Well, I don’t know who to thank for this, if there was a new version of vB released, or Jerry the Tech God just did some hacking, but the red envelopes now work in a more-or-less sensible manner! I just viewed the second page of GQ, and then the listing for ATMB, and in both cases, it showed threads as red when I had not been to that forum since the last post, not just new posts since I last interacted the board. This is a Very Good Thing, thank you, whomever!
Too bad it doesn’t work for me. 
–Tim
Or me either…
What wonder machine are you using Chronos?
They seem to work sometimes for me and not othertimes . 
Chronos can go back in time, then he opens a different forum.
I don’t see any red envelopes.
Well, Xerxes, at least, I can explain… You’re new, Xerxes, and I’m guessing that this is your first time logging onto the boards, right? Hence, there are no new messages since the last time that you logged on. The next time that you log on, some of the icons next to threads in the listing will be red, instead of grey, indicating that there’s new posts.
As for everyone else, I haven’t a clue. They never worked for me, before, either, but suddenly, they do. Do you folks have cookies disabled, maybe? If that’s not it, then I don’t know what it would be.
I have another board I use a lot that doesn’t have the envelopes at all.
They make the SORT show answers by POST instead of THREAD.
That’s really good for answering the question "Which threads that I posted on got answers after mine?"
You just search on your own name and the post-afters are at the top. When you hit one you were the last on, then you’ve found them all.
So that part is better than envelopes.
But then you can’t see the THREADS that started after your last visit.
So it’s worse for that than envelopes.
I just wish all the features were on all the boards.
You’d think the programmers must use other boards, so they would know which features are most useful.
I think our search can answer the question Which threads that I posted on got answers after mine?
You have to keep the answers in one window and open the links in another window, so your new answers won’t change the order. To do that, with Windows, right click on the link and select “open link in new window”.
When you’re done with one thread, go back to the sort window and right click the next link.
Do you expect every car to have all the options and features of every other car on the market?
All of 'em get you where you want to go, but they’re not 100% the same.
Same with message boards. Not even every two installations of the same software is the same, the boards tend to be custom tailored to suit the board owners and the taste of the users.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
The vB people do seem to like hearing new ideas, though.
We’ve seen a couple of changes based on suggestions.
They have their own board at http://vbulletin.com/forum/
Just tell them you want a Cadillac with a Geo sticker price.
** http://vbulletin.com/forum/**
And tell them we’re still waiting for the fix where it doesn’t always recognize a link.
Shucks, the next computer over in the lab now doesn’t do the envelopes right, again. This leads one to think, though, that there is a solution, somewhere.
When I want to know which threads that I responded to got answers after mine, I find threads I’ve responded to and see if it says “waterj2” as the last poster. Granted, I have to remember which threads I’ve responded to, but that’s not too hard.
Actually, I think it would be nice to get the “last post by” feature on search results. Is that something that can be turned on, or is it not possible?
That sounds like a nice suggestion for vB; it’s not a current offering.
your humble TubaDiva
Administrator
That’s not what Sangria was asking for. To extend your own analogy, wouldn’t it be nice if there was some car (as yet unavailable) that had all of the cool, useful options, and none of the clunky, worthless ones? That car would sell like hotcakes (and so would the analagous message board software).
I like the idea of search going to posts instead of threads.
Right now if you can find the threads you want, it always send you to the front of the thread, and all you want is the last page.
Also, while we’re wishing, I’d like to see the “as a phrase” option you get on most other search software.
If I type in search on “Show me the money”, I get (well, let’s check… waiting…waiting…) 4948 threads.
Yet the one I’m thinking of is probably only one of a dozen with the whole phrase in one post.
What I would like is to be able to search by threads I’ve created. Only show threads I’ve created. Also, to have, instead of a ‘next page’ button in the search area, to show the exact page numbers so I can easily jump around. I would also like to be able to search by OP of “at least a month old” or “at least 6 months old” or “at least a year old.”
Finally, I’d like to be able to search by persons who’ve posted after me. Say I post something, and Mr. Cynical responds. Later, I want to quote him, but it was a few weeks or months ago and I don’t remember the thread name. If I search for posts by me, it turns up hundreds. If I search for posts by him, it turns up hundreds. But if I were able to search by threads that both he and I responded to, it would surely cut the number down to a few dozen.
–Tim
What I’d like is to be able to write my own SQL queries into the database. I always want to see if people are talking about me in threads I haven’t posted in, but there’s no way to do that. I’m guessing that you aren’t going to give us the power to input our own SQL commands to the database, though. I suppose that’s OK, as if you did, I’d have to replace my Database Systems textbook as the thing that my monitor sits on.