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Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

I have a few complaints about forum navigation, as they still persist.

 

1. When reading messages in a thread, when you get to the bottom and there more pages, when you click Next or a new page number, often you get an error screen and have to return to the previous page and try a different way. This mostly happens with newer postings.

 

2. When I got the above error and went back, I would then try clicking Message Listing at the bottom, which would take me back to the thread, showing more new messages. This doesn't work half the time anymore, again mostly on newer, active threads.

 

3. A popular way to get back to the thread you're reading after the the above two ways don't work is to click the forum you're reading is the navigation panel on the right. The problem with that is if it's a long thread, you have to scroll all the way up again. This could be fixed by making the navigation panel floating, always in view, or having a Top button at the bottom of the page.

 

4. My kludge to get around those above problems is to hit Ctrl-Home to get to the top and then click the forum name at the top again, but this should not be necessary if the board was configured more user friendly.

 

 

***Edited Labels***


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario
78 REPLIES 78

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

@roxandtreez

 

In regards to your previous post, it was caught by Lithium's Spam filter because it contained mulitple URLs. I left you a PM to notify.

 

You also shouldn't need to use incognito mode to access our Community. I personally test everything on Internet Explorer, Firefox and Chrome on normal settings. 

 

Is it possible to share how you navigate our Community and get to that thread? I am curious as to how you got the unique URL as my regular navigation steps generate a different URL.

 

For example, here is my navigation steps if I were trying to access the TV Board using the navigation bar on the side

Home Page > Internet, TV & Home Phone > TV > scroll down to UPDATED NextBox Navigatr

 

If I can find out how you got your unique URL http://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/forums/forumtopicpage/message-uid/338457#U338457, I can further trouble and fix.  

 

Also, earlier in the thread, @OLDYELLR mentioned the issue with the Previous Topic/Next Topic which was acknowledged and resolved. We will be working to resolve the Next/Previous Post with you now.

 

Thanks

RogerRoland

 

 

 

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

roxandtreez
I'm a senior contributor

@RogersRoland

 

Interesting!  I didn't know about the spam filter and multiple URLs.  With the second post, I just pasted the links as raw text, but they got converted to links automatically if they started with HTTP.

 

I get to the Navigatr thread the same way you described.  That is after signing in on Rogers.com, usually checking my usage and then clicking Community Forums at the bottom of the page.

 

I usually work through the other boards first and hit the TV board last.  I only use the TV board to see if any progress is being made with Navigatr in case I ever want to resubscribe to Rogers TV.  Since I don't have TV, I avoid making contributions in the TV board as I have no way to test my advice.

 

I tested by opening your link in a new tab.  It took me to page 1 of the Update Navigatr thread and all the links (next/prev and page numbers are correct).  This leads me to think that the problem is in the page that displays the list of topics and that something has already gone wrong at that point.

 

I have a theory that explains why yours works and mine doesn't.  I took a look at your post history and it only goes back to February this year.  I have been signing on since August, before the changes to the site.  I think that something was written into cookies, data or something in a prior release of the forums and I am picking it up and it is causing the problem.  You have only signed in after the updated site, and so the problem data is not written into your cookies, or the server side data that the cookie points to.

 

I have reproduced this problem on multiple browsers on multiple machines that I use.  The only time I got it to work was when I signed on with a machine that had never been used to sign in to Rogers.  That is the same as you signing in this year after the bad data is written.

 

By the way, the next/prev links in this thread are not working now that the number of pages has reached 3.

 

At this point, solving the problem is more of an intellectual exercise - I hate to leave problems unanswered.  I can get by with the work arounds.  There are much bigger problems for Rogers to solve.  

 

Let me know if I can send you any further diagnostic information - perhaps a listing of the web page code would provide some information.  I have taken a look at it, but the links in the code are bad, which leads me to believe that the error is being generated server-side.

 

Thanks for you continued assistance.

 

 

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

roxandtreez
I'm a senior contributor

@RogersRoland

 

I thought about this issue overnight, and did a couple of additional tests based on your link that you included.  First, I checked my history and noticed that this problem started for me around the beginning of November.  Until then I had not noticed the issue.  I thought it might have had something to do with changing the Rogers login from a userid to an e-mail account, but the forums use an alias, so that should be in place before even entering the forums.

 

I was planning on creating another forums account to see if the problem migrated.  While looking up how to create an additional e-mail account, I realized that if I don't sign in to the forums, then the problem goes away, the same as if I was using incognito mode.

 

Now, if I don't sign in, then all the topics are flagged as unread (bold).  Reading a few pages, then closing the page and then going back in again leaves the topic as bold and clicking it goes back to page 1, not to the page last read.  This implies that the indication of the last post read is not stored locally in a cookie, but must be stored on the server accoring to the userid.  This makes sense, because if I delete all the Rogers cookies, they are recreated the next time I sign in, and the last post read is retained.

 

This means that there must be a data store on the Lithium server that keeps the following:

 

userid/board/topic/last post read.

 

When I click on the bold topic, the server must look up the last post read and find the next post that has not been read.  Usually this is the first new post, but I have noticed that if posts are moved from one thread to another, it will jump back to older unread posts.  If there are no unread posts, or if the thread has never been read, then it starts at the first post in the thread.

 

Therefore, the piece of code that needs to be examined is the code that prepares the navigation for the thread based on the last post read.  What is different about the data stored for my account versus your account that causes an incorrect URL to be generated?

 

I also realized that there are no "Rogers developers" for the Forums.  You are a customer of Lithium, and make use of their software the same way I make use of a word processor.  There is probably no option but to open a problem with support at Lithium and I don't think there is enough information for them to diagnose the issue.  As far as I can tell there are only 3-4 users who have reported this issue.

 

I'll keep thinking about the issue and see if I can provide any further info.

 

 

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

@roxandtreez wrote:

Now, if I don't sign in, then all the topics are flagged as unread (bold).  Reading a few pages, then closing the page and then going back in again leaves the topic as bold and clicking it goes back to page 1, not to the page last read.  This implies that the indication of the last post read is not stored locally in a cookie, but must be stored on the server accoring to the userid.  This makes sense, because if I delete all the Rogers cookies, they are recreated the next time I sign in, and the last post read is retained.

 


 

 


When I'm signed in, clicking a bold topic never takes me to my first unread post, but to the first post. That is why, before the last forum enhancements, I would click the bold new posts column, which is gone now. The only way I can find posts I haven't read is to go to the main page and click View All Recent Activity about halfway down, bur that shows me all the topics on the board, not just the few I follow, so I have to go back five or more pages sometimes and look for posts in bold that seem familiar to me. I suspect half your problems are a result of the latest enhancements.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

 

I found the reason why some users like @roxandtreez are experiencing this unique issue.

 

There's actually a setting in your "My Settings" that directs you do the first unread post. I noticed it was enabled on roxandtreez's profile. With that enabled, it will always direct the user to a specific post, which also results in an unique URL compared to the regular "Board and Topic" style.

 

Here is where that setting is located.

jumpunreadpost.JPG

 

 

With the root cause found, we will have this addressed and resolved shortly.  

 

Thank you for your patience and also bringing this to our attention.

 

 

RogersRoland

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

Thank you, thank you! I never even knew there was a "Jump to first unread post in a topic" check box, and it does work.

 

The first unread post is highlighted with a flesh tone background. However, scrolling down and clicking Next > gives me this:


An invalid set of parameters has been specified in the url.
Return to my original page

 

and I have to go back and click Back to Board and start again to get the next new post. Obviously "Next" means two different things when looking for new posts or just paging through a topic. It would be nice if it worked for both.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

roxandtreez
I'm a senior contributor

@RogersRoland

 

Amazing!  I don't remember checking that box, but it is quite possible that I did.  The only time I remember adjusting the settings was within the first couple of weeks of using the forums when I turned off all the e-mail notifications.  It looks like there are other settings I might find useful, but I am going to hold off until the next/prev issue is resolved.  Experience has taught me to only change one thing at a time and I don't want to cause any new issues by changing other settings.

 

If you check the box in your settings, do you now get the same reults as I do?

 

Thank you for your help.

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

@roxandtreez wrote:

It looks like there are other settings I might find useful, but I am going to hold off until the next/prev issue is resolved.

 

If you check the box in your settings, do you now get the same reults as I do?

 


I've checked the box and tried it out on a forum I'm not following, shomi, which has lots of topics I haven't read. When I click on the first page number of a large topic it takes me to the first page and I can go from page to page using the Next and Prev links or the page numbers. However, if I click on the bold text of the topic in Back to Board, it takes me to the first unread post and the Next, Prev and page numbers don't work and give me that error message. The board software must think I want the next unread message, not the next page and it isn't programmed to do that. I have to return to Back to Board and click the bold text again to get the next unread message. That is where next/prev doesn't work and it didn't with the previous revision when I was clicking the unread messages column. Until now I thought it was an intermittent problem, but now I see the difference.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

I should have added now that I know how to view Unread Posts by checking the box in my Settings, my plea to reinstate the unread posts column in Back to Board isn't really important.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

I also encountered the same error you got originally once I enabled the setting; It took me a lot longer to replicate this error so I definitely appreciate your patience @roxandtreez. I have logged the ticket with Lithium and will keep everyone updated when I receive further information.

 

As of right now, Previous Page and Next Page functions will result in a broken URL if you are viewing a unique or highlighted post. 

 

RogersRoland

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing


@OLDYELLR wrote:

I should have added now that I know how to view Unread Posts by checking the box in my Settings, my plea to reinstate the unread posts column in Back to Board isn't really important.


 

@OLDYELLR

 

I logged the ticket regardless. It is something I personally feel is beneficial to the Community.

 

Stay tuned!

 

RogersRoland

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

roxandtreez
I'm a senior contributor

@RogersRoland

 

I know I am being greedy asking for this, but while they are fixing the next/prev issue with the checkbox, it would be great if the Next Topic link also observed the preference to show the first unread.

 

This would make it very easy to scroll through multiple topics, as in the TV or Internet boards.  If both these links worked, then you could start with the first unread topic in the board, click next until you reached the last page, and then click next topic to go to the first unread message in the next thread.

 

I'll settle for just having the next/prev fixed, but the Next Topic working the same way wold be a bonus.

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

@roxandtreez,

 

I will note the request and see if Lithium can get it implemented. I will keep everyone posted if I get additional information.

 

On a side note, are there any users experiencing issues when using Internet Explorer?

 

 

RogersRoland

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

I hate to be the complainer here, but what happened to fixing the "next" function when you have seen the "new" messages in a topic and there is another page to go? Clicking "next" gives an error screen and you have to use the browser back button and click "Back to board" to get to the next page. It seems these little annoyances get put on the back burner and only major disasters, like not being able to sign in at all get addressed.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

jays77
I'm a trusted contributor

@OLDYELLR wrote:

I hate to be the complainer here, but what happened to fixing the "next" function when you have seen the "new" messages in a topic and there is another page to go? Clicking "next" gives an error screen and you have to use the browser back button and click "Back to board" to get to the next page. It seems these little annoyances get put on the back burner and only major disasters, like not being able to sign in at all get addressed.


Any updates on this situation?  It is really frustrating if you are on page 27 of a thread and want to go back 4 or 5 pages to read  previous post.  In fact it is next to impossible unless you have half a day to work your way up to the page you want.

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

@jays77 I brought yo the "next" problem months ago and it was acknowledged by a moderator and supposedly put on a "to do" list. There may not be a simple solution because of how this board works. The "next" links work when just browsing but not when you get a "new" post.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

It looks like after the weekend maintenance the forum navigation was screwed up. Now there is no longer a panel on the right to go to another forum. Smiley Mad


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

jays77
I'm a trusted contributor
I noticed that but it seems to be there now.

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

Yes, the navigation panel was back yesterday, but now it's taking me THREE attempts to sign in.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

jays77
I'm a trusted contributor

You just can't win can you? Smiley Wink  I have had no problem signing in lately , but don't tell anyone,

Re: Forum Navigation - what needs fixing

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

I suspect the sign-in problem is related to Firefox, the most popular neutral browser out there today. Forget about Chrome and all the cellphones, concentrate on Firefox.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario
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