# How Do You Dope? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 7, 2016, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290 "2016-09-07T19:30:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/41 "2016-09-08T18:31:48Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > If you post in a thread, you are by default subscribed to it. Anyone who doesn’t already have it set up that way: you can set it up that way by going to **User CP** , clicking **Edit Options** , and looking under **Default Thread Subscription Mode**. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/42 "2016-09-08T18:50:07Z")
I use [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/usercp.php](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/usercp.php) as my bookmark bar button, then New Posts. I’m automatically subscribed to anything I post in. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/43 "2016-09-08T19:55:28Z")
I scroll through the topics, and middle click for a new tab. Sometimes I pick out more than one, but usually it’s just one thread. I use new tabs so that all the threads I haven’t seen stay bolded, and I keep my place in the list. Occasionally I will write a reply before reading the entire thread, so I don’t forget–and I delete it if I don’t think it adds anything. And sometimes I write something in a tab and leave it open, debating whether I should actually say anything. And so I go do something else. Other times, I know I have something to say, so I open a reply tab, but leave it there and do something else until I have a good way of saying it. Using New Posts is not appealing to me, as it jumbles everything up into one stream. (It’s why I don’t use an RSS reader or subscribe to people on Twitter. I don’t see the point.) I also do not generally subscribe to posts, nor go back and read to keep up with them. I say what I want to say, and I come back later if I’m interested later. Only when I’ve asked for an answer that is important to me do I subscribe. Most often, these are my actual threads instead of posts, since I don’t tend to start a thread unless I want to know something. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/44 "2016-09-08T23:19:19Z")
I go first to the Game Room, since I run the Death Pool. Then MPSIMS and Cafe Society. I never go to Great Debates, or almost never, and the Election forum is unknown territory. I dip into the Pit maybe every third visit. My last forum is usually IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/45 "2016-09-09T00:05:06Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I have probably the least efficient method of navigating this website possible. I just literally click from forum to forum seeing if any of my favored threads are bolded. Sometimes it becomes a mindless loop of futile clicking. > [@Tamerlane](#): > > That’s what I do. You people with your ‘subscriptions’ and ‘new post’ buttons are just lazy slaves to your vile demon-god of efficiency :). > [@silenus](#): > > I never use New Posts or subscribe to any threads. I read forum by forum, page by page. I can click through the cycle quite quickly on down times. > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Same here. It’s never occurred to me to do it any other way. I don’t in fact know what the “new posts” function _is_ 😕 I’m approaching 70 years old, and not a “natural” with computers. My dealings with navigating the Dope, are just as per the above quotes: I strongly feel, rightly or wrongly, that trying to get to grips with whatever “clever” procedures / short-cuts – would for me sort out worse. than continuing to do it the cumbersome way which works for me, for the roughly half-dozen forums on which I spend a significant amount of time. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/46 "2016-09-09T00:29:28Z")
I just work backwards through the threads with new posts, up until recently, anyway. I’ve lost interest in Elections…too much effort for not much ignorance fought. 😃 But since football season has started, I’m in The Game Room a lot and still check the Café Society and IMHO sections…and a couple in Thread Games. ---
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/47 "2016-09-09T01:10:12Z")
I’m auto-subscribed (no emails) and so click User CP first. When I’ve gone through those, then New Posts. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/48 "2016-09-09T02:42:25Z")
Now I understand why people sometimes say, ‘‘Sorry, I didn’t realize I wasn’t in the Pit’’ and other such things. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/49 "2016-09-09T08:20:01Z")
nm ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/50 "2016-09-09T10:05:00Z")
Apparently, the Advanced Search remembers the amount of time that you like searching. At some point, I set it to “Newer than 2 weeks”. I either browse around looking for interesting threads, or I go into Advanced Search, put my name in, and hit Search. It will pull up all the threads I’ve posted to in the last 2 weeks. I’ve never looked for the Subscribe button, though I was aware it exists. I’m not keen on having ancient threads come up. The 2 weeks approach works well. Though, I do wonder if it is more or less efficient for the SDMB’s database than the subscription search. I suspect it’s about the same. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/51 "2016-09-09T11:49:23Z")
I search my name to see if there have been responses to threads I’ve participated in, then I check the forums I use most to see if anything interesting is going on, or revisit threads I haven’t posted in but am following. I don’t subscribe or use the “New Posts” button, I just wing it and hope to stumble on things as I scan. I have probably missed out on a lot of cool stuff, but them’s the breaks. There’s only so much SDMB I can consume, anyway. I hope that if I’m ever singled out for anything in particular in a thread, be it praise or pit, somebody will PM me to tell me. So far that hasn’t really happened, seventeen years and counting. ---
**Author:** ![Personal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Personal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Personal)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290/52 "2016-09-09T12:45:34Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > Now I understand why people sometimes say, ‘‘Sorry, I didn’t realize I wasn’t in the Pit’’ and other such things. The way I use the board, it’s easy to lose track of which forum you’re in. But I can usually tell by the context and tone of the posts. If I post, however, I’ll double-check to make sure my response is appropriate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-dope/765290.md?page=2)