This post (link: Link back to this forum) got me thinking...

Currently, the main page is organised thusly:

Inside a game, you get:

Private Messages get something similar:

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There is an issue apparently where the "new post image" sometimes does not appear.  This can sometimes be a caching issue, which means it's sometimes out of our control.
What I propose is a redundancy, and a usability improvement.

Modify the "inside a game" main page similar to the main RPOL page:

Only thread with new messages would get the red colouring.
Want a QoL improvement?  If you can parse the new post and determine if their are private (not secret) lines to the logged in user), colour the message count purple...
(Note there's no room for blue here, because there's no possibility of a new private-only message in the thread.)

Just a suggestion...
This message was last edited by the user at 22:06, Sun 03 Dec 2023.

Ooo. That would be nice to know if there is a single new message or whether there are 10 since the last time you logged in to that game.

As a player, I can edit a PM into an old post.  As a GM, I can add private messages into other people's posts.

However, I, personally, can't see any value to any of the changes suggested in this thread.  They would not change my behaviour as a player - I would open the thread to look at the post(s) regardless.  And if the proposals aren't going to change the way people use the interface -  why is it worth the effort of doing it?

*Evil Grin*  Except perhaps ....  I could start a new type of game by adding a PM in message #35 of a 750 post thread ....

For clarity (and because accuracy in communication is important), it's not possible to include a PM (Private Message) in a post.  You can include a Private Line (as in: "Private to..."), but even then, some portion of the post must be public -- even it's only the letters "PM" (as I've seen others do).

The value comes in a few places:

1. a redundant notification scheme to new messages.  Sometimes the new message image does not load.
   
2. utilising an already-familiar notification scheme (red/blue/purple) in a new place.  Users are already trained (through experience) to look for these markers.
   
3. as jackDTodd mentioned:  [the ability] to know if there is a single new message or whether there are 10 since the last time you logged in to that game.  Though this requires pre-knowledge of how many messages there were before (some people are not that detail-oriented).

In the case of a purple notification for the inclusion of Private Lines, there'd have to be a limitation on which messages are parsed.  There's a soft limit of 1,000 messages per thread, and you don't want the function behind the scenes to have to parse up to 1,000 messages every time.  My suggestion is limited to only parsing the "new" messages (being the delta between the last time the user opened that thread (or used the "mark all as read" link) and now...).

Um...isn't purple already being used for the combination of Private Messages and Open (to those that can access the thread) posts. if you're going to flag Private Lines We're going to need a new color for a post with a private line, as well. Or combination of colors, in case of a private message, too.

And that way lies madness, as you now have 3 discrete indicators (open, open with PL, PM), 3 combinations of 2, and one combination of 3.

Might be best all around to leave it alone. There's a message in an open(ish) thread. It might or might not have a PL to you. Read it and find out. You're going to read it either way, anyhow.

I'm sorry, but have I misunderstood the situation? Quite possible.

Yes, you've misunderstood.  My suggestion was about the in-game page -- the page which loads after you've entered a game, showing the specific threads for the game, not the main rpol page (which shows all games you're playing in).

I feel like the conversation about private lines is taking up too much room here.  Can we start by just talking about the possibility of:

• moving the message count in the thread from the middle column to its own space in a third column:
• utilising the existing red colour when a thread has new messages.

This message was last edited by the user at 02:13, Mon 04 Dec 2023.

No, it seems like I understood fine. But I wasn't talking about your pet issue, but the other issue on this thread: Private Line indicators. And, yes, in game, as that's the only place they happen.

My point was that they are probably pointless and a lot more work than necessary to implement.

Unfortunately this suggestion is based on a false assumption:


There's no evidence this is the case.  There's no caching that could possibly cause this besides the entire page being cached, in which case it'll serve an entirely stale page and any redundancies will be stale as well.

By the description the issue is the front game page doesn't think there's any new threads for the user.  This is actually new information for me so I'll pull on that thread (pun intended).

Fair.  It's happened to me (obviously, otherwise I wouldn't report it), but it's always been cured by forcing a refresh from the server.  So yeah: stale page.  Typically happens when I can see from my PC that there are new posts, but my phone does not report them.  And phone browsers are famous for caching because of spotty internet connections.

I suppose I'm coming at it from a usability point of view.  On the main rpol page, we look to the right of the page to identify "new" information.
On the game page, we're asked to look to the left of the page for "new" information.  My suggestion makes the presentation consistent.

In reply to patchwolf (msg # 9):

I'd pose that would be a suggestion to move the indicator, not sure we need multiple indicators triggering... that could trigger eye twitching.  (c;