# Read/Unread timer resetting c. 5 minutes into a session **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [January 8, 2013, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423 "2013-01-08T00:26:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/261 "2013-05-26T02:47:26Z")
And again. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/262 "2013-05-26T12:36:39Z")
After weeks of blissful safety, I was hit twice yesterday. No change in my pattern…same web browser, computer, etc. I don’t use any other vBulletin sites. Do any others have this issue, or is it unique here? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/263 "2013-05-26T21:18:50Z")
And again. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/264 "2013-05-29T12:50:03Z")
And again. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/265 "2013-05-29T17:00:13Z")
And again. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/266 "2013-05-29T18:25:50Z")
Folks, this is going to happen until we solve our serve problems. > **[Board performance problems](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=692185)** > > Rising board traffic (currently ~14M pageviews/mo) coupled with the increasing frequency of outages, error messages and other glitches has led the STM tech staff to conclude we’ve outgrown our current server capacity. We’re getting estimates and... We’re sorry for your inconvenience here and hope this will resolve in time. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/267 "2013-05-30T02:01:59Z")
Three times in the last five minutes, each time after clicking “New Posts”. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/268 "2013-05-30T02:19:45Z")
It did it again. And I see what the problem is. The read/unread timer is based on your “last visit” which is shown under, “ **Welcome, arbitrary name.** ” So if a thread has been bumped before this time, it will think you already knew this so it will appear as read. However, if a thread was bumped after that last visit time, then it will be marked as unread because it happened after your last visit. The issue is that 5 minutes into a login session, sometimes that last visit time is changing when it should not be. It is not defined as the last time you did something or clicked on something - that is last activity. Last visit, I think, is the last time your status went online. I am not sure on this last bit exactly, but the point is that it is the last visit time that keeps fucking with the read/unread timer. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/269 "2013-05-30T03:45:26Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > It did it again. > > And I see what the problem is. The read/unread timer is based on your “last visit” which is shown under, “ **Welcome, arbitrary name.** ” So if a thread has been bumped before this time, it will think you already knew this so it will appear as read. However, if a thread was bumped after that last visit time, then it will be marked as unread because it happened after your last visit. > > The issue is that 5 minutes into a login session, sometimes that last visit time is changing when it should not be. It is not defined as the last time you did something or clicked on something - that is last activity. Last visit, I think, is the last time your status went online. I am not sure on this last bit exactly, but the point is that it is the last visit time that keeps fucking with the read/unread timer. This is only true sometimes, not always, at least for me. I’ve tried but failed to find a regular pattern. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/270 "2013-05-30T13:48:42Z")
And again. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2013, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/271 "2013-05-30T15:49:32Z")
And again. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/272 "2013-06-01T02:55:06Z")
Thought I’d mention this, because it’s new and odd. But today when I logged on and clicked on User CP to see my subscribed threads, there were two or three in the middle of the column that were marked Read, while the ones above and below them were still marked Unread. Huh. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2013, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/273 "2013-06-01T21:32:33Z")
And again. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/274 "2013-06-02T01:26:50Z")
Here’s another weird problem I’ll mention. It’s been happening for a while now. I would have thought it was a problem with my computer, but it happens only with this website and no other: I cannot use the “Find” function. You know, Ctrl + F. If I try to Find a word or phrase on any Board page, the search will turn up blank no matter how many instances it actually appears on the page. But any other website? Works like a charm. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/275 "2013-06-02T18:27:16Z")
Works for me in Firefox (version 21 on Ubuntu). Just tried searching for a few words from this thread and it worked fine. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/276 "2013-06-03T01:19:55Z")
That’s the same Firefox I’m using, version 21. I’m on a PC. Now it’s started working again but only for regular text, although it wouldn’t even for that earlier. It won’t Find anything that’s part of a link or inside a quote box. Again, only this website. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/277 "2013-06-03T15:02:56Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > That’s the same Firefox I’m using, version 21. I’m on a PC. Now it’s started working again but only for regular text, although it wouldn’t even for that earlier. It won’t Find anything that’s part of a link or inside a quote box. Again, only this website. Just searched for **Originally Posted by Anonymous User** and **“Welcome, arbitrary name.”**. Both worked, inside and outside of quote boxes. I also just searched for **Straightdope** and that was found in the links. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/278 "2013-06-03T16:12:36Z")
Just Searched for **Canadjun** on this page and nothing doing. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/279 "2013-06-03T17:48:14Z")
Well, all I can say is it works for me. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/280 "2013-06-05T03:51:20Z")
It’s really weird. Even in text outside links or boxes, it will Find some words but not others. Doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason for which ones are included or excluded. Again, it’s only on this website. Why would it be affecting me like this? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423.md?page=15)