Do you log in when you browse the forums?

[Linna Heartbooger]

Y'know, functionally, from an individualistic perspective, it seems there's no point in logging in unless you're about to make a post.

But actually, we'd probably all like seeing 12 usernames we are familiar with and maybe 2 guests rather than 11 guests and 3 registered users' names.

So I think, socially, it's helpful to each-other to log in to give a sense of "presence" whenever we're online - even if it's just for 2 minutes.
And I think that will come back to benefit us individually as well.

So I've shifted to logging in most every time I'm browsing the Watch.

What do people think?
Agree or disagree?

(Also, let me know if there are options to this poll that I need to add!)

[lorin]

I've always just automatically logged in.

[wayfriend]

I log in because I use the "view posts since last visit" link to find posts posted since my last visit.

Any other way of looking for new posts is just silly.

[Vraith]

I log in because I use the "view posts since last visit" link to find posts posted since my last visit.

Any other way of looking for new posts is just silly.

yep. view posts since last is how I keep track of everything at a glance.

[I'm Murrin]

If you're not logged in, you don't see the orange markers everywhere there's a new post. So why wouldn't you?

Anyway, I just stay logged in automatically.

[Savor Dam]

I consistently log in...and usually have a Watch window open somewhere (even if buried) anytime I am online.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

I log in 99% of the time unless I am looking for a reply to a specific post/topic. I never automatically log in--I don't allow any computer I use to store any of my usernames or passwords on principle.

I never worry about how many users are currently logged on at the same time I am. My sense of "community" is almost nonexistent, though. *shrug* Personality quirk.

[Vraith]

I log in 99% of the time unless I am looking for a reply to a specific post/topic. I never automatically log in--I don't allow any computer I use to store any of my usernames or passwords on principle.

God, no...all auto-fills/remember my's are OFF.

[ussusimiel]

I also use the "view posts since last visit" link to check what's been going on since I last logged on. However, if I don't have much time I won't log in because that means I mightn't get around to some of the new posts and they won't show up as new the next time I log on. Instead, when time's short, I use the reminder emails to check out new posts.

u.

[Sorus]

I lurk unless I'm actively posting.

[Damelon]

I log in because I use the "view posts since last visit" link to find posts posted since my last visit.

Any other way of looking for new posts is just silly.

That is what I do.

[Avatar]

I almost always log in.

(Not automatically obviously...my refusal to allow my browsers to remember my passwords is a running joke in the office, where I sometimes have to log into different accounts multiple times every hour.)

Funnily enough, I never use "posts since last visit" and never have. I use the orange dots to id new posts in forums.

--A

[Menolly]

Yep.
Orange dot tree rules.

[Savor Dam]

Yep.
Orange dot tree rules.

I've never understood why you find this superior to the "posts since last visit" approach. Can you, dear Menolly, or Av, or Murrin, or anyone else who prefers to follow the orange dots, explain what makes this a preferred method? What part of the experience am I (along with Wayfriend, Vraith, ussusimiel and Damelon) missing by using "posts since last visit"?

[I'm Murrin]

Well, you can go directly to the parts of the Watch you're interested in instead of getting a jumbled list of everything...

The list is completely disorganised. What's the point of having forums if you're going to just throw everything in one place?

[sgt.null]

I usually always log in. except that time I was banned.

[Savor Dam]

The list is completely disorganised.

Not completely. The organizing principle behind it is chronology; it lists threads that have been touched since one last logged on in descending order of most recent post. For those of us who have the Watch open almost all the time, this window is always one-refresh away from "what's new?"

Do I read everything? No, but with forum and thread titles, it is easy to see what is likely worth a read. To do the same with the orange dot tree would take a lot more drilling down...or so it seems to me.

[wayfriend]

The dot tree is a lot of work! Also, I always seem to get blinky posts even though I've read them and they are several weeks old now. I just don't really understand the nuances.

Also, I am tempted to not bother checking some forums when I do the dots, and I might miss things that I would otherwise find interesting.

ussusimiel, I agree it is often a pain if you get kicked out before you can read all the new posts since last visit. They are lost and they don't come back next time. I wish there was a "since time T" option in the search, that would be good in that situation. Until then, when this happens ... I drill dots.

[I'm Murrin]

You can't be seeing markers weeks old, because the orange dots don't save over between sessions, same as you mention right there - you lose all unread markers when you log out or close browser. The exact same data is used for the regular new post markers and the "posts since last visit" page.

There is a bug where if you click the little "view new posts" marker beside a topic, it rarely takes you to the newest one, though. I just click on the page and scroll to find the new post.

[Sorus]

I click on General Discussion and check if any of the threads I follow have new posts, then I click on the Waymeet and confirm that I am still the last one who updated the WoW thread, then over to Mallory's for whatever needs to be attended to there.

If I end up signing in, I will sometimes check orange markers in other branches of the forum. I probably miss stuff, but it's the way I've always done it, and I am resistant to change.