Flyertalk can't seem to remember last viewed post
 

The "Go to last unread" button is the only way I can keep up with the massive amount of information on FT. However, lately, it has basically stopped working altogether. Most threads get "stuck" on one post, even after the thread has reached the next page (and I've read everything that has been posted since!). I don't know what to do, but it's driving me up the wall, as it's nearly impossible to scroll to the right post anymore.

Please help!

I would guess you're having a browser issue.

Try clearing out your cookies & cache. Revert to a previous version of your browser. Try a different browser (IE, FF, Chrome). Delete any plugins you've added.

Any change you make to your browser will change your browsing experience, so keep this in mind when you're prompted to upgrade.

I have the same problem as baliktad reported. It's not a browser or cache issue, because it happens on 4 different computers that I've tried so far, different combinations of XP, Win7, IE8, IE9. This started about a week ago. Extremely annoying.

IB Tech has been alerted. Thanks.

I have upgraded to IE9 on both computers I use to access FT with, don't have/use any other browsers.

This is getting to the point where FT is almost unusable for me. I am spending more time clicking and scrolling through than I am actually reading content. Please advise whether this problem is being addressed.

See above post.

If it helps your troubleshooting: it seems that this problem occurs with some threads, but not all. It is consistently happening with the following sample threads:

Miles&Points > Hotel Deals > Daily Hotel Deals (Groupon-Voyage Privé-Bloomspot-etc)

Miles&Points > Mileage Run Deals > Mileage Run Discussion > Trick it / negotiate it / special savings lounge thread

When I click on go to last post for these threads, it takes me about a week back (despite reading daily and clicking "mark this forum as read").

That's great specific info and will help us track down the issue -- more like that, please :)

I re-visited this with Tech a few minutes ago. They are going to try to track it down today. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the follow-up!

Having the same problem during the past few weeks after upgrade to IE9. It's making me crazy! Hope we can resolve this soon.

In my case here is a copy of the shortcut from MyFlyertalk that has this problem:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...-new-post.html

I am unable to determine if I have this with only some or all threads.

The problem appears to be like this:
- subscribed thread with new posts shows up in MyFlyertalk
- I click the "go to first new post" button
- thread opens up and I am taken to post number 123 (for example).
- I mark the thread as read and then it disappears from MyFlyertalk subscribed posts
- Somebody posts a new message in that thread
- thread re-appears in MyFlyertalk
- clicking on "go to first new post" takes me to post number 123 instead of the actual new post.

So now I have a situation on fast moving threads where clicking "go to first new post" will actually take me to some post that is even a few pages before the actual new post. (And I need to manually find where the new posts start).

Thaks
Ron

Here's one thread that is notably a problem for me (many/all threads have problems, but this on occurs frequently because it's a busy topic):
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...ne-points.html
The link in My FlyerTalk to go to the first unread looks like this:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/miles...-new-post.html

I have clicked on this link many times over the last few weeks, usually staying up to date with posts. But every time I click it, FT only ever jumps to post #167, made over two weeks ago. I've read every post since then, but no matter how many pages I click on, FT will never bring me to any post farther than #167.

The odd part is that if I do click the last page of posts, FT seems to understand that I have read the last post, and the thread will disappear from My FlyerTalk until someone makes a new post in the thread. So somewhere, somehow, FT knows what I've read and what I haven't, but it refuses to use that knowledge to get me to the right place.

Interesting. When I click on that, it brings me to the last post (#346).

I don't doubt that the issue doesn't occur for you, because the "first unread post" feature is specific to each user. Depending on how often we view the thread, my first unread post will be different than your first unread post.

In any case, the issue seems to improving but not yet totally fixed. The link in the Capital One thread above now takes me to post #338 created this morning, even after I read through post #348. Then just a few minutes ago someone posted a new post #349, yet the link still only takes me to #338.

Seems like I don't have this problem anymore.

I am cautiously optimistic that this issue has been resolved for me as well. I will continue to observe and report any discrepancies.

I still have the problem :(

Issue has been bumped up in tech queue.

Thanks

Paul

The problem is not fully resolved, but some days are better than others. I seem to notice the biggest problem in mega-threads, some of which bump me back an entire month to posts on April 2nd!

Thanks for taking note of this issue, I'll be glad when FT is back and functioning again.

I rejoiced too soon. This evening, clicking on the "go to last post" button of the "Trick It" thread, it took me to post16189995 - a post from April 9th.

I went to another machine and clicked the same button and it took me to post16318698 - which was indeed the first new post for me.

Both machines are running Windows 7 Professional with IE9. They are at different locations on different networks.

Now, so long as I didn't click the "Mark this forum read" option, closing and returning to the thread in fresh browsers consistently returned me to the same two posts on the two machines (the April post on the one machine and the first new post on the other machine).

what's funny is that I have the problem with this thread now.

LOL you're right! Took me to post #16. I posted #18 so obviously #16 couldn't be "new" to me.

I realize now that this happens not only with my subscribed topics. Originally I noticed it only with the subscribed topics in "My Flyertalk" but I understand now it will happen in many topics with new posts, even if I have not subscribed to that topic.

I'm really looking forward to getting this resolved.

This problem is occuring for me as well.

+1

Will anything be done about this?

Will the situation be improved with opening a new account?

This is an ongoing issue of which tech has been aware for some time; creating a new account (?) will not remedy this (and is against the TOS anyway).

I'll update when I have new info, but for now this issue is outstanding.

Paul

Just a data point: one of the computers I now use to access FT has only IE8, and I have noticed this issue when using that computer.

The other computers I use to access FT have Firefox and Chrome, and I do not notice the problem on those computers.

The issue appears unique to IE.

I am using IE9. I never had the problem before I upgraded to IE9.

The fact that nobody from FT has bothered to ask us anything about our problem and configuration makes me think that so far nobody has even bothered to start working on our issue...

If this problem persists much longer I think I'll need to setup a second temporary account and see if I have the same problem with that account.

While I use IE7, IE8, IE9, and Chrome on a variety of PCs, and the default browser on Android 2.2.2, it may be that the problem never appeared until I used IE9. However, for me, once a particular thread has the problem, it persists across all browsers. For me, it is not dependant on subscribing to the thread or not.

This seems clear. :confused:
If the problem is IE9 related, then at least we will start to see a large percentage of the users encounter this problem as it is starting to be rolled-out through automatic update.

It seems that something has occured on this topic. Either I have been very luckly today to not hit any of my "broken" threads, or my last viewed counters were all moved forward, or this topic has been fixed. (I hope :) )

For others following this thread, what is your experience today?

I'm using IE9, and as of yesterday evening, I was still having this problem.

I apologize that this issue is still outstanding, but I have no tech updates at this time.

I'm really not sure where this idea of creating multiple accounts to resolve this came from, but it's a non-starter; in terms of moderation, it can get all of your accounts banned, and in terms of resolving this tech issue, it will not help.

I am staying on top of this, and when I have some news from tech, I will post it here.

Thank you again for your patience,

Paul
Community Manager.

I will also mention that I've tried clearing cookies and cache and still have the same issue. It works well on my computer at work, which uses IE7, but at home, with IE9, it takes me to older posts.

Hi Kipper,

Thanks for the details; this seems to be a common refrain where this issue is concerned, which leads us to believe that the issue is not in fact with FT. It may be an IE issue, or an IE setup issue. I'm not sure there is a way for us to vet this fully, especially as it does not appear to be consistent in any meaningful way.

Looking through this thread, it is being reported by some people on multiple computers, and by others on just one and not another. Sometimes it appears to be resolved, and sometimes it reappears. There are some threads it impacts, but not others. By far, most users are not reporting an issue at all.

This kind of inconsistency in behavior points to something other than a site issue. Has anyone tried zeroing out their IE browser and see what happens? Or switching to FF/Chrome/Safari?

It still acts, looks, walks like a browser/setup issue, potentially related to IE9. I doubt we'll have an in-house remedy for this.

Paul

Just confirmed it's relatively repeatable (i.e. not every thread) on IE8 on WinXP.

My other laptop with Win7 and IE9 died, so I can't do a comparison test on that.

However, it consistently doesn't happen on any variation of Firefox or Chrome (or even Safari) that I try.

From what I can tell so far, the URL (with the anchor on the end, i.e. #post19203492 or whatever) actually appears to be the same in both browsers. Perhaps IE is just misinterpreting the anchor positioning? Don't quote me 100% on that, though--I only thought to look at that briefly before I closed a tab, and now I can't get IE to replicate the error, so I can't confirm that is indeed the case.

I thought FT moved to keeping track of last post viewed in the database a year or so ago. I'm having the issue and using IE9 now, but I believe the problem started for me a week or so before I upgraded. I'm perpetually stuck on May 26 on one thread.

I use FF ... currently 5 ... on XP almost exclusively and update automatically.

I did use IE8 once, a few weeks ago on a lounge PC, but this problem is still happening randomly on threads created since then. Some threads I have participated in, others I'm just following.

What is the program logic for determining the "You last visited" date/time ? It says I was last on 5 hours ago when in fact I just had a break of about an hour during my commute home. Generally I pop in and out most days.

Yes, this is extremely frustrating :(

Add me to the list of people having this issue: I am running Windows 7 with IE9 on one laptop and Windows XP with IE7 on another and having the issue on both. Please advise when you have a way ahead.

A left-field question: is anyone who's having this problem also a regular user of other VB-based forum sites? If so, on the computers you're having this problem with on FT, does the problem persist on the other forum sites?

Guessing yes...

I'm also having the problem on FT only.

And yes, I participate in several other VB sites WITHOUT a problem (including one where I'm an admin).

Problem on this end occurs with Firefox on both WinXP and Win7 (2 computers). It only started in the last couple of weeks, prior to that all was fine.

Have had the problem ongoing for about a week. Using only FF.

Mike