# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2013, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/41 "2013-01-19T23:36:00Z")
I use Windows 7, have a pc tower, and it happens to me intermittently. Especially the last few weeks. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2013, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/42 "2013-01-20T02:35:26Z")
I have referred this upstairs and more than once. I have heard nothing back. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/43 "2013-01-20T02:48:31Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > Happened again: in the twentieth of a second it took to get new posts, the timer reset. But it managed to retrieve the threads posted to in the 12 hours since I was here last (with the message “The threads below have not been updated since your last visit but still contain unread posts.”) This is exactly what happened to me a day or two ago. I got the same message about unread posts. This was on a desktop. I do occasionally use Tapatalk but it’s been at least a couple of weeks since I’ve done so. ---
**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:** [January 20, 2013, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/44 "2013-01-20T06:20:38Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I thought it was cured but just now happened again. From what I can tell, it did stop happening for a while but has started again recently. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/45 "2013-01-20T08:03:13Z")
Grrr. Logged in one minute ago to the message ‘you last logged in at 12:20 am’ (it’s now ~ 7:00pm here). Read one thread (this one), clicked the drop down box to take me to General Questions and everything is read with the message 'you last logged in at 6:59pm) Not sure how fast we’re supposed to read these threads but less than 60 seconds strikes me as optimistic. ---
**Author:** ![Canadjun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/76d3ee/32.png) [@Canadjun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Canadjun)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/46 "2013-01-20T14:31:38Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > From what I can tell, it did stop happening for a while but has started again recently. Not convinced it ever stopped outright, but it did happen a lot less often up until recently. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2013, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/47 "2013-01-22T02:33:24Z")
This is really getting ridiculous. I logged in a few minutes ago, it showed all the posts and threads as Unread like it’s supposed to, I look at one (1) thread, and then suddenly _everything_ is marked as Read. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/48 "2013-01-22T14:20:37Z")
It just happened again to me. Here’s how it usually happens: I read the board by going to a forum, opening the threads I’m interested in in new tabs, then going to the next forum, etc. I don’t read the threads until I have all the taps open. What’s been happening to me lately is that I go to a forum, open some threads in new tabs, hit the back button to get to the main forum list, and click on the next forum. The server then takes a long time to respond (60 seconds or so), and when it does finally display the list of threads in the forum, they’re all marked read. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/49 "2013-01-22T21:45:30Z")
Happened again (opened from the subscribed list, timer reset in the 0.02 seconds it took to retrieve new posts) only this time it only had “threads contain[ing] unread posts” back to when it reset. The subscription list (correctly) had me last logging in last night but the threads I opened from it in separate tabs had the reset timer … um, time. I’m mentioning this every time primarily in case someone sees a pattern I’m missing, or someone who knows about the server state or whatever can correlate it to something. I’m not trying to sound like I’m just complaining. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/50 "2013-01-22T21:51:20Z")
After the edit window I discovered that some of the tabs had the old time and some the more recent one. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/51 "2013-01-23T01:57:27Z")
It hasn’t happened for me in a couple days, but I realized a pattern today. I come in, check one subforum, right clicking “go to first unread post” and opening in a new tab, then going back and going to the next subforum, which sounds like something a few people say they do. But with me, it’s always timed me out after I check subforum number 1 and go back to the main forum page. When I go to subforum 2 and go back, it doesn’t reset from that point, and same with all subsequent subforums. If it were entirely random, you’d think sometimes I’d go to subforum 3, go back to the main page, and find all them all reset, but that doesn’t happen, only when I do it the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/52 "2013-01-23T01:59:26Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > What’s been happening to me lately is that I go to a forum, open some threads in new tabs, hit the back button to get to the main forum list, and click on the next forum. The server then takes a long time to respond (60 seconds or so), and when it does finally display the list of threads in the forum, they’re all marked read. It just happened to me again, on a completely different computer (a Mac versus the PC I was talking about earlier). ---
**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:** [January 23, 2013, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/53 "2013-01-23T02:46:38Z")
For me, I always begin by clicking on User CP to see a list of subscribed threads that have been posted to since my last session. Usually when this glitch happens, it just shows everything Read since my last session as soon as I log on. But occasionally it will not show everything Read until I click on one thread, review the posts, then return to User CP. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2013, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/54 "2013-01-26T01:43:49Z")
This time I was last here the 23rd, and the timer reset to an hour before I logged on today. I don’t understand that at all. ---
**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:** [January 27, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/55 "2013-01-27T02:10:42Z")
Happened again. Logged on after signing off earlier this morning – it’s Sunday morning here now – nine subscribed threads posted to, looked at two of them and suddenly all are marked as Read. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/56 "2013-01-28T16:35:24Z")
Phooey. Forget “five minutes” – it just happened after two minutes. Logged in and started in ATMB; at 11:33 my time, switched to Cafe Society where it showed my a full page of gray envelopes and informed me that I’d last logged in at 11:31. Grrr. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/57 "2013-01-28T16:57:45Z")
Yep. It’s happening to me roughly half the time now. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2013, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/58 "2013-01-29T03:03:17Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Phooey. Forget “five minutes” – it just happened after two minutes. Logged in and started in ATMB; at 11:33 my time, switched to Cafe Society where it showed my a full page of gray envelopes and informed me that I’d last logged in at 11:31. Grrr. If it’s happening even to the Mods now, that’s serious. ---
**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:** [January 29, 2013, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/59 "2013-01-29T15:00:50Z")
And again. All posts and threads Read as of logging on. Grrr. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2013, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423/60 "2013-01-31T19:14:12Z")
I’m also getting sort of a weird opposite effect during the last few days. Normally, I can visit and read (visit A) and then come back an hour or so later (visit B) and the “new posts” will have updated, so only posts made between A and B are flagged. Now, on visit B, I’m still seeing all the same posts that were flagged in visit A still flagged during visit B. So I see new posts in a thread I’m following and open in, only to be taken to the same post I saw on visit A. Obviously, I would expect this to happen if the time difference between A and B was, like, 5-10 minutes, but I’m seeing it now when the difference is an hour or more. This has only been happening for the last few days - a week at most. I’ve never before seen that behavior in the 10+ years I’ve been here. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/read-unread-timer-resetting-c-5-minutes-into-a-session/646423.md?page=4)