Muting Topics (and dismissing topics/posts see post 25)

With coronavirus leading to an increase in off-topic threads, I thought this might be a good time to remind people who still want to use the forums for helping or finding information, how to mute topics and how to find them again…

  1. Muting topics: Simply select ‘Muted’ from the tracking options inside the thread.

  2. Opening threads that have previously been muted: Go to 'preferences, click on categories and select ‘show’ as shown:

and lastly it is also possible to mute a whole category if you wish to do so. eg General Chat.

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I like general chat. Isn’t that the point of having it? For off topic threads?

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Yes, I guess it is but it’s worth telling those that aren’t interested how to mute it so they can still use forums without the clutter.

Unfortunately the muted threads still prompt the ‘New or updated topics count’ in the tab which I don’t have a solution for.

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Do the muted threads show up when clicking on that tab? Or is there a counting discrepancy when viewing that?

That seems like a bug that should be reported to the Discourse developers.

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After some less than rigorous testing, I believe that if you mute a whole category then everything works as it should but if you only mute certain threads then the count in the tab still comes up to show there is something new to look at. :unamused:

This came up after the latest post in ‘Guess the person…’ which I have muted:

which makes it a little harder to keep an eye on forums because the system ‘cries wolf’ through no fault of the posters.

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Seems like a bug, or at least a good suggestion for a design improvement.

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Done. Another site, another account, usual password too short. I am either an eternal optimist or a fool. https://meta.discourse.org/t/muted-topics-still-notifying-me-on-meta/40124/6

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using the same or similar password for more than one site is asking for trouble…

[ my current PW manager, can recommend ]


[ How Password Managers Work - Computerphile ]

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I was already using KeePassX, but I might switch over. I notice in the Bitwarden FAQs that it can import that data, so…

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FWIW, I recently switched to BW from LastPass and had no trouble exporting and importing my data over

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See also: General password security talk

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[:japanese_ogre:]
I don’t understand the “or” part.
[/:japanese_ogre:]

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If I mute a topic but someone @ me, quotes me or replies to a post I made long ago, will I be notified?

No, you will not be notified.

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It’s exactly the difference between “Normal” and “Muted”

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Muted also doesn’t appear in latest.
I would like topics to not appear in latest but know if someone @ me. I guess there’s not a distinction, though.

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You could make a suggestion for that. Although that might be the forum software, not the OGS side.

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This would very much be the forum software, but the good news is its community-oriented, so they’re always taking suggestions!

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For some reason, I feel like it’s a good time to remind people of the “Topic Muting” feature of these forums. I wouldn’t want anyone to feel annoyed.

:game_die:

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nonononono

don’t be that person. We want to be heard and loud!

Not silent and shut up by being muted.

Tbh I don’t really care much for some threads but I recommend muting a thread instead of a topic if you were to mute something.

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