# Go to first unread post

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-first-unread-post/79037>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [August 31, 2001, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-first-unread-post/79037 "2001-08-31T00:00:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![WEW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@WEW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WEW)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-first-unread-post/79037/1 "2001-08-31T00:00:02Z")

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Three questions

[list=1]  
[li]Why don’t all forums display the “Go to frist unread post” message at the top when I return to a thread that I’ve been to before?[/li][li]Why do the ones that do take me to one or two posts below the last unread post?[/li][li]Hi Opal?[/li][/list=1]

Just wondering

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**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-first-unread-post/79037/2 "2001-08-31T12:42:41Z")

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As best I have been able to piece together, it’s all keyed off that “You last visited …” message on the main menu page of the Message Board.

Any posts after that time will appear as unread, regardless of whether or not you have actually read them. Any posts before that time will appear as read, regardless again.

I seem to remember a mod stating at some point that no one has figured out exactly how vBulletin determines what counts as when you were last here. I’ve taken an extraordinary amount of time replying to posts before to find that it reset my last visit and I’ve done nothing but browse for up to an hour at a time to find that it never did.

Hope this helps.

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**Author:** ![WEW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@WEW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WEW)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/go-to-first-unread-post/79037/3 "2001-08-31T15:06:44Z")

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Thanks **KneadToKnow**