Funny 'New Post' behaviour

[rubber_jonnie]

So I've been talking to @exxos as I've been experiencing an odd issue.

When I use the 'New posts' button, I get a list of new posts, newest at the top, oldest at the bottom, however regardless of wether or not I've read them or not, the list clears in a relatively short amount of time.

I don't see this behaviour on other phpBB forums I frequent like Stardot and Atari Forum, where the new posts list generally persists all the time although the contents may change. I never get a completely blank list as I do here.

Now I usually have all 3 forums as tabs in my laptop browser and also on my phone. On my phone day to day the tabs are there but I generally don't use them and the browser is closed.

In our discussions it seemed like perhaps some sort of clash between the phone and laptop was happening, though this never happens with Stardot or AF.

With that in mind I have closed the tab for this forum on my mobile browser and also closed the browser on my phone.

So far it seems now the behaviour here is more like that of Stardot and AF, and the only explanation I have is that they use an older version of phpBB than we do here.

So the ask is: "Does anybody else see this behaviour where the list of new posts will become completely empty whilst they're using the forum?"

Thanks.

[exxos]

It's a weird one because I don't see that behaviour myself.

The behaviour I see is that the new posts works as expected, and after a few hours those posts disappear from the new post lists not instantly like @rubber_jonnie sees.

For clarification I'm not aware of any mechanism in PHPBB3 which allows setting the "new posts expiry time".

Why "New posts" keeps clearing - what we've looked at so far

• Session IP check (ruled out) - Set to A.B.C, and all of Jonnie's IPv6 addresses share the same first 4 blocks, so his session isn't being dropped by IP changes.
• Corrupted cookie (unlikely) - His sessions show "Remember me" working normally and the same session lasting across page loads.
• Clicking "Mark forums read" (ruled out) - Checked the logs and the database. He hasn't used it since 2017, and in the phpBB code it doesn't touch the "New posts" cutoff anyway.
• Permissions / search access (ruled out) - "View unread posts" works fine for him, so search and forum access are OK.
• How "New posts" actually works (confirmed in the phpBB source) - It isn't "posts you haven't read". It's "posts since your last visit", and that last-visit time only moves when phpBB tidies up an expired session or you log out.
• Session length of 1 hour (contributes) - Being idle for more than an hour ends the session. The next visit starts a new one, and the list is reset to that point.
• Phone and computer sessions (main suspect, being tested) - Each device gets its own session. You don't have to use them at the same time. When the phone session expires and phpBB tidies it up, the last-visit time jumps forward to when the phone was last used, even if you're now on the computer. That clears the list from under you. Since Jonnie logged out on his phone, he hasn't seen it happen, which fits.
• Session tidy-up timing (makes it look random) - phpBB only does the tidy-up when its cron task runs, so the list can clear at odd times rather than at a predictable point.

Workaround: Use "View unread posts" instead. That's based on what you've actually opened, so it survives logging out, idle gaps and switching devices. Click "Mark forums read" once first to clear out the backlog, otherwise you're in for more pages than a 1987 Atari User mail-order catalogue.

Jonnie is testing over the next few days to confirm whether the phone session is the culprit.

[rubber_jonnie]

So far, and I closed my phone tab sometime around 08:30 this morning, my 'New posts' list has worked as per *. and AF.

As I mentioned, 'View unread posts' doesn't suit me because I just want to see what's new. 'View unread' shows me everything I haven't read rather than just the new posts, which is a shorter list.

Plus if I mark all forums as read I seem to lose the new posts.

Potentially what I can try is to keep the tab open on my mobile browser, but stay logged out. I only use my browser occasionally for forum posts, so logging on when I do isn't the end of the world.

Lets see how it goes, I'm going for lunch at 12:00 so I'll be interested to see what I get on my return.

[exxos]

Plus if I mark all forums as read I seem to lose the new posts.

That's always been the default behaviour though. Similar with logging out and logging back in would also "reset" the list. I proved both last night.

Potentially what I can try is to keep the tab open on my mobile browser, but stay logged out. I only use my browser occasionally for forum posts, so logging on when I do isn't the end of the world.

It is probably worth a try.. To see if there is any difference between being logged in or not on the second device.

Lets see how it goes, I'm going for lunch at 12:00 so I'll be interested to see what I get on my return.

But also remember you logged out and logged back in again and things seem to start working fine then as well.. So the multiple devices idea could be completely a red herring at this point..

[exxos]

This is what I currently see and read posts are still in list about three hours later.

Capture.PNG (126.01 KiB) Viewed 4 times

[rubber_jonnie]

That's always been the default behaviour though. Similar with logging out and logging back in would also "reset" the list. I proved both last night.

I'm not disagreeing with that, it just isn't my preferred way of viewing new posts on their own.

It is probably worth a try.. To see if there is any difference between being logged in or not on the second device.

I'll probably try that Thursday as I'm in the office tomorrow.

But also remember you logged out and logged back in again and things seem to start working fine then as well.. So the multiple devices idea could be completely a red herring at this point..

I don't quite fully remember (It was late) but I don't think that was the case, I think ,my list went empty again, and so far my list of new posts has been behaving as per *. and AF since I killed my phone session this morning.

[rubber_jonnie]

This is what I currently see and read posts are still in list about three hours later.


Capture.PNG

That matches what I see, but by now it would usually have cleared.