Unread messages and user Sessions?

[wedgey]

I just got this message from a user on a new forum & wondered what everyone else did in terms of unread threads. I get the feeling that I'm missing something.

I just discovered a bad thing. I thought it was like the old forum in that all posts are considered "new" until I physically click on the "mark forums read" link.

Turns out that's not the case. If I log on and there are 5 "new posts" but I read one and then log off, when I log back on those other 4 do not appear as "new posts." They don't even show as orange if I dig through the threads- apparently when I log off they are automatically marked read.

I was thinking that the biggest improvement [using vBulletin] here was that I no longer had to commit to reading every new post when I logged on- I thought I could read a few, then come back. But if I do that, when I come back I can't find the ones I skipped!

OK guys and gals....what am I missing. Does a user really have to view all threads during a session lest they be "lost" as new?