How do you browse this site - question mark

Firstly, yes, my thread title mocks lack of punctuation and grammatical limitations in thread titles making it look like we can't use English. Others have had the same complaint, but moving on...

Except for a little hiccup last year, I've been a member here over nine years now and I wonder how others that spend a lot of time here like I do, browse this site?

I can't remember if it's been forever but it's been a long time that "recent posts" is where my shortcuts point to and where I always start. I usually scan through the threads back however many hours, or sometimes minutes it was since I last checked. I'm kind of addicted. I read a lot and don't comment in many threads, particularly in ones about election related hysteria. I do like to see the buzz and trends though and like to think I feel like I somewhat know what's going on and what people are talking about. My lurk to post ratio is very high.

I never see the homepage unless I get logged out on my phone which is more of an issue with Dolphin browser on Android than it is with the site. I find the homepage kind of click-baity but understand the algorithms that generate it trying to bring the most popular or active threats to the eyes of casual visitors. For me, it just doesn't let me see everything that I am used to doing with recent posts being my primary view.

After scanning what is the "main board" for me, I hop over to the off-topic side that to me is still thought of as BTS. Belowtopsecret used to require a separate login or there was no reciprocity between the membership databases so until at least when those things were merged and BTS became the just off-topic discussions part of ATS, I never paid it much mind or attention.

Within the last several years, I have though and found some really wonderful and amazing things on this "side". This election season, it's become a respite from all the fervor on the other side and I've actually created a few threads here and been more personable although still not exactly social and chit-chatty.

But I find browsing this side somewhat frustrating and I've heard others mention this before. Sorry I can't find that post but the "pain" is as follows: In the listing of off-topic posts, read a thread six pages deep and then go back to the list of off-topic posts. Unless you go back through all six pages, you can't.

I have to click recent posts again and then on the off topic link to get back to where I was.

Using the recent posts view, if you read through six pages of a thread, you can just click recent posts again to get back to the list of threads. Nit-picky, sure so I'm wondering how other "regulars" use this site or if there's a better way of doing it than what has always worked for me.

Thanks!

That's how I always do it. Thread>Recent>OT

a reply to: Freija
My bookmark is on myATS. That shows which of my subscribed threads (which includes all my own threads) have had recent replies. It also shows new threads on my favourite forums. Respond to replies on my own threads, think about investigating other threads.
Then click on the "see replies to your threads" icon, which really ought to be labelled "see replies to any of your posts, whatever thread they are on". Even more useful than advertised.
I may check the message icon, just in case someone has sent a message and then re-read it, so that it does not show up as new.
Then browse Recent Posts, both versions.

Having to get back to the off-topic page indirectly doesn't trouble me much, partly because I rarely go through long threads. If I am interested, I am more likely to catch them when they start and see the first page or two, and later catch up on the more recent posts at the end of the thread.

I have to click recent posts again and then on the off topic link to get back to where I was.

I have two pinned ATS tabs: one being Recent Posts and the other Off-Topic. From there, when I see an interesting thread, I just open them in new tabs.

a reply to: Freija

First of all, I open up myATS. This gives me a look at all my favourite forums at once, as well as giving me a sneak peak at who has been commenting on threads in which I have participated. Then, I open up my message centre, check and see who has replied to my posts. Historically I responded to most if not all replies, although these days I have less time, so that is not always an option.

Once these things are done, I load up the New Threads page, and scan through for any threads which hold an interest to me.

I have the live tab bookmarked, going straight to New, flagged and recent, gives a good overview of the activity on ATS and i will never miss anything.

I do take a break from ATS once in a while, when i come back i usually go to the front page to see what top stories i missed.

a reply to: Freija

In the listing of off-topic posts, read a thread six pages deep and then go back to the list of off-topic posts. Unless you go back through all six pages, you can't.

I have to click recent posts again and then on the off topic link to get back to where I was.

What I do is open up the 'recent posts' page (browsing either ATS or BTS) and whenever I want to check out a thread, I open that thread in a new tab so that my original 'recent post' browsing page is left undisturbed.

This way when you're done reading through a thread, you can just close that tab and go back to your original 'recent posts' tab where you left off scanning down through the list of threads.

Easy peasy double squeezy.

originally posted by: DISRAELI

Then click on the "see replies to your threads" icon, which really ought to be labelled "see replies to any of your posts, whatever thread they are on". Even more useful than advertised.
I may check the message icon, just in case someone has sent a message and then re-read it, so that it does not show up as new.
Then browse Recent Posts, both versions.

I'm usually pretty cognizant of which threads I'm active in and will often just leave them open in a separate tab, refreshing as necessary. I follow a lot more threads manually than I participate in so the My ATS thing is pretty useless unless I've posted in a thread. I often multi-quote in my replies too and I'm doubtful that gives those I've responded to notification in My ATS .

I do always check my message icon whenever I refresh a page or change view but I had to train myself to do this. I never complained about the pop-up message notifications we used to get and I think the issue is for that those that did complain was that the "management" tended to message us all the time. I know I've sent messages that others have never seen and that's annoying.

Thanks for your feedback.

originally posted by: kaelci

I have to click recent posts again and then on the off topic link to get back to where I was.

I have two pinned ATS tabs: one being Recent Posts and the other Off-Topic. From there, when I see an interesting thread, I just open them in new tabs.

Well, that's brilliantly simple and something techie me didn't even think about. Now I feel stupid. I might not use pinned tabs, sometimes I have over a dozen open but I do have shortcut icons in my browser. I've now added one for BTS. Duh*. Thanks!



Hmmm? "New"? I've tried that before but find it unsatisfactory for some reason? Maybe because I'm presented with topics I've previously filtered out?

* ETA - I am blonde.

a reply to: Freija

Mostly myATS and new, sometimes recent to see what's trending, if I missed something. But mostly my ATS, the best part is I can delete threads I'm done with.
On the downside sometimes I leave one liners, like "ignore me, I am just leaving my mark". So they show up in my ATS list.

i usually eyeball the [live] tab

In all honesty the site's got issues. I mean it needs more life blood, less moderation, open up 911 to everyone, and a lot of stuff. Other sites are getting way way way more traction. Like I wanted to post something in 911 about there being "no planes" and ask people about that. Well can't post? So Immediately I looked up another in which they were talking about it. Like anything stagnant dies. You have to be careful of that. What happens is when things are going well people get lazy and don't try and improve anything. As a result decay comes in and ruins the item. This happens a lot in business. When things are going "good, or great", that's when you "double down" efforts to impove it. If you get lazy you could lose what you worked so hard to build. DON'T GET LAZY. People have too many options these days how how to spend their free time which is in limited supply. And don't stifle those who are contributing the most. That's nuts, their you're bread and butter.

a reply to: Freija
A combination of what has already been stated, but one more thing. i add LOTS of people to my friends list as I read through threads. So one of the things I do is go to my Wall, and just see the section on the left that says "Threads by friends". It also works well when you click on other people's walls and see the threads by their friends. Lots of nice gems in there.

So add a # ton of random people to your friends list today! It looks to me like the Wall in our profiles is a highly underused and underrated feature that people barely use.

I have on my phone feed the "global meltdown" and "secret societies" sub forums. If I feel like spamming, I check the new threads, maybe flag the best ones, and joke in the creepy alien stuff 👽 Pepsi.

I just use the "Live" tab. Pretty much always.

a reply to: Freija

I go straight to NEW...see what people are talking about right now....then bounce around ie: replies etc

I start with new, then live, then top...honest to God, it never even occurred to me to check 'recent' until this very thread, lol

originally posted by: kaelci

I have to click recent posts again and then on the off topic link to get back to where I was.

I have two pinned ATS tabs: one being Recent Posts and the other Off-Topic. From there, when I see an interesting thread, I just open them in new tabs.

Same approach here...Not entirely sure why that is hard to do for the OP other than you cant make everyone happy.

originally posted by: bigpatato
In all honesty the site's got issues. I mean it needs more life blood, less moderation, open up 911 to everyone, and a lot of stuff...

Have you really been here less than a month? The moderation and T & C's are the things that keep some of us here and I would hardly consider the staff to be "lazy". Thanks for your OT post anyway.

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
a reply to: Freija
A combination of what has already been stated, but one more thing. i add LOTS of people to my friends list as I read through threads. So one of the things I do is go to my Wall, and just see the section on the left that says "Threads by friends". It also works well when you click on other people's walls and see the threads by their friends. Lots of nice gems in there.

So add a # ton of random people to your friends list today! It looks to me like the Wall in our profiles is a highly underused and underrated feature that people barely use.

Sorry, I don't do "friends". These "social" features don't appeal to me and seem kind of Facebooky which is something I have no interest in. That's not saying I don't have friends here and favorite posters but not enough to follow their every move and post.

It's great though that you've found something that works for you. All I was interested in is how others get around this joint so thank you for your contribution.

originally posted by: mysterioustranger
I go straight to NEW...see what people are talking about right now....then bounce around ie: replies etc

Well, one good thing I see about NEW is that it shows posts from both sides of the board. What seems odd to me is that it doesn't really show the newest posts, only the newest post in any particular thread. In looking at the new list, one entry will be from 5 minutes ago and the next from 5 hours ago. "Recent" is in chronological order from the very newest post that is sometimes seconds old descending through the past 24 hours. There may be a bit more to weed through on the recent page if you've been away for 12 hours or so but I prefer the chronological order. I will try the new page a few more times and see if I can get the hang of it but I'm old and stuck in my some of my ways so it isn't likely. Thanks for your feedback.

originally posted by: Maverick1
I start with new, then live, then top...honest to God, it never even occurred to me to check 'recent' until this very thread, lol

Live and top just don't work for me either. Both are spoon fed by algorithms to push information at me and I prefer to use my own internal filters and interests for the things I look at. Additionally, many of the threads that do interest me are either weakly flagged or heavily flagged by certain ideologies or political platforms I don't agree with so that measure for me is unreliable.

originally posted by: opethPA
Same approach here...Not entirely sure why that is hard to do for the OP other than you cant make everyone happy.

Whoever said I was unhappy or complaining? I was just curious about other people's browsing techniques. I had one minor annoyance about reading on the off topic side that others have provided elegant solutions for that I was just too dense to think of and am appreciative of those that have offered something constructive.

a reply to: Freija
It is not like you actually need to consider anyone your friend. That is the feature, and the name it is given. This feature provides a stream of threads that are not readily seen regularly through many of the other tabs. Half of the friends list I have is people whos views I don't even agree with or like. However, this will give maximum exposure to the threads that will not show up on Recent, New, or live because maybe they are neither. They may have been a thread that just went totally unnoticed.

Try it. Click on random peoples names , visit their profile and check the wall. You WILL see threads that do no show up on any of those tabs, frequently in fact. When I noticed this, I just kept adding people who's writing I like or topics that are interesting. If they have done the same, you will see a wide variety of topics covering every forum you can think of.

originally posted by: worldstarcountry
a reply to: Freija
It is not like you actually need to consider anyone your friend. That is the feature, and the name it is given. This feature provides a stream of threads that are not readily seen regularly through many of the other tabs. Half of the friends list I have is people whos views I don't even agree with or like. However, this will give maximum exposure to the threads that will not show up on Recent, New, or live because maybe they are neither. They may have been a thread that just went totally unnoticed.

Try it. Click on random peoples names , visit their profile and check the wall. You WILL see threads that do no show up on any of those tabs, frequently in fact. When I noticed this, I just kept adding people who's writing I like or topics that are interesting. If they have done the same, you will see a wide variety of topics covering every forum you can think of.

Okay, I tried it. I clicked on half a dozen members and visited their "wall" which is a term I find off putting from the get go just because it came from social media (Facebook). I looked through everyone's "threads from friends" listings and did not see a single thread I hadn't already seen. It just doesn't work for me and is too limiting but I am glad it works for you and helps you get around and see things. I don't think anyone's personal way of navigating this site is better than anyone else's, mine included but I do find it interesting we all have our different techniques and methodologies.

I have received a few friend notifications from others but have not reciprocated and my apologies to anyone that has happened to. It's not meant to be rude or unfriendly but technologically "friending" someone is far too social media-ish and narcissistic cult of personality like for this old gal that isn't known for being particularly social or friendly in the physical sphere. Besides, I know who my real friends are here (all 3 of them!) and they know me and having a wall of friends just kind of seems redundant and superficial but those are just my thoughts and I'm not throwing shade at anyone. To each their own and I completely believe that.

Maybe I'm just aloof, stuck up and anti-social? Maybe the social problems I grew up with made me that way? Maybe this whole friending thing is just a part of ATS I choose not to participate in? It's also just kind of the way I am as I don't really have friends in real life and generally avoid social situations whenever I can. Now, back to my cave...

My "wall", that I'm almost proud of: