Unread posts vs. most recent posts

Computer :),
What's really the difference between the two links on the top of the page just below the greeting message that say:
» Show unread posts since last visit.
[...]
» View the most recent posts.

I tried to grok the algorithm behind them but couldn't. Hope this is not a subject that has been discussed a 1,000,000 times and I just wasn't able to find the right thread.
Over.
 
Hi arpaxad,

From the SMF manual;

SMF has several options for users to view unread posts. Unread posts are topics and replies that have not been viewed by the user. The most common way to view unread posts is through the links in the forum header near the top of a forum page.
  • Show unread replies since last visit – Selecting this option displays a list of the topics which have had new posts made in them since the user's last visit. The user has the ability to select to view all unread topics, which will display any topic with unread posts, regardless of their last visit.
  • Show unread replies to your posts – Selecting this option displays a list of topics the user has participated in that have unread replies.

There are also other options available for viewing unread posts:

  • Off.png
    or
    On.png
    - These icons appear to the left of each board in the Board Index. The second, coloured version indicates that there are unread posts within the board. Clicking on it will take you to a list of these unread posts, displayed by topic.
  • Recent Posts - If enabled by the administrator, this will display a list of recent posts within the Info Center (below the Board Index in the default theme). This is displayed by post, not by topic, so hot topics may dominate this section. Selecting the icon to the left of the recent posts will enable each post to be read from another screen.
  • Unread posts - This option appears to the right of each category. Selecting this option will display a list of unread posts from the boards inside the selected category.
 
This is the option I use daily:

Recent Posts - If enabled by the administrator, this will display a list of recent posts within the Info Center (below the Board Index in the default theme). This is displayed by post, not by topic, so hot topics may dominate this section. Selecting the icon to the left of the recent posts will enable each post to be read from another screen.

As it notes, the hot topics show up and I like to keep my eye on what is hot.

There are topics I follow that are not hot, so I just have to know where they are and check/post periodically.
 
arpaxad said:
What's really the difference between the two links on the top of the page just below the greeting message that say:
» Show unread posts since last visit.
[...]
» View the most recent posts.
If you have been away from the forum for a day or so, (i.e. long enough for a few dozen posts to be made in various threads), then initially these two links will show pretty much the same results: a list of forum threads/topics, arranged in order of the most recent post made in each thread/topic.

Once you click on a thread, or the last page of a thread if it is a multi-page thread, that thread will then stop showing up on the "Show unread posts since last visit" page, but will still show on the "View the most recent posts" page.
 
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