31
votes
Clicking on a reply should mark it as "read".
Maybe I'm doing something wrong. I see an notification for a new unread reply. I open the unread replies page. I click on 'link' to go to the thread to see the context, and reply if I feel so inclined.
But that notification doesn't go away. The reply that I clicked on and read is still showing as unread. I have to click on "mark as unread" to make the notification go away. However, if I do that before I click through to the thread, the reply disappears and I can't click through to the thread. So I have to go to the thread, read & reply, then go back to my unread replies page to mark the reply as "read".
If I've clicked through to the thread where someone replied to me, then you can safely assume I've read that reply.
Oh hey Algernon_Asimov, good to see you here.
This is one that I think we might need some user preferences for. I think some people don't want their notifications to ever mark read unless they do it specifically, while other people want it to happen if they click through, or if they reply, etc.
Yeah, I am definitely in the "Mark all as read" option crowd but also hate how reddit automatically marks as read notifications when you click on them. IMO, options in settings are always the best way to go for things like this where they are entirely personal preference.
I know I've been all for throwing things into settings for the past few days, but we need to make sure that the settings stay simple.
I think something like this could actually live on the notifications page as a tickbox or something. We just don't want a million different settings in the options page.
You recognise me? :O
It might be a user preference feature, but I believe the default behaviour should be "if the user clicks through to the thread, mark the reply as 'read'". That's a no-brainer to me. :)
Of course, I've always spent most of my time on reddit in the meta/help-type subreddits.
One other thing I'm not totally sure about - what about when people ctrl-click or right click and open the Link in a new tab? Should that mark read? I think having the post disappear when you do that would be a bit weird, but maybe it just marks read in the background and doesn't hide it?
I think any time you click inside the message it counts as read.
Jackson (how do I notify another user I'm referring to them here?) pre-empted my answer: if you interact with the reply in any way, then it's safe to assume that you've read it.
(I used to work as a Business Analyst. I suppose that's why I often end up in the meta/help-type areas!)
@Algernon_Asimov
But you replied to me, so I saw it anyway. That's not a good demonstration! :P
An "@" symbol, like Twitter? Okay.
You got my point though! xP
Not sure if this is the case but from what I can tell @Deimos is generally using whatever symbols are already associated with whatever it is they're symbolizing. I know what /u/ and /r/ mean, but someone new to Reddit would have to learn them, and that's not ideal. Everyone knows what @ means, and while ~ is less known, there is reasoning behind it as described in the docs, already giving it a history, and I like that.
Interesting. I guess more ways for it to be convenient is better, but I'm not sure how I feel about that
I really don't like settings. To quote somebody: "settings mean your program is too stupid to figure out what the user wants on it's own"
I think what might instead be more helpful is making it either easier to mark as read, or to mark it as unread again if you accidentally clicked on it.
Not doin anything wrong.
Just a super feature-sparse site at the moment. It’s on the bucket list somewhere IIRC
I hope it's high on that list. This is a feature that a lot of users will encounter very frequently - and it has a high annoyance factor.
I don't know how everyone else feels, but I like the way it is now. I don't always have time to reply to something, but I'll normally give it a read and if I want to reply later, I just leave it unread.
I'm sure the functionality will change, but I wouldn't mind if it didn't.
The issue I'm talking about is when you click on a reply to go to its thread (like I did here). I've clicked on your reply to me, and I'm in the thread where you replied to me. I think it's fairly safe for the system to mark your reply as read by me.
If I just read it in my inbox and do nothing, then the system should leave it as unread.
But I've done something about your reply: I clicked on it. I even replied to it! Yet, it'll still show as unread for me when I've finished typing this reply.
I don't think 'clicking' on it should mark it as read, but I do agree that replying should mark a comment as read. I like having the 'mark as read' button though.
Wow. We operate very differently. If I've clicked on your reply and come to the thread, I consider that "read".
yeah, i would really like this too, but it looks like others actually disagree. the adding it to user preferences idea makes sense to me.
I think there should be an option for this, but I personally like it how it is now. As it is, if I see a reply to a post or comment of mine I can keep it unread as a reminder that it's there so I can come back and reply to it later.
What about if you click on the reply and go to the thread it's in? Should the reply stay as "unread" or change to "read"? Because that's the scenario I'm discussing here.
Yeah, I mean for me, I'd still like it to stay the way it is, but I completely see where you're coming from and I think there should be an option to mark as read if clicked on.
Honestly, what I would really love to see is a way to view a reply to a comment in context, rather than having to sift through an entire thread to find the comment of yours they replied to.
When you see a reply in your inbox, look above it. Next to the replier's username and the timestamp, there are two links: "link" and "parent". "Link" takes you directly to the reply in its context within the thread. "Parent" takes you to the parent post for the thread (the OP).
Oh shit haha I hadn't noticed that, I guess I just didn't look hard enough, and probably the slightly lighter font that made it a little less obvious. Thanks!
I agree with this feedback—I don't like having to go back to the unread page to clear the flag. If there were a way to mark a reply as "read" directly in the linked page, I wouldn't mind as much, I think.
I agree, and think that in general, replying to a comment should definitely remove it from new replies. Voting or clicking on it possibly as well, but I'd say that's something you should be able to turn on or off in the settings.