Why is it I can only get email notification for replies when I start a new topic? It would be great to get email updates, when I post on someone elses topic, but it is not available in the options section unless I'm starting a post.

Because there is so much posting activity here, the potential massive number of notification emails would bog down the server too much if we enabled notification for all topics for all members. We made a compromise at enabling notification for the person starting the given topic. When Gene rewrites the software, we will keep your request in mind and see what can be done to improve the notification options. You're not the only one who has requested this.

Thanks for the quick response!

Yes, it's being considered. However, the method some other popular forums use is unnacceptable.

Many popular forum scripts use the BCC (blind carbon copy) line in the email header to include hundreds of email address (assuming there are that many subscribers to that topic). The problem with using BCC is that many ISPs mark emails with many BCC email addresses as spam, and if several emails with BCCs like that are sent from the same server, that server could be marked as a spamming server. Of course, we can't allow that.

There are other solutions, but each has its drawbacks. I'm not sure the drawbacks would make the subscription feature worthwhile or even useable, but I'll still consider those and other things I might think of or other options I come across.

Gene,
Here is a thought that eliminates the email problems and perhaps is a solution members seek. I don't know if it is possible, but here goes:

When a member clicks on his own "View this user's posts in last 30 days", the returned list highlights posts that have a new entry since last visited.
If it is possible, then the entire listing of an individuals postings could react the same when a search on user name is done.
Does it make you say "Hmmmmmmm"?

Right, hmmmmmm ... Seems to me that topic emails and user post lists are two different things. "... the returned list highlights posts that have a new entry since last visited". What do you mean? Those lists simply show the posts in descending order by post ID, without any hint of whether there's a new reply or anything. Unless you meant something else? Sorry, I'm just not following. Maybe I'm just having a bad day?

Ok. Currently, if a member starts a topic and selects the email option, he would get a notice on a new post to his thread. There is not an option to receive notices of new posts to threads a member merely joined (and not practical for reasons you stated).

Now, if I go to my profile, I can choose to see all the posts I've made within the last 30 days, regardless of whether I started it or not. Could you FLAG the posts in that list that have newer activity from my last visit? That is what I meant to convey.

Personally, it is neither here nor there to me regarding email alerts, but it seems that if this is possible, it is a good alternative to email for those who enjoy the alerts.

I run a phpbb board on my coffeehouse site, and it always notifies when you post. Granted we don't have as many people posting, but I'm not sure how that really bogs the system down. Not like I'm an expert either though.

Lowphat, the phpBB you run is likely version 2.x, correct? I believe they use the BCC method of sending notification emails. That's not something I would ever consider using. The very last thing I want to do is cause any server to be labeled as a spammer simply because a forum (as busy as this one, that is) sends out a lot of those kinds of things.

I see where you're going now, Blindbo. Possible? Yes, and perhaps not that tough a thing to do with the current scripts. I'll see what I can do there when I get some time. Thanks for the suggestion! And FYI, since you were present during the creation of the search engine, I think you might be interested to know I'm developing a rewrite of the engine which should drastically increase the speed of keyword searches (all other searches would remain unchanged). What takes almost a minute now could take just seconds if my designs work out right. We shall see!

Gene, just out of curiosity where in Michigan do you live. I just moved back to VA from Jackson, MI, and I am originally from Manistee.

Just north of Grand Rapids. Far enough away from the city to avoid a lot of the hassles of living, but close enough to enjoy the benefits.

Ok, I went to school in GR for a semester before joining the Marine Corps.

Gene, re: the search engine; sounds great! What logic did you stumble on for such a tremendous improvement?

I can give you a rundown of my thinking if you want. Send me a PM and I'll be glad to. There's quite a bit of "logic" yet to figure out, but the outline is there.

Gene,
The ability to search for both key words and key phrases would also be a nice addition.
The three letter rule for searches makes things a bit rough.

Hi Jaz,

I'm afraid exact phrase searches are still out. The only way we could do that would be to run whole-text searches of every post, and that would crash the server. That's what it did before, and was the reason for taking down the original search engine. Since we don't have thousands of dollars worth of computer equipment to crunch data for such searches (a la Google), we'll all just have to live with that limitation. Two-character searches may be possible though. Common words would still be removed, of course, but I've already thought about allowing two-character words to see what happens. It would be a good experiment.

Hey Gene,
Nice to see another 'michigander' onboard I will have to agree with the others, it's annoying to not be notified when someone posts to a thread that you've posted to when you haven't started it. I've had several questions on the forum and at first I thought nobody answered them until I check to see if there are any new posts. Really would be nice if we could have the 'notify me when new posts are posted' option.

The "Notify Me" would be nice, even if it's not in the form of an email. There could be a notification at the top of the page after you sign in that says "You have new messages" or something like that. But that means the entire site might run slower as each person would have to wait for an automatic "search" is completed for each and every person whose logged in.

Nice maybe, but if it compromises the performance of the Café, I can do without it. It's easy enough to just do a search for my own posts, and pick the ones I want to go back to.

Keep the ideas coming - sometimes all it takes is one word to put an idea in my mind of how to accomplish something without making anything slower. I appreciate all the suggestions!