Is it possible to have an ignore forum feature?

[Lorraine]

With the huge number of forums, subforums et al now on here it's getting harder to navigate around it. I have tried using 'View new posts' etc but there are some forums I virtually never look at, as well as some I'm not/can't be a member of.

On another forum (not phpbb) I've seen that it's possible to ignore various forums within your profile preferences. Then if you change your mind you can untick them later. I wonder if this is a possible modification with this new version of phpbb. I think it would be a great idea.

So, is it possible?

Lorraine

[Twyrch]

I know what you mean!

It's extremely annoying to log into the forum every day and see that something in Druid Living has been updated and then check it out only to find that Sages and Crones is the only sub-forum posted in. The same thing applies to the foreign forums as well as the Ovate and Druid forums.

It was tolerable in the old version because once you closed out, the tags were reset to show all forums had been read. It doesn't do that now, so I'm manually going through every forum and subforum right now, marking each area as "READ" so the next time I log in, I can actually see what's been updated.

At least if you go to the parent index, you can mark all forums read for subforums you don't have access to... it's just a manual process.

[Kernos]

Not at this point, Lorraine. Perhaps a mod will be available someday, but I doubt it. I have had a similar frustration, partly because I have not yet figured out the new Category and Forum structure and in part because I think there are still some bugs in this still beta software.

I use the new posts link and subscribe to the forums I mod. I am not convinced the new posts link works correctly all the time, though. I think it shows things as new which are not really new, but this may be because my work and home IP's are much different, and part of the validation of the board depends on one's IP.

IP validation is configurable in the ACP and confusing

Session IP validation:
Determines how much of the users IP is used to validate a session; All compares the complete address, A.B.C the first x.x.x, A.B the first x.x, None disables checking. On IPv6 addresses A.B.C compares the first 4 blocks and A.B the first 3 blocks.

It is now set as A.B.C (the default) - so if your IP changes during a session you may have to log in again and the un-read flags MAY change.

One can also use browser validation (user agent)

Validate browser:
Enables browser validation for each session improving security.

If on, one would lose validation if you switched browsers during a session or (as I often do), login in with more than one browser to see browser differences or see user differences. This is now turned off.

A security setting I dont understand yet is

Validated X_FORWARDED_FOR header:
Sessions will only be continued if the sent X_FORWARDED_FOR header equals the one sent with the previous request. Bans will be checked against IPs in X_FORWARDED_FOR too.
Yes No

The default is off and I have left t that way until I understand it.

Finally there is one pref which seems obvious ( )

Check IP against DNS Blackhole List:
If enabled the user’s IP address is checked against the following DNSBL services on registration and posting: spamcop.net, dsbl.org and http://www.spamhaus.org. This lookup may take a while, depending on the server’s configuration. If slowdowns are experienced or too many false positives reported it is recommended to disable this check.

The default is on and is on.

Again, I am not sure all this works as it should and we need to look into the IP validation more closely to determine the best settings for our international board.

If you want to see a bugtracker list for phpBB 3.0.x look at http://www.phpbb.com/bugs/phpbb3/tickets.php

[John T. Folden]

It was tolerable in the old version because once you closed out, the tags were reset to show all forums had been read. It doesn't do that now, so I'm manually going through every forum and subforum right now, marking each area as "READ" so the next time I log in, I can actually see what's been updated.

There's an option called "Mark Forums Read" on the main board index (or at least there is in the ProSilver theme, I'm too lazy to check SubSilver2 at this point in the day).

John

[John T. Folden]

I use the new posts link and subscribe to the forums I mod. I am not convinced the new posts link works correctly all the time, though. I think it shows things as new which are not really new, but this may be because my work and home IP's are much different, and part of the validation of the board depends on one's IP.

Yes, the View new Posts option partly goes off of info for your last session, so I can see how logging in from multiple locations and different IP's could play a bit of havoc on occasion. Also, even if you just pop into the board from an email notification to read one thread and then close the browser that still effects the reset point for new posts.

IP validation is configurable in the ACP and confusing

Session IP validation:
Determines how much of the users IP is used to validate a session; All compares the complete address, A.B.C the first x.x.x, A.B the first x.x, None disables checking. On IPv6 addresses A.B.C compares the first 4 blocks and A.B the first 3 blocks.

It is now set as A.B.C (the default) - so if your IP changes during a session you may have to log in again and the un-read flags MAY change.

I think A.B.C is the best option off the top of my head. If someone logs in with the IP address 10.20.30.40 and then later logs in with 10.20.30.50 (due to dynamic addressing of IPs by their ISP, etc) then they shouldn't have trouble with re-logging in or un-read flags. Only if the numbers change in one of the first 3 position would it throw up a flag.

One can also use browser validation (user agent)

Validate browser:
Enables browser validation for each session improving security.

If on, one would lose validation if you switched browsers during a session or (as I often do), login in with more than one browser to see browser differences or see user differences. This is now turned off.

Validation would, also, fail if one quit their browser between visits to the board, if I understand this feature correctly. So, if user A logs into DHP and then quits IE7, and then user B comes along and opens IE7 to visit the board they would have to log in themselves.

A security setting I dont understand yet is

Validated X_FORWARDED_FOR header:
Sessions will only be continued if the sent X_FORWARDED_FOR header equals the one sent with the previous request. Bans will be checked against IPs in X_FORWARDED_FOR too.
Yes No

The default is off and I have left t that way until I understand it.

This has to do with IP spoofing... say a browser reports logging in from a certain IP while in actuality the connection is coming from an entirely different address. I think this is best left off. I've not read into it a lot but unless you get a lot of registrations and spam attacks using a spoofed address then I would think it could cause more trouble than it's worth.

[Explorer]

John, I'm impressed by your knowledge about this stuff. Admins, don't let him escape! Pamper him, bribe him or tie him to a tree! (the last option is more common for bards).

[John T. Folden]

John, I'm impressed by your knowledge about this stuff. Admins, don't let him escape! Pamper him, bribe him or tie him to a tree! (the last option is more common for bards).

Awww, thanks Explorer!

In some circles it would no doubt be considered sad that I have all this obscure info floating around in my head.

[Explorer]

John, I'm impressed by your knowledge about this stuff. Admins, don't let him escape! Pamper him, bribe him or tie him to a tree! (the last option is more common for bards).

Awww, thanks Explorer!

In some circles it would no doubt be considered sad that I have all this obscure info floating around in my head.

Well, you are manifesting it, so it's not that obscure anymore . Thank you for helping these guys (which is also in my interest ofcourse ).

[Lorraine]

It's extremely annoying to log into the forum every day and see that something in Druid Living has been updated and then check it out only to find that Sages and Crones is the only sub-forum posted in.

Same here.

At least if you go to the parent index, you can mark all forums read for subforums you don't have access to... it's just a manual process.

[/quote]

Thanks, that's what I'm doing for now. It's better than nothing!

Lorraine

[Twyrch]

Lorraine,

I'm glad my suggestions are helpful.

One other thing I'm doing is once I'm done browsing the forum, I click on [Board Index] and then mark all forums read there as well. That way, when I return, I can just quickly browse through the forum on [View Posts Since Last Visit] and see what's been read and what hasn't, since that feature doesn't work 100% at the moment.