1

So I was going on a forum game and someone brought up my name. Then I started to wonder why I couldn’t see it in my notifications. I’m not the only one having this problem as other users have brought it up also like Leah and Ned.

2

Let me know if you get this: @Gymnast-7

3

I think what Ned and I were talking about is the little green box (with a small number- however new messages have been posted since you were last on). It’s not showing that there are new messages that we haven’t read when there really is.:slight_smile: @Gymnast-7 , what you are talking about is something different that some of us have experienced as well. 

4

^ Like the small red box up in the the green box that says your user image, right? Cause that’s what I’m talking about. When somebody mentioned my name the red number thing didn’t show up. But it didn’t show up before or after I read it.

5

I just started getting them so I think it’s working now.

6

I believe a similar issue’s already been addressed in a past bug report, here . While it’s not totally the same issue, it’s quite similar. If this is a related issue, it’s probably just the unfortunate fact that it’s an error with Vanilla and there’s not a whole lot we can really do about it here.

@Anna , can we get your input here? Is there anything that can be done about it?

7

No, I’m talking about beside the thread itself. Where it says “2 new” (or however many posts have been written since you last read it).

8

^ Oh, well I haven’t been having that problem. Maybe it’s because I’m on the mobile site?

9

Me as well, on mobile. I had thought it was triggered because I have a tab of these threads already open on my phone, and maybe they’re refreshing themselves or something. Not sure. But either way, same here.

10

^I don’t leave the tabs open, so it’s happening even without that.

11

Hah, with the notification and number of messages I saw here, I thought the roof was caving in!:stuck_out_tongue:

Glad to read and discover that it’s a known issue, and not so dire. Notifications in the forums have always been “funky” and honestly probably always will be. As it happens, I don’t personally see these notification issues too often (and I get tagged quite a bit!), but I think there are a lot of “edge cases” that can result in funky notifications. For example, if a post is edited, I think that can change or delay the notification (I’ve seen some notifications pop up a little later on, after a post was edited). Also, if a spammer’s content is deleted, that can throw off the “# New” message next to the thread. Logging in from multiple accounts can also change what appears “new” to you, and Marina is probably right that keeping tabs open has an effect, too. It also seems from these bug reports that the chat and games sections are particularly susceptible to this kind of thing - perhaps because of how folks sometimes respond to one another quickly (more chat style than forum style, as intended), and edit their posts relatively often? 

There are other factors, too, I’m sure, so I wouldn’t hold my breath for anyone being able to pin down exactly what’s happening in each case. Some of it may have a “reason” and some may just be a glitch that’s hard to track down or reproduce reliably. Since the forums are secondary to our main mission (particularly the chat/game areas, where this seems to be reported the most) and to editing/browsing/reading wikiHow, though, we don’t have a lot of engineering resources to devote to anything like this. I might be able to ask an intern to have a look if they don’t have a full list of tasks one summer, but I think for now, this is just something we have to live with. I’m glad the tag worked here, though @Gymnast-7 - hopefully it will keep working more often than not!