Well, given that this forum is set up like my forum, either it can't be done, or you don't want it to be done.

I am wondering why "Add this topic to my Watched Topics" is an opt in rather than an opt out. Would most users who make a post want to watch their post?

I never have... it is the reason I check my boards everyday... now that said.. I would much rather have a mobile version of the forums for my users, which in my opinion would 1. be more of something they would want, and 2. much less of a chore than trying to show each and every one of them how to stop spamming their email every time someone posts a response to their post.

Dunny

Thanks for the reply. I don't know I guess evreyone is different. I may at any given time, be involved in 10 to 15 threads (that may be less than you -- don't know). But, I certainly can't keep up with them by checking. It would be a waste of energy to check only to find nothing was posted.

Just kinda nice to know when you get a reply. Kind of like yours.

I have never used it, either. People are different.

I wouldn't have thought many would not use it. I appreciate the feedback. It is helpful as I guess I would leave it alone.

My actual question though was can it be set in the Control Panel so it is on by default?

Answer.
No it can't be set on by default.
It would a modification of the stock code to do so.

Thanks Ruben.

I know some forum software packages allow this. And I wish it was turned off because I have to go back and opt out of some threads.

But it would be a nice enhancement to allow the user to opt in or out for default settings in their preference settings.
That is something I have not seen in other packages.

That would actually be a great idea. Let me know if you find it. It's good to see this thread, though. I just assumed everyone would want it on, and I see that I would have my admin taken away from me rather quickly.

There needs to be a user tick to make sure that every little thing isn't added; I for one would consider this a huge annoyance...

There should also be an admin tick to disable watched list emails altogether as some hosts put email restrictions in place so you can only send so many emails per day.

I guess I agree with SteveS. Some people would find it an annoyance. I wouldn't even use the board if it didn't notify me. I just couldn't see going in five times a day to see if one of my eight threads have had a post since I last looked.

There are times that there may be a user and I posting back and forth several times within ten minutes. I wouldn't want to keep checking.

I guess it's like email. Outlook tells me when I have an email otherwise I don't need to check it.

To each his own. A preference would be best.

On the other hand, if there were a different post icon that showed which threads I had posted in (like some other software), I would be very happy.

"My Stuff" -> "Posts"?

Yup... But an icon would be easier!

nah Bert...just I get so many emails now, that having a watched list email me as well would be a hassle.. I can see where for some boards it would actually be a good thing though. I just would rather if it were in, that there was some way that I could turn it on or off by default (still allowing users to use the feature full time if they wanted to).


Dunny

Agreed. But, this is a great example of how email notification helps. Not that responding in 30 seconds is necessary, I just may have missed your post for at least a day or so depending on how often I check it. I get a lot of email as well, so I know where you are coming from.

As you say, the more options one has, the better.

Thanks.

Not really, a lot of users are confused by more settings...

This is true Giz.

We had one member who was crying for help, being bombarded with notifications. I reset her prefs:
- By default should anything added to your Watch Lists be emailed to you? 'No'
- Do you want to be notified via email when you receive a private message? 'No'

..so was a little surprised when she hollered again that it didn't fix anything and she was still being bombarded with everything under the sun.

It turned out that under Watch Lists, she had our Main forum with highest traffic ticked 'yes' as Watched, with Email Notification set to 'Where a new post is created'. Yikes. I was semi-surprised that her main prefs didn't override this. (7.5.4.2) Learn something new everyday!

I'd find it incredibly annoying to have the default set to on and much prefer having to opt in. (Personally, I only opt in when there is a topic that I suspect might go south and want/need to keep a closer eye on.)

Interesting discussion Bert, different strokes I guess!

Never thought it would go that long. I am not sure the above example is completely analagous to my example as she just had a bunch of settings she didn't know about.

I diagrees with Gizmo at first but started thinking about it and compared it with my Logitech 900 remote control, which is very confusing. So he has a point. I then Googled choice and found this interesting video on YouTube.

Thanks for your comment mig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO6XEQIsCoM

From a web developers perspective, I always try to stay akin to the KISS (Keep it Simple Stupid) principle; whereby options are nice, but simplicity makes things easier on users.

I think for a website that holds true. For a user board or our Electroic Medical Record, options are nice. For instance, many users come on and complain and/or wish a feature was different.

One group of 1750 users want the print manager for that patient to come up after signing off the note, which makes it simple to print the note or write a letter.

The other 1750 users do not want it to pop up after the note is saved since they never use it and, therefore, is in the way and is one more mouse click.

Not to keep bringing this up, but I probably would have received your post tomorrow when I checked.