Like many FlyerTalkers, I rely on the "New Subscribed Threads" area of MyFlyerTalk to provide me with notification of new threads in which I am interested. I also rely on the bolded indication of new threads in the forums I follow to know which ones I should consider reading.

However, perhaps unlike most FlyerTalkers, I am somewhat obsessive-compulsive when it comes to following information. If I start reading something and am unable to completely read and process all of the information, I am driven nuts. (It's very bad--when reading up on Twitter, Facebook, and my RSS feeds, I have to read every new tweet from people I follow, every status update from my friends, and at least scan through every single blog post title to find the ones I think look interesting and read them. This can eat up many hours each day!)

So, on FlyerTalk, I do not feel satisfied until I have read every single new subscribed thread, every thread in the Alaska Airlines forum (my main forum), and have at least looked at the list of threads in the other dozen forums I follow to see which ones look interesting.

The approach I use seems to be the best utilization for me of my computer's and internet connection's speed, the page loading times, and most efficient use of FlyerTalk's navigation. My usual browsing procedure is this:

1. Open MyFlyerTalk
2. Control-click (command-click on my Mac) the "Go to first new post" button on each of the new threads listed in "New Subscribed Threads" to open each in a new thread behind my current window
3. Read those threads, closing each as I go
4. When I have closed the last new subscribed thread, the next tab is (logically) back to MyFlyerTalk. So, then I:
5. Control-click each of the dozen or so forums I subscribe to
6. Scan through each forum for interesting threads and control-click the "Go to first new post" on each of those
7. Read those threads
8. Refresh MyFlyerTalk one more time to see if there's been any new activity while I've been reading during the session
9. Read those threads
10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 ad infinitum until I either have to leave to go somewhere or it's the middle of the night and there's no new activity...

The one problem with combining this approach, though, with my obsessive-compulsiveness, is that if anything happens to disrupt my Holy Listing of Unread Threads, I am therefore lost in a sea of darkness and non-bold thread listings. It takes 10 times the effort to find unread new/updated threads and to find where I was in the thread, since the "Go to first new post" button is gone.

Two things can happen that leave me lost to my new activity:

1. Logging into FT without completing all of the above steps. This can be for any reason--to reply to a PM (which I've already been notified about via email), check/update a thread (such as my http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/commu...thread.html--I have to update this frequently when we're organizing meet-ups, which is constantly), look up something I know is posted there for another reason, or accidentally load FlyerTalk (i.e. clicking a Google search result). If I don't have time to finish up my whole 9-step process above, then the next time I log in, I've lost all of the new activity information prior to my last, quick login.
2. Getting so engrossed in reading a lengthy thread, or doing research outside of FT for a post I'm composing, or reading a number of threads in succession (remember, they're open in tabs) without posting replies, that the system thinks I'm inactive (when I'm really far from it!).

Either way, by the time I get back to MyFlyerTalk and then control-click each of the forums, I've lost the new information, and ferreting out which ones of the threads are new (and ignoring the ones I have already read as a result of clicking them in my New Subscribed Threads) is difficult. Even more difficult is finding where I was in the thread--I can either start from the beginning or click the "Go to last post" button, but either way, I have to waste time scrolling up or down and reading either old material or new material in reverse order.

Not only does it drive me nuts, it makes me consciously ignore FlyerTalk unless I know I have two hours to devote to it (or more, when I have had to ignore it for several days). It actually makes me a less productive member of FlyerTalk--there are more discussions I could be involved in and more people I could help if I could log in and post without fear of upsetting my new/updated information statuses.

So, what's the fix?

Allow me to specify the the system not mark all posts as read at the end of my "session." Whether I'm active, idle for an hour, or idle for three days, I want to keep all unread threads as unread. When I'm finally done for the night and ready to close my session and make all the threads I wasn't interested in go away, I'm perfectly capable of then clicking the Mark Forums Read button.

I'm writing this in anger now because it just happened to me--again. I was so engrossed in reading several threads (pmocek's ABQ experience, the Places photography thread, the UA Pilot Q&A Thread, etc.) that the system thought I went idle. Now, because I've been off FT since 12/17 (due to some crises at work), I'm going to have to sort through several pages of each of the dozen or so forums I follow to find new thread and find where I was in each thread.

So, IB, since you own VBB, can you fix this up ASAP? I need to go and finish indulging my obsessive-compulsiveness now...