Posted by robertmaynord on Thu, Dec 27, 2018 - 4:15pm

When I first subscribed to the forum, I chose to be automatically enrolled in all new conversations (topics).  Now that there is a large number of topics, I would prefer to limit my enrollment and not be automatically signed up for every new one.  However, in the settings I do not see a place to do this (other than the long list of existing topics and their "enable" and "disable" buttons under email settings).  My question is, how do I turn off the automatic enrollment for new topics? 

Most helpful answers

I do see that option. 

I do see that option.  However, the hover message says it is used to stop following the "Forum Category".  This seems to apply only to that specific single conversation.  Under my email settings, I see a very long list of conversations, most of which I am subscribed to, and I am auto-subscribed to all new conversations. My goal is to not be auto-subscribed to all new conversations.

It seems that there is perhaps a bit of terminology confusion (maybe it is just me).  I see the following terms used somewhat interchangeably.....

1) forum
2) topic
3) category
4) conversation

Comments

Fri, Dec 28, 2018 - 9:57am by stpaultim

 

I am seeing an option at the bottom of the right column to stop following a forum. Is that available for you?

Fri, Dec 28, 2018 - 10:21am by robertmaynord

I do see that option.  However, the hover message says it is used to stop following the "Forum Category".  This seems to apply only to that specific single conversation.  Under my email settings, I see a very long list of conversations, most of which I am subscribed to, and I am auto-subscribed to all new conversations. My goal is to not be auto-subscribed to all new conversations.

It seems that there is perhaps a bit of terminology confusion (maybe it is just me).  I see the following terms used somewhat interchangeably.....

1) forum
2) topic
3) category
4) conversation

Fri, Dec 28, 2018 - 10:40am by stpaultim

You are correct, this is confusing. I understood "category" to be the same as "forum," but that might not be correct. In addition to your comments, we've also gotten a recent Tweet about providing the option to subscribe to individual topic threads in the forum.

As I look at the current situation, it's a little confusing and it's also not clear to me that it's working as intended. When I clicked on an unsubscribe link I got a message saying that I had been unsubscribed, but I still had access to another button that "unfollow" that topic. It's not clear to me if I have actually been unsubscribed. 

I think it might be time to schedule a Sprint on the forum and try to address some of these issues. 

Example: https://github.com/backdrop-ops/forum.backdropcms.org/issues/55

If this is something anyone wants to help us work on, let us know. I'm going to try and schedule time for these tasks in late January - after the next release is out. 

 

Fri, Dec 28, 2018 - 11:32am by stpaultim

OK. I've done a little testing and I think I can say with some confidence that the "Stop Following Forum" button will end your subscription to the current forum category that you are in. A "Forum Category" is one of the five main sections in the Backdrop Forums.

These are the 5 categories and these are what you are subscribing to or unsubscribing to when you "follow" or "stop following" a forum.  

  1. How to and Trouble Shooting
  2. Installation Questions
  3. Requests and Feedback
  4. Meet-Ups and Events
  5. Other

A "topic" is the same as a "conversation." You can follow or unfollow specific conversations. 

If you want to quit getting automatic notifications, please make sure to stop following all five forums. If you get any email notifications for new topics after doing that, please create an issue in the GitHub issue queue for the forum. 

https://github.com/backdrop-ops/forum.backdropcms.org/issues

Fri, Dec 28, 2018 - 12:21pm by robertmaynord

Thanks for your work on this question! My guess is it will help people who are mostly interested in navigating only one or maybe a few specific topics, rather than the entire spectrum of all the forum categories. 

It seems to me that the first easy way to improve things is to look at terminology.  For example, the "Stop Following Forum" button will end a subscription to the current forum category.  The term "forum" could conceivably refer to the entire site, or (as you note) the category (1 of 5), or even perhaps the specific conversation.   ---> just an example.

Best wishes...