# How does the board know what post I read last? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 26, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-board-know-what-post-i-read-last/89781 "2001-10-26T15:04:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-board-know-what-post-i-read-last/89781/1 "2001-10-26T15:04:16Z")
Happens when I open a subject, it says, SKIP TO FIRST UNREAD POST, or somethin. So, I look over my shoulder & there isn’t anyone there monitoring which post I read last. This is creepy. ---
**Author:** ![k.os](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e0b2c6/32.png) [@k.os](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k.os)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-board-know-what-post-i-read-last/89781/2 "2001-10-26T15:17:05Z")
My guess is cookies. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-board-know-what-post-i-read-last/89781/3 "2001-10-26T15:30:48Z")
My guess is either a cookie is set on your PC, and when you visit again the site has permission to read that cookie and identify the time you last logged on. Clear your cookies and the ‘search for new posts’ option will just list the default number of results (which, I think, is 5,000). ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-board-know-what-post-i-read-last/89781/4 "2001-10-26T15:49:14Z")
Umm, no, since you see this when you look at someone else’s profile. My guess is that this is all stored in some honkin’ database, and there’s a user ID table with, among other things, most recent post. ---
**Author:** ![Winnowill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/4491bb/32.png) [@Winnowill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnowill)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-board-know-what-post-i-read-last/89781/5 "2001-10-26T22:40:22Z")
Except that half the time, it hasn’t got the faintest idea which post I read last. Sure, it gives me the link, then sends me to a post fifteen posts higher than the last one I read. I think it’s guessing. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-board-know-what-post-i-read-last/89781/6 "2001-10-26T23:15:02Z")
Mine doesn’t- when I click that, it just goes to the end of the thread. I’d like to be able to use the button. How do I get this cookie, if it didn’t install itself for me? Will it be chocolate chip? Snickerdoodle? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-the-board-know-what-post-i-read-last/89781/7 "2001-10-26T23:28:18Z")
jadailey, yeah, thats kinda funny, happens to me too. But most of the time it’s accurate. Also, those red folders aren’t very useful sometimes… FisherQueen, used to be you would have to go to the front page, [http://www.straightdope.com](http://www.straightdope.com) & click on the forum from there & login. For some reason this used to be the way to get the cookies to set right. You might give it a shot & see if it works for you. What browser you got?