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Old-Joe or anyone, Home page acting differently

Hi. I'm using a MacBook Pro running the latest MacOS and the Safari browser.

In the past when I logged into the Discussion Home Page all the new or unread posts were shown with a white background and the word 'New' was highlighted in yellow. Posts which I had read at some point but had since been updated with additional comments also contained the yellow highlighted word 'New' on a grayish background. Once I had read either "one" of these new or updated posts and returned to the discussion home page the screen refreshed itself to show the yellow highlighting gone and the gray background on read posts. It showed me posts I had read in other words.

Now and for the past few weeks the only way I can remove the yellow highlighting from read posts and see the post with the gray background is to refresh the entire MFO discussion page. So I have found myself clicking on already read posts.

? Has the site changed their 1's and 0's or is this a Mac/Safari problem? TIA

Comments

  • Hi Mark, I'm not having any problems as you stated, buy I'm using the dreaded Windows and Chrome. I still see the pages with notations and colors you are used to seeing.
    Has there been an in the background update of the Apple OS or browser? I'm not familiar with any update message or request you may receive for an Apple product.
    If I had the same problem with Windows, I would check settings in the browser, as there are choices for an "auto" refresh of visited pages. I don't know if this option is inside of Safari or not. If this failed to correct the problem, I would have to start an internet search for anyone else having a problem with page refresh or similar.
    DO you see any other internet site pages, with which you are familiar, acting in the same manner ???
    Sorry, I can't offer more.
    Catch
  • edited April 2020
    @Mark- At this moment I'm using my steadfast G5- hardly "the latest Mac OS". This old Mac uses a Firefox variant tweaked for the G5. So I can't tell you much at the moment, other than there's been no changes at MFO as you mention.

    In a bit I'll get over to our Mac Mini- my wife is using it at the moment- and let you know what I see over there, but the Mini OS isn't the latest. If I were you, I'd download Firefox, and see how MFO looks on that. If it's OK, then it is probably a Safari issue. Let me know what's happening at your end.

    OJ
  • edited April 2020
    In the past when I logged into the Discussion Home Page all the new or unread posts were shown with a white background and the word 'New' was highlighted in yellow.
    • OK, that's the same

    Posts which I had read at some point but had since been updated with additional comments also contained the yellow highlighted word 'New' on a grayish background.
    • This is slightly different than you are describing. The yellow highlighted word 'New' does not have a "grayish background"... just yellow, with the number of new posts preceding the word "new". (eg: "3 new")

    Once I had read either "one" of these new or updated posts and returned to the discussion home page the screen refreshed itself to show the yellow highlighting gone and the gray background on read posts. It showed me posts I had read in other words.
    • OK, I see what you mean here. We have two Mini's, and I have MFO up on one using Firefox, and on the other using Safari.

    - With Safari the "grey background on read posts" is so faint as to be useless.
    - With Firefox it's still pretty faint, but visible.

    However, only the posts which I've read have no little yellow tag with "new" or "3 new", so that's an easy way to sort the already read posts out from the newer ones.

    Are you opening posts in a new browser tab, or are you simply clicking on the post that you want to read, and transferring to that page within MFO?

    If you open a new browser tab, the original MFO home page won't update automatically, and you would have to refresh it to update. If you stay within the MFO tab to read the post, when you return to the home page it should automatically refresh and update.

    It's still not exactly like your setup, as the Mini's are using OS 10.11.6 (El Capitan), and Safari version 9.1.2, which is at least four years old. Your OS, for sure, and Safari, most likely, are much newer versions, but I hope that this helps somewhat.

    OJ

  • I'm seeing the same thing you're seeing, Mark. The need to refresh the page to remove the false "new" seems to have been happening for just a few days. On my computer if I click the left-pointing arrow to go back to the discussions page I now go back to what it was before I clicked a "new" link. Yellow yellow everywhere. But if I click "Discussions" in the menu instead, that leads me to the updated version. I * think* that what you are calling the "home page" is actually the Discussions "home", right? The actual home page is something else. It can be accessed at the far left of the menu.
  • @Ben- excellent point- we need to be clear about what we are calling "home" and what we click on to get there. My "home" page is always "Discussions +", and on the Firefox browser I've placed a little icon that always goes directly to that page. I've experienced no strangeness using that approach. When I return to discussions + everything is properly updated there. Possibly other routes back to other "home" pages will give a different result. Lots of variables here.
  • @OJ - I am using Mac OS High Sierra v.10.13.6 on a 2011 MacBook Pro. My continuing details relate just to this post on the discussion page.

    @Ben - Yes, I am referring to the "Discussions Home Page" and not the MFO Home Page.

    1. I logged into the Discussions Home Page. This Discussion post was shown with the light gray background (I agree its quite faint) because I had read Catch22's post earlier. There was also the wording [ 2 New ] enclosed in a yellow shape. This indicated that OJ and Ben had responded.

    2. I clicked on the post which opened up in a new page. I read OJ and Ben's contributions and used the left-pointing arrow to go back to the Discussions home page. In the past the yellow shape and enclosed wording would have been gone but now it's still there.

    3. I clicked on the post again and added my "test" response.

    4. I used the left-pointing arrow to go back to the Discussions home page. Again the yellow shape and enclosed wording should have been gone but it's still there.

    5. I used the left-pointing arrow to go back to the Discussions home page. I then reloaded the Discussion page using the Safari reload symbol. Only now is the yellow shape gone. In the past it would have been gone as soon as I had read the new additions and returned to the Discussion home page using the left-pointing arrow.

    Hope that makes sense. I checked my Safari settings and Preferences and nothing has been added or changed since the beginning.
  • Ben
    edited April 2020
    1) yes, but did you try going to the Discussions Home from this discussion *not* via the arrow, but via clicking on the word "Discussions"? That is what got rid of the Yellow New for me.
    2) BUT— the problem isn't solved. In the time between making my first post and making this one, three other posts were made here. This one is the fourth. And yet on the Discussions Home Page this discussion had a grey background and no indication that new contributions had been made to this discussion. In this case yellow and "new" would have been appropriate but it did not appear. So *something* is malfunctioning.
  • edited April 2020
    @Mark- I think that I maybe see the issue: depending on the browser design, when you leave a particular site the browser may simply store all of the data needed to reconstruct that page from its internal cache. When you use that arrow it doesn't actually go back out onto the internet and contact that site again.

    I believe that Ben is correct- you need to use a return path with a link that is part of the actual MFO page that you are viewing. If you came from "Discussions", use the "Discussions" button to go back, and that should take care of the problem. If, like me, you came from the "Discussions+" page, then return there by using the "Discussions+" link on the upper left side of the page that you are viewing. Let us know how that works out.

    OJ
  • @Mark @Old_Joe @Ben

    With Safari or other Apple browser, is there a situation where the "cache" in the browser can become limited in use/function due to limited available memory space for use.
    I don't know, but asking the question.
    I clear everything out of history, downloads and cache at least once a day....old habit.
  • edited April 2020
    Hi Catch- I believe that's correct with respect to the amount of memory made available for the browser cache. That's usually handled by the browser automatically deleting sufficient older cache data to allow storage of newer data. And yes, you can also choose to empty the entire cache manually if desired, though I've never done that on a regular basis. With the amount of system memory typically available these days a couple of hundred MB of cache data isn't even going to be noticed.
  • @Mark- another approach that should work for you is to do something like I've done. Typically when I'm working on the computer I'll fairly often take a quick look at what's happening on MFO. Most browsers have some sort of "bar" that is located towards the top of the browser page, and in that bar you can place little icons that will take you directly to a particular site (not to a cached page).

    To that end, I've placed an MFO icon up there which I can use even if I'm working on something else on another browser tab. If MFO isn't even open that icon will instantly go directly to MFO and open it in a new tab. Very convenient.
  • edited April 2020
    @OJ - you said:

    "@Mark- I think that I maybe see the issue: depending on the browser design, when you leave a particular site the browser may simply store all of the data needed to reconstruct that page from its internal cache. When you use that arrow it doesn't actually go back out onto the internet and contact that site again."

    That's correct. That's what I have always done. The page has always acted as first described up until the last few weeks. Maybe Safari has been rejiggered then as part of a bug-fix or similar.

    @Ben - I Have never used anything but the left-pointing arrow. The MFO Discussion page is like a permanent tab on my browser. I've never clicked on 'Discussions' either in the green-shaded line or the line directly below it. I've always used the left-pointing arrow to return to the list of discussions and chosen the next discussion I wanted to read. In the past when I've done that the discussion post I had just read cleared the 'yellow new shape'. Now it does not. I now must use the 'reload page' icon to do that. The page also acts just like you described in your #2 item above -
    "2) BUT— the problem isn't solved. In the time between making my first post and making this one, three other posts were made here. This one is the fourth. And yet on the Discussions Home Page this discussion had a grey background and no indication that new contributions had been made to this discussion. In this case yellow and "new" would have been appropriate but it did not appear. So *something* is malfunctioning."
  • edited April 2020
    To illustrate:

    1 - After entering my comment in this discussion I used the left-pointing arrow to return to the discussion page with the list of discussions.

    2 - I chose the Dodge and Cox discussion to read. The background to that post was white and had [ 3 New ] in a yellow-colored shape.

    3 - I read the [ 3 New ] comments, selected the left-pointing arrow to return to the list of discussions. Nothing had changed - and by this I mean the discussion still had a white background, [ 3 New ] was still visible in a yellow-colored shape.

    Anyway in the past after I had read the 3 new comments as noted in #3 above and then returned to the discussion list the Dodge and Cox discussion post would have become shaded in gray and the yellow-colored shape would have disappeared indicating that I had read that discussion. Now nothing changes until I select the 'reload page' icon.

    An aside: What is that shape called anyway? A rounded rectangle? Dunno.
  • edited April 2020
    Mark. Scroll down this page for OS/Safari updates. The version list will change from a pink color to a light green shade (the updates). An update occurred on March 24, 2020(High Sierra/Safari); which is close to the time frame you noticed a change at MFO. I can't travel past this point to offer any assistance as to what may have changed in Safari.
    The only thought that I have is whether setting a new "favorite link" (don't know what "favorite" is named in Apple) makes a difference; and you may have already tried this.
    ADD: This problem is understandably a pain in the arse for viewing threads/posts here. I hope you find a resolution, and there must be many more Apple users here with the same experience.
    Catch
  • Mark............add
    This is a broad search for Safari ver. 13.1
    As you scroll down the links list you will see some articles dated March 27, etc. indicating some apparent problems encountered by others. I didn't read the CNET story, but you may want to check this, too.

    WHAT version of Safari is indicated on your MAC?



  • edited April 2020
    Safari Version 13.1 (13609.1.20.111.8). And yes, the OS updated around that March 24th time period.

    Edit to add: Upon seeing the [ 2 New ] yellow-shape I clicked on the post to read who had added what. Saw, read and commented to catch22. Returned to discussion page and nothing had changed. My response was not noted, [ 2 New ] still visible. Weird I tell ya.
  • Mark said:





    @Ben - I Have never used anything but the left-pointing arrow.

    What I've been trying to say is that
    1) using that arrow may be the source of the problem. After all, it is doing what the arrow symbolizes: going back (returning to what was.)
    and
    2) If you click on Discussions instead, you will be taken to an updated Discussions page. At least it works for me.
  • @Ben - before someone else responds I hope - the gist of my original post is that in the past it had ALWAYS updated. I can't tell you why. Only recently has it started doing whatever it's doing now.
  • @Mark- Well, I'm about out of ideas. As Catch22 noted it does seem suggestive that there was an update about the time that your problem seems to have appeared. You may just have to use the MFO "return links" , at least for the time being.

    As a background note, I learned years ago, the hard way, to never allow automatic updates of any kind, without asking permission first. If it's working well, then leave it the hell alone.

    I never update the operating system without having a backup using the existing one. Exactly because of this kind of crap.
  • I wish I could chime in with an answer - sadly not. I can say that nothing has changed "behind the scenes." We haven't recently updated anything or changed any settings in the discussion forum software.

    My Windows 10 and Chrome Browser combo still seems to be working correctly - updating to remove the yellow when I click the back icon.

    You might try clearing the cache to see if that helps. I've been really surprised at the problems that can be fixed that way.
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