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1) The little triangle icon with the ! in the middle - "you replied in this thread" seems to have been working only sporadically. I was just scrolling through the CSS forum to see what was happening, and KNEW that I had replied to a whole lot more threads than indicated. I went through page one and found ten threads that I had replied to, but did not show the icon. This I don't like. I posted a quick add-on post to see if it would trigger (at least temporarily) the icon that indicated I was in the thread. It did in each case, and added one to my post count each time. Checked and tested in a couple of other forums and same deal. Some threads that I had replied to were so marked, some were not. A post added and (at least for now) the icon.
Why do they sometimes show, and sometimes not? Is there some sort of cutoff number where if you've been in X number of threads that the oldest drop off? That would suck.
2) This leads to another possible misunderstanding and question on my part. I replied to a thread that showed that I had already replied and added a response. My post count went up by one. I thought (wrongly?) that post counts were by thread rather than by posts, that is, three responses in one thread is just one post. Am I wrong (most likely)? Where did I get that idea? I don't watch post count closely enough to really know, but I have always liked thread participation as a count guideline - not actual posts. Maybe I got it somewhere else and always though it was here? If not here, I wonder where am a member that handles counts that way. It is so much more restrictive, that I think it provides a much better general gauge.
#2 post count
It's called post count for a reason. ;)
Keep in mind that posts don't count in all forums. This forum and foo had them off last time I checked.
#2 - I warned in the title that the questions were potentially dumb. No way around the logical extension that "and I might ought know better." was sliding around "and I might just be stupid." Goes to show how little attention I pay to post count. It's names I look for.
* * * Now I'll be turning over all the potential forums, message boards, and everything else that I am registered with in order to figure out which it is that handles post count by thread. I know that it uses "post count", but to get a more accurate gauge of activity they only count one post per thread, regardless of number of posts within the thread. I've always liked that concept, always remembered it - now don't have clue where it's at. Got so many registrations on so many topics it's a needle in a haystack now. The answer will wake me at 3:00am or 4:00am one of these nights. Such things typically do.
post count has always seemed to increase incrementally ..make 3 posts in a thread ( 'cept foo )..post count rises by 3 ..
ah the 4.00 am awakening :) ..that's usually when you dream the correct answer to some code that was bugging you in the waking hours ..:)
To keep those threads valid, the system has to physically go out and load those threads to see if you are still part of that thread before it lists it on your profile. Majorily system intensive. If we track 20 recent threads, that means 20 files are parsed everytime your profile is viewed. Major system hit. I forget the code for the moment, but I think there are some short cuts in there like only updating the list when the threads change or you view your own profile, but it is still a big system hit. I've pumped the number up and down and it is very noticeable when it goes too high.
None-the-less, stay chilly for about six months:
- new bleeding edge server coming.
- move to mysql db
- moving ancillary servers (mainly email) off the box.
- moving secondary domains to their own box.
all that should see a significant boost in speed and system utility.
Speed is usually hard for me to assess fairly. I've got the max available (in this area) 16MB cable connection, so only see speed issues on garbage sites; the ones with Flash and scripts all over the page. If I grind down on one of these, I find it hard to believe that real people can use them at all.
