[nirgalo]

Hi, I would like the unread posts for a given user to display distinctively so the user quickly knows what to read. Also I would like threads which have new replies to also display distinctively. Not necessarily through colors, maybe using icons.
There is a plugin bbPress Unread Posts doing close to what I am looking for, but it is not maintained anymore. Why such a basic feature needs to be done through a plugin and is not part of the bbPress stock features? Any idea of other plugins or custom code I can use?

[Robin W]

The bbPress philosophy is :

‘We’re keeping things as small and light as possible while still allowing for great add-on features through WordPress’s extensive plugin system. What does all that mean? bbPress is lean, mean, and ready to take on any job you throw at it.’

see

About

There are literally hundreds of bits that could be added, which some/many/all forums either need or don’t need !

Plugins are written by the community to add features to bbPress, and maintained where the author is both able and willing.

Remember all this software is free, and relies on volunteers to make it all work – it takes many hours to write and as long to maintain a good plugin.

You could try ‘mark as read’ as a possible solution.

https://wordpress.org/plugins/bbpress-mark-as-read/

[nirgalo]

@robin-w – right, but for every feature there is into bbPress, the same question probably arises : “is this a feature to put into bbPress or implement as a plugin?”. The status of unread posts is quite a common feature and the question is legitimate for this in my opinion.

[nirgalo]

I have been looking at the implementation of two plugins so far to track the read/unread state of posts. They are both using a specific key into the post meta, meaning the posts marked as read by one plugin are not marked as read by another plugin. This is to avoid this kind of mess I would suggest bbPress contributors to add at least a standard field to mark a post as read by a given user.

[nirgalo]

@robin-w – thanks for pointing out bbPress Mark as read plugin. I have checked it but for the reason mentioned above (not using the same db keys), it is not compatible with bbPress Unread posts plugin. So what I’ll do it make a custom version of bbPress Unread posts plugin whose code is simple and easily fixable and get along with this. Again, the read/unread state of posts really needs to be standardised by bbPress to prevent these incompatibilites between plugins.

[Brent Brooks]

I would like to thank all the programmers that work so hard on all the plugins and features! You guys rock! The forums we are making are helping so many people exchange thoughts and ideas –

[Robin W]

@nirgalo

Thanks for your comments, I have not been ignoring you, I have been running a training course all today.

It’s great that you plan to improve an existing plugin, this is exactly what community software is all about, and I really hope that you will share it when done to help others :-).

I would hasten to add I have nothing to do with bbPress, I just help out on the forum, and have written a few bbPress plugins, so views are my own!

There’s lots I’d like to see in a core bbPress or as well maintained plugins, but someone has to write the stuff, and as it’s free no-one gets paid to do so. Where there is perceived demand, then hopefully the core guys will add it.

Read/unread is a popular feature on many forums, I don’t use it on my own as it’s not relevant, but I do take advantage of other forum sites that do, and you could easily argue that it should be core, but then of course it would only be the way that the bbPress guys want it to work, which could be either of the plugins that you don’t like !

Of course ones person’s standard is another’s stifling of innovation, and that community software can grow organically is both an argument for it, and an annoyance with it 🙂

Anyway, I would love to see a read/unread plugin along the lines you propose, so if you’re the man to code it, and then share with us, you’ll be very welcome here ! necessity is the mother of invention.

@blankstage – hey thanks for your comments- they cheered me up after a long day !

[Stephen Edgar]

Here is our ‘Official’ stance on the ‘Unread’ feature/functionality:

https://bbpress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/1937

The primary issue is performance, we have not seen a plugin that will work well for larger sites, if we implement this as a feature it must work for everyone who uses bbPress.

I just updated the list of ‘Unread’ type plugins I know of here:

Feature Plugins Tracking

[nirgalo]

Robin, Stephen, thanks for your messages. If have added a comment to https://bbpress.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/1937 with suggestions regarding performance issues and plugin compatibility.