# Suggestion for thread icons **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [May 19, 2003, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216 "2003-05-19T10:51:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/21 "2003-05-20T19:09:55Z")
The board has to do most of those things anyway to determine where the first unread post is. I guess it’s plausible, but I don’t see how anyone could have predicted it. ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/22 "2003-05-20T19:11:35Z")
Was that seriously the cause? That is insane. Well, thanks for fixing it **Jerry the Tech God**. Hard to believe that such a small dot could cause so much pain. ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/23 "2003-05-20T19:31:34Z")
In truth, what happened is that the hampsters got distracted by the appearance of the new icon, and kept stopping to look at it.😃 ---
**Author:** ![t-keela](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a3d4f5/32.png) [@t-keela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/t-keela)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/24 "2003-05-20T20:04:17Z")
Good lord, I thought the site had crashed…I couldn’t get anything to work. The boards would just go to “time out” and that’d be the end of it. I noticed the bullet holes the few times I got on (still couldn’t navigate though) If the slowdown is a result then forget it. I know what threads I’m in anyway. It’d been a good time for a “damned hamsters” smiley ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/25 "2003-05-20T20:38:46Z")
However, the dot does not appear to cause a slowdown on other boards. Perhaps this is a known problem in the release of the software run here? Perhaps the SDMB is running near capacity and this was merely the final straw - easily fixable with a hardware upgrade. Browsing other boards, I have found that the dot significantly enhances their usability. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/26 "2003-05-20T21:25:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*The board has to do most of those things anyway to determine where the first unread post is. I guess it’s plausible, but I don’t see how anyone could have predicted it. \*\* Yes and no. Determining first unread post is a bit less server intensive, since it needs to only look at posts until it finds the first one that was posted after the time you last logged in (don’t tell me you don’t log in, because as soon as you open the SDMB page, your cookie logs you in). On top of that, adding the second database query to implement the dots effectively doubles the server load when loading a thread-list page. And yes, **qts** the server _is_ operationg at near capacity. A hardware upgrade was performed several months ago and any capacity gain was quickly used up, and I wouldn’t hold my breath for another. What we got is what we got. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/27 "2003-05-20T21:29:33Z")
I have a cunning workaround; I have been marking the black dots myself with a magic marker. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/28 "2003-05-20T21:38:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Q.E.D. \* > Determining first unread post is a bit less server intensive, since it needs to only look at posts until it finds the first one that was posted after the time you last logged in (don’t tell me you don’t log in, because as soon as you open the SDMB page, your cookie logs you in). On top of that, adding the second database query to implement the dots effectively doubles the server load when loading a thread-list page. Hmmmm… I wonder if we could turn off _that_ feature and speed things up even more. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/29 "2003-05-20T21:46:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Achernar \* > \*\*Hmmmm… I wonder if we could turn off _that_ feature and speed things up even more. \*\* Actually, it probably would assuming the board software allows turning that off as a feature. Personally, I never use that feature anyway. Too bad they won’t let me at the board software, I could guarantee a 50% minimum performance gain. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![White\_Lightning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@White\_Lightning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/White_Lightning)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/30 "2003-05-20T22:23:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by \*\*qts \*\*\* > easily fixable with a hardware upgrade. Hahahaha! ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/31 "2003-05-20T22:30:48Z")
I took the liberty of emailling vBulletin directly, and got a response almost instantly: > [@](#): > > For support you’ll need to have the webmaster contact us directly. However it states specifically that this feature may be resource-intensive on some servers. > > All the best, > Steve Machol > Support Team, vBulletin Oh well. Apologies for having been the cause of so much disruption. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/32 "2003-05-20T23:50:05Z")
_BURN HIM!_ ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/33 "2003-05-21T00:08:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Happy Lendervedder \* > Eh, I found it a little distracting. At first I kept wondering how _every damn thread_ I’ve posted in could possibly be closed. Perhaps one of the mods is stalking you, **Happy**. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/34 "2003-05-21T00:23:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Mangetout \* > \*\*I have a cunning workaround; I have been marking the black dots myself with a magic marker. \*\* Thanks for my biggest laugh of the day. 🙂 As for the dot…If you can’t remember what thread you posted to…you have deeper problems. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/35 "2003-05-21T00:42:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Reeder \* > \*\*As for the dot…If you can’t remember what thread you posted to…you have deeper problems. \*\* … said the guy who posts 3 times a day … 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Exgineer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e4f/32.png) [@Exgineer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exgineer)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/36 "2003-05-21T00:43:26Z")
_That_ was the problem? That was what kept me off the boards for a day? Maybe I was was forced into an anal-retentive mindset by my education, but I don’t think “let’s try it and see what happens” is a good approach for doing anything. I like to have some general idea of the possible consequences beforehand. > [@](#): > > Originally posted by **Q.E.D.** : > > Too bad they won’t let me at the board software, I could guarantee a 50% minimum performance gain. I’m glad you put that grinny thing in there, buddy, because otherwise I’d take you seriously. I don’t care how good you are, I’d rather have the people who own it maintain it, thankyouverymuch. Even if they’re goining to do seat-of-the-pants experiments once in a while. ---
**Author:** ![moriah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b2d939/32.png) [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/37 "2003-05-21T01:28:13Z")
\*\*And now, famous last words: \*Let’s see… what does this button do? \*\*\* ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216/38 "2003-05-21T01:52:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exgineer \* > _That_ was the problem? > > That was what kept me off the boards for a day? > > Maybe I was was forced into an anal-retentive mindset by my education, but I don’t think “let’s try it and see what happens” is a good approach for doing anything. I like to have some general idea of the possible consequences beforehand. Yeah? I don’t remember hearing you complain when they put in the quick-reply box, or tested polls, or turned off default Email Notification. Nothing was ruined by this; it was a harmless experiment. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/suggestion-for-thread-icons/176216.md?page=1)