Subscribing to a forum

[nutmegct]

I'm subscribed to the Reed Organ forum. I have notifications (via email) turned on.

I receive notifications of replies to Reed Organ topics I've taken part in.

I receive *no* notifications of any new topics started in the Reed Organ forum. However, I *do* receive notifications of *replies* to any new topics (which is the only way I learn that a new topic has been started).

How can I receive notification that a new topic has been started in the Reed Organ forum (which I'm already subscribed to)?

Thanks.
Tom M.

[myorgan]

Tom,

Go to this link: https://organforum.com/forums/forum/...mp-reed-organs

At the top, right-hand of the list, see if there is a button to subscribe. If it says + Subscribe, you are not subscribed to the forum in question. If it has √ Subscribed, then you are subscribed to the forum in question.

Michael

[Admin]

I recently posted two articles on Subscriptions and Notifications that go into greater detail.
https://organforum.com/forums/articl...-notifications

Most of my subscriptions are at the Channel level and I definitely receive notifications when new topics are started in them. If you're still having problems after reading the articles, let me know.

[nutmegct]

Thanks gents. At the top of the Reed Organ forum, I see the Subscriptions label is checked.

On the top level Forum page, I can see all my topic subscriptions. I get email notifications of all posts in my subscribed topics. also, in the Notifications box at the top of each page, I see a number after the word Notifications. I click the Notifications box, and see a page showing all my recent notifications. But there are no notifications for any new topics - just for new posts in already subscribed topics.

I don't get notifications of *new* topics in the Reed Organ forum where I'm subscribed.

Tom M.

[Admin]

Note that you will never receive notifications for topics you start.

[Admin]

I'm unable to reproduce your problem. Here's what I did:

1. Created a Test User and subscribed him to the Pump & Reed organ channel. This subscription appears in his subscription list.


2. As Admin, I created a new topic in Pump & Reed Organs

3. After signing back in as Test User, a Notification Badge was displayed

4. Clicking the Notification Badge I viewed the list of the Test User's Notifications. Note that the topic I created as Admin is in the list.

5. Again as Test User I navigated to the Forum home page and clicked the My Subscriptions tab. Note that Admin's post, Subscription Test, is at the top of the list.

Note as well, that other posts from Pump & Reed also appear in that list, because Test User is subscribed to all the topics that channel.

6. Test User also received a notification via email



So, the notifications for new topics created in subscribed channels appears to working properly for the Test User. I don't know why its not working for you.

[nutmegct]

Thanks for delving deeper. At 3:20pm EST I received email notification of your new Reed Organ topic (the test). Here's the email text:

Dear nutmegct,

Admin has made a new post under
Subscription Test

The discussion is located at:
https://organforum.com/forums/node/734168

Here is the message that has been posted:
***************
This is a test of channel subscriptions and notifications for this channel. Please disregard. This message will eventually be deleted.

So I did receive notification of that new topic.

However, a new topic in the Reed Organ forum was created on 6/22, on "What is a C&G Chord Organ". I got no notification of that new topic. But at some date/time, that new topic was moved from Reed Organ to Home Organ, and today at 11:10 I received notification of the 11:08 first reply (post) to that topic. Here's the text, which is the first mention I received of that 6/22 topic. (I did check the last 30 days of emails, including deleted and spam emails.)

myorgan has made a new post under
What is a "C&G" Chord Organ?

The discussion is located at:
https://organforum.com/forums/node/734134

Here is the message that has been posted:
***************
Good question, Twiggy. I've never heard of that before either. Let me move this to the Home Organ section of the Forum and see if you can get more views and
***************

So it seems I win a few, and lose a few.

Thanks for checking. Hope the above is helpful.
Tom M.

[Admin]

Are you subscribed to the Home Organ channel? If so, that's why you received a notification for that reply. You can also receive like notifications for other notification options that you've selected in your User Settings if any of those apply. Also, it can't be ruled out you received the reply notification due to some bug related to the fact that the topic was moved.

Also keep in mind that's quite common for email clients to move emails from the Organ Forum to Spam folders. To prevent this, you should add @organforum.com to your email clien'ts white list.

[nutmegct]

No - not subscribed to Home Organ. Only one that has the check by Subscribed is the Pump and Reed Organ channel.

The one almost-continual symptom for me over the years, has been that I find out about a newly created topic in the Pump and Reed Organ channel, when someone replies to the first post in that new topic. I get the email notification "new post in such and such". Then I click the link in the email, and see that the new post is actually a reply to a new topic.

That's what happened in the C&G topic. I got the email notice of MyOrgan's post, clicked the email link, and saw that MyOrgan's post was a reply to a new topic I hadn't been notified about.

Plus ca change, plus c'est le meme.

Thanks.
Tom M.

[Admin]

Unfortunately, in order to fix a problem, I have to be able to reproduce it to understand it and eliminate possible causes. I don't have a way of tracing what happened with notification of the C &G post you mentioned, but because it was moved it can't be assumed that the behavior you observed is typical of all notifications. Notifications are not sent or posted immediately, but rather on a schedule several times per hour. It's quite possible that the post was moved prior notifications for it being posted. I can't explain why you received a notification of a reply after it was moved, but, as I said, there are other forum actions that will cause a notification to be generated. The question is whether you've received other additional notifications for that topic after being moved. If so, that might point to a problem with erroneous notifications, but would not explain missing notifications.

If you're relying on email notifications, it is important that you either regularly check your Spam folder or have added @ organforum to your white list.

The only thing I can say for sure, is that, for now at least, notifications are working correctly.

[nutmegct]

OK - no problem. I just wanted you to be aware of what I'm experiencing. The only real issue for me is if a new topic is begun in Pump and Reed, but the first reply is several days after the topic is started. In that case I'd only know about the new topic when I get the notice of the reply. I've never yet found a forum notification email in my Spam folder; they always go directly to my gmail Inbox.

Anyway, thanks for all the trouble shooting.
Tom M.

[Admin]

The Test User account I set up is still in place and subscribed to Pump & Reed. I'll be continuing to monitor that account for notifications.

Spam blockers are great until they block something you need to see. My GMail account would routinely block Organ Forum mail to me on a seemingly random basis. Unless you add the domain to your whitelist, this can occur at any time, as the algorithm is constantly being tweaked by Google. Form letters, such as notifications are particularly prone to being blocked as the algorithm sees the same word pattern being sent to hundreds of users and assumes it's a spam blast. Forum notifications contain a bit of text from the action subject to notification. This text can tip the message either way. I don't know if that occurred in your case. I just know it happens, as it has happened to me and others. Every week I get emails from users attempting to register claiming they did receive the confirmation email from the Forum, only to find it in their Spam folder.

[nutmegct]

Fortunately I've never found an Organ Forum email in my spam or trash folders; they go directly to my gmail inbox.

[Admin]

I now believe that what is happening is that notifications are not being generated for posts by moderated users. This makes sense as these posts are not visible until approved by a Moderator. It appears, though, that moderator approval does not trigger a notification.

Unfortunately, there is no work-around for this behavior at this time.

New members are moderated for a short period of time to prevent spammers from flooding the Forum.

[nutmegct]

Thanks for the update. This reminds me of centuries ago, when I was a network administrator. The server/client software (Novell Netware) was designed by dozens of different task forces. It was so complicated, even the trained Netware people couldn't figure out why some things happened. When a new version was installed, we asked what differences we'd notice. Novell rep told us "Well, we actually don't know. But you'll probably find out soon."

Tom M.

[myorgan]

This reminds me of centuries ago, when I was a network administrator.

They had computers and networks that long ago?!!!;-) I have to admit, I remember Novell Netware and the "support" you describe. That was back in the days of the wild and wooly west of the early Internet.

Michael

[nutmegct]

Well, the computer chips were a bit different, but the bugs were nonexistent.

https://usa.greekreporter.com/files/...on_tablet.jpeg

When updates were needed, it took a while to bring them down from the mountain.