# No notification when new posts are made in a thread I've previously read **URL:** \ **Category:** Site Feedback\ **Created:** [June 2, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498 "2021-06-02T19:38:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/1 "2021-06-02T19:38:03Z")
Say I open a thread and read through the posts. Whenever new posts are subsequently added to that thread, a number is supposed to appear next to the thread title when I’m in that forum that indicates how many new posts there are (unless I actively turn off notifications for that thread). This does not always happen. What is the problem? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2021, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/2 "2021-06-02T23:19:41Z")
Since no one is replying, my guess is that you haven’t been in the thread long enough to change the notification indicator. If you look at the bottom of the thread and check the indicator, does the indicator say tracking? If it doesn’t, that may be because you haven’t been in the thread long enough. There’s a time requirement to change the status indicator. If that indicator has not changed, you can go and change it manually. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/3 "2021-06-03T02:03:16Z")
I’m not sure. Sometimes even when I read to the end of the thread, the problem still comes up whenever somebody else adds a post. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/4 "2021-06-03T02:21:58Z")
OK, got it. It doesn’t go by whether you read all the posts, it goes by how long you’ve been in the thread. You can set the amount of time in the preferences. Go to your avatar [pink P] in the right hand corner. Then hit the person icon [head on shoulders]. Then choose preferences. On the left hand side, hit notifications. There’s a box for the length of time you want to be in the thread before it considers you are tracking it. You can also set what you track by categories which is under the notifications setting on the left hand side. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/5 "2021-06-03T12:18:38Z")
Got it, thanks. Hopefully this will work. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/6 "2021-06-26T03:27:24Z")
Weird, I’ve got the opposite issue. I’m starting to get blue dots for threads I’ve never even opened, let alone read. And the blue dots give the current post count for the entire thread. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/7 "2021-06-26T03:40:34Z")
Have you tried different skins? I’m using Discourse-classic. I went looking to see if I could see that issue. I don’t see anything like that. All blue dots are on threads I’ve opened before. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/8 "2021-06-26T03:41:28Z")
“Skins? How does one do that?”, asks the techno-peasant. “What are skins?” ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/9 "2021-06-26T03:48:45Z")
Skins: Go to your “hummingbird” avatar in the top right corner. Click that. Then click the head on shoulders icon right under that. Then click preferences on that menu. Then on the left side of the menu, hit interface. What does it say under theme? I would think it would say Discourse classic since you don’t know how to change it, but maybe you changed it without realizing it. Once you’ve done that, hit the notifications on the left hand side. Check if you’ve checked live notifications. it should say ‘enable notifications’. DON’T click that. Also check what the drop down box under ‘automatically track topics I enter’, what does it say? ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/10 "2021-06-26T04:12:44Z")
I am apparently using something called « Strsight Dope Light » « automatically track topics I enter » is set for « never ». When I post in s topic, it’s set to « tracking ». When « Liked », it’s set to « never ». ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/11 "2021-06-26T04:17:55Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I am apparently using something called « Strsight Dope Light ». Just as an experiment, go back to the theme and set it to Discourse classic just to see if the problem with the blue circles changes. It might be the skin or it might be something else. ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2021, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/12 "2021-06-26T04:40:24Z")
@Northern_Piper, sorry I don’t think I can help here. I went to try to change my settings to match what you listed. I still didn’t see the blue circle problem you described. The same blue circles that I had before were still there, but those were topics I had opened and the number was the number I had not read. Hope someone else can help. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/13 "2021-06-27T12:12:34Z")
> [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](#): > > Go to your “hummingbird” avatar in the top right corner That is not a hummingbird but is actually bagpipes. Or were making a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heffalump_and_roo/32/7691_2.png) [@Heffalump\_and\_Roo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heffalump_and_Roo)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2021, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-notification-when-new-posts-are-made-in-a-thread-ive-previously-read/943498/14 "2021-06-27T22:35:51Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > That is not a hummingbird but is actually bagpipes. See this thread. Not really a joke, but not serious either. > [@Northern\_Piper is a bagpipe](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/northern-piper-is-a-bagpipe/944644): > > Continuing the discussion from [What is this linking issue Miller is mentioning?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-this-linking-issue-miller-is-mentioning/944605): The avatar looks like a bagpipe. slight_smile This topic exists to create an example of backlinks, also known as post-links. Look under post #1 of the linked topic to see the effect. ~Max