 2.21 onwards, you need to uninstall the product and remove the template code in SHOWTHREAD - then upload the new product. To upgrade from version 2.20 onwards, upload the new product with overwrite set to yes.


History:

v2.16 : Added ACP setting to turn the display on/off.
v2.17 : Added ACP setting to restrict which usergroups can view the display.
v2.18 : Added hover display to each username which shows the date/time of the last post (in the thread) at the time the member read it.
v2.19 : Not released.
v2.20 : Not released.
v2.21 : Removed the need to edit the SHOWTHREAD template.
v2.22 : Updated ACP view permission option to take into account secondary
v2.23 : Added 'nofollow' attribute to listed usernames.
v2.24 : Minor changes, no update necessary.

[jmacieira]

opss...

sorry...I see now

thanks

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by mrsbuzzy

Is there any way to add a time/date to when it was read?

Nope, and you don't need to. You can see how much of the thread they have read, so the exact time they did this is not really that relevant.

[firstrebel]

Working fine on my 3.5.3. Is there a way to put this above the quick reply box instead of under it?

Thanks

Bob

[Mathiau]

i lvoe your hacks! they always go in flawlessly!!!

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by firstrebel

Working fine on my 3.5.3. Is there a way to put this above the quick reply box instead of under it?

Only by doing template edits, and editing the plugin code.

[aciurczak]

Noticed a minor issue with this hack a few days back. For all threads that include posts created since I installed this hack, the thread readers show up perfectly. But for older threads, those created before I installed this, the thread readers do not show properly, even if I visit those threads again. Right now I have it set to show readers in the past 60 days.

Here's an example older thread with a newer post: click here

and here's a older one that does not have a newer post, and therefore won't show thread readers: click here

The user account demo/demo can be used if you'd like to see how the thread readers will not show up.

[Paul M]

Your demo account does not appear to have permission to show this display at all.

FYI, all this does is pull the data from the vb thread marking datrabase, it has no control over what vb puts in that database. You should note that when you visit a thread older than the thread read limit (or any thread you have not previously read) you may have to re-visit it to see yourself in the read list as vb does not update the database until after the display is built.

[aciurczak]

Sorry about that; demo accounts can now see the thread readers display at the bottom. I get your point; this hack is just reading what's in the db, not controlling what's in the db. I guess then this needs to be submitted to vb.com as buggy/unexpected behavior with their thread marking system.

No matter how many times I go back to an older thread, with a new user account that has never seen that thread, or a veteran user account even after that 60 day (or whatever you have it set to) window is over, it will not mark as read unless a new post is put into that thread.

Couple things could be causing this, but the most likely now that I think about it is that the older threads/posts may have been created when my forum was using 3.0.X, and I have since upgraded (like many of us) to the 3.5.X series.

[Paul M]

Originally Posted by aciurczak

No matter how many times I go back to an older thread, even after that 60 day (or whatever you have it set to) window is over, it will not mark as read unless a new post is put into that thread.

Actually yes, thinking about it, that's correct. The vb system works by recording the date of the last read post in the thread, unless that's older than the read limit, in which case the thread is considered read anyway, and no database entry is needed. It's a limitation of the vb system.

[aciurczak]

But if I create a brand new account, a user who has seen nothing at all on the board should have everything as unread, right? Turns out they don't, now that I understand what that day-limitting feature really means.

I just did this test, created a virgin account, and went to the board. All threads within the last 60 days are marked unread, but any thread older than that is already marked read for this user. So an old thread that doesn't have posts within the last 60 days can never be marked read again, whether or not a user has ever read that thread.

Makes sense I guess, just disappoints me a bit as there are critical posts that I would want new users to read when they are on the board, and as they are older, I can not see who has read and who hasn't gone to those posts. Makes it seem as if they are not important ("nobody has read this thread in the past 60 days"), even if many people have.