# What were you THINKING? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 13, 2023, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532 "2023-10-13T19:36:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 114
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2261 "2024-04-12T01:17:46Z")
Less spammy strategy: make a single no-spoiler thread, and ask participants to indicate the first episode that would be spoiled by the blurred out section. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2262 "2024-04-12T03:25:35Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > It’s just bad practice that IMHO should be discouraged. Than you should get the moderators to discourage it. In ATMB. Kvetching in the Pit will accomplish precisely dick. (Well, it might make you feel better. That’s not nothing.) ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2263 "2024-04-12T04:00:49Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > That’s true, but at the time I didn’t notice a tag that was specific to those threads, though I see there definitely is one now, thanks for pointing that out. Those threads annoyed the fuck out of me until it was pointed out that they shared a tag I could mute and they’d all vanish. Then I was quite pleased. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2264 "2024-04-12T04:28:27Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Less spammy strategy: make a single no-spoiler thread, and ask participants to indicate the first episode that would be spoiled by the blurred out section. This seems like the best option. And second best is to just assume that people either binge the show or can wait to discuss it (or don’t mind spoilers) and have a single open-spoiler-after-first-post thread. I agree that a thread for every episode feels spammy. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2265 "2024-04-12T05:10:44Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@wolfpup](#): > > > > That’s true, but at the time I didn’t notice a tag that was specific to those threads, though I see there definitely is one now, thanks for pointing that out. > > Those threads annoyed the fuck out of me until it was pointed out that they shared a tag I could mute and they’d all vanish. Then I was quite pleased. How do I mute all threads tagged with the mmm-song-poll? I know how to mute a single thread one at a time. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2266 "2024-04-12T05:44:50Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > How do I mute all threads tagged with the mmm-song-poll? Click on “Tags” and search for “mmm-song-poll”; if you navigate to CS first, you will only see CS-related tags and can find “mmm-song-poll” directly. Click on it. All the obnoxious relevant threads will appear. Over on the top right, next to the “New Topic” button, the bell that allows you to mute the entire tag category appears. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2267 "2024-04-12T18:16:56Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Agreed, but for me, the MMM song thread fiasco was even worse, because I had to keep muting them as they came up. And there were more than 36 of them because in addition to letters and numbers a few cropped up for symbols, too. What a major clusterfuck that was! At least in this case I could mute all nine of the stupid things at one time. How are you reading the Dope such that these need active muting? My technique is to look at the [New] page a couple times a day and click on the ones I’m interested in, then click [Dismiss New] and any of the others disappear from [New]. Unless I go searching for them, or somebody @'s me in one of them, I’ll never see them again. Other than that I live on the [Unread] page which shows all the threads I’ve been reading or posting to that have fresh content I’ve not yet seen. I just go back and forth between catching up to all the [Unread]s, and checking [New] for anything interesting, then dismissing the [New] that are uninteresting. Lotta ways to use the Dope, but some are more laborious than others. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2268 "2024-04-12T18:37:17Z")
I use Latest Posts for all my general browsing. I seem to miss threads of interest when I use New. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2269 "2024-04-12T18:38:48Z")
I use _latest_ too. I can annoy a lot more folks that way🤗 ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2270 "2024-04-12T18:49:55Z")
Ditto. I mostly bounce back and forth between “latest” and “unread” ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2271 "2024-04-12T18:56:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > How are you reading the Dope such that these need active muting? The way I navigate the Dope may not be optimal, but it just evolved from the way Discourse works by default, namely the display of “Latest” posts by default on the home (top-level) page. This seems like a good idea because it gives you, at a glance, the latest posts across the board in chronological order, excepting only forums or threads that you have muted. The problem arises when too much junk that I don’t care about shows up in the list, effectively taking up the limited number of entries that are displayed by default. Then I mute whichever threads are showing up often so they never appear on that list. The problem arises when a single topic unnecessarily spreads itself over many threads like crude oil oozing out of a tanker that’s run aground, I have to mute each and every one individually. Of course having to do so is not the end of the world, and doesn’t rise to the level of something I should take up mods’ time debating in ATMB, but is it too much to ask that one subject be kept to one thread as a matter of good practice? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2272 "2024-04-12T19:02:05Z")
If you (e.g. Beck, Troutman, etc] have your settings set appropriately, any thread you’ve ever looked at or posted to will appear in [Unread] if somebody resurrects it. The only way a thread can end up in [Latest] but not also seen in [New] or [Unread] is if you dismissed it from [New], or unfollowed it from [Unread] at some time in the past. Or if it’s being awakened for the first time since we moved to Discourse which is 5(!) years ago now. @wolfpup: I too found the several Fallout threads to be an abuse of board culture. I’m not sure what this means: > [@wolfpup](#): > > but it just evolved from the way Discourse works by default, namely the display of “Latest” posts by default on the home (top-level) page. Discourse doesn’t (necessarily) work that way. Under your personal profile page under Preferences \>\> Interface you can choose what page is the default that comes up wiith the bare url `www.straightdope.com`. I have [Categories] for that setting to mimic vBulletin’s way, but my browser favorite is pointed at `www.straightdope.com/new` and that’s normally how I start a browsing session: from that browser favorite. You do you; I’m just pointing out there are several ways to skin this cat. None of which are difficult to learn to use, and some of which may be less vexing in the using. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2273 "2024-04-12T19:05:33Z")
Oy. All those workarounds are too confusing for doddering old me. I just click into the board, go to one of the five forums I read in, run down the thread titles and click into the ones with the little blue number if there are new posts to what I’m following, or cursor-preview something that looks interesting; then drop down past the last thread post to new and unread to find other blue-number threads I’ve followed in that forum. Then forum-jump and repeat. It sounds slow, but it catches me up with what I’m following and gives me a quick look at anything else that seems worth opening. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2274 "2024-04-12T19:06:27Z")
I’m another that uses “New” and “Unread” for my fix. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2275 "2024-04-12T19:07:07Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Discourse doesn’t (necessarily) work that way. Under your personal profile page under Preferences \>\> Interface you can choose what page is the default that comes up wiith the bare url `www.straightdope.com`. I have [Categories] for that setting to mimic vBulletin’s way, but my browser favorite is pointed at `www.straightdope.com/new` and that’s normally how I start a browsing session: from that browser favorite. Fair enough, but in my role as official board pedant, may I point out that “default” by definition means the way a system works if you don’t explicitly make configuration changes! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2276 "2024-04-12T19:09:44Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The only way a thread can end up in [Latest] but not also seen in [New] or [Unread] is if you dismissed it from [New], or unfollowed it from [Unread] at some time in the past. Or if it’s being awakened for the first time since we moved to Discourse which is 5(!) years ago now. Yeah, these are both reasons I don’t use New and Unread. There are enough interesting ressurections that I don’t want to miss, and there are also threads I skip over initially but decide to peruse later when I see them getting a lot of responses. And Discourse was only _four_ years ago. Don’t make me feel older than I already am. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2277 "2024-04-12T19:11:18Z")
Snort. We’re all older. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2278 "2024-04-12T19:12:13Z")
LA LA LA! I can’t hear you! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2279 "2024-04-12T19:12:49Z")
One’s hearing does tend to go when one gets OLD. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-were-you-thinking/991532/2280 "2024-04-12T19:28:43Z")
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