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As there is no system for generating automatic alerts when threads are updated, I have had a look around for page-change-trackers.
This one seems to come highly recommended and the free version offers the most frequent scanning for changes and notification (2 hrs) that I could find for a free service. This tool and others offer more frequent scans and alerts in paid-for versions:
http://femtoo.com/
Hope this is helpful,
Best wishes,
Liz
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Tried Femoo and it was giving me lots of "false positives", telling me that pages had changed when there was no new content. Complicated to work out how to change the settings to pick up specific changes - emailed support for advice but no reply yet.
I have also been trying http://www.diffbot.com email alerts.
You only get a page-change notification once a day but it does not give false alerts.
The other nice thing is that the email you get includes the changes that have been made - so no need to go back and check if the change is that you have added to the thread yourself :-)
Very easy to set up too - always a good thing!
Anyone else tried any of these or similar tools to try to keep an eye on specific threads?
Best wishes,
Liz
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No. I use the "My Threads" or "My bookmarks" features here in GR.
Rob
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Hi Rob,
I guess that works fine if you visit at least once a day anyway.
I tend to have bouts of frantic activity and then long lapses, so some sort of "alert" is handy in case someone suddenly adds to an old topic long after I was expecting it and while was away up to other stuff - mainly playing the ukulele :-)
Best wishes,
Liz
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Hi Lizz
I answered you a couple of days ago on another thread
In my opinion, the My Threads feature is so simple to use, once you realise it is there, that there is no need to track new postings.
As I said in that other posting ............. I can post on maybe as many as 50 threads some evenings ............................. imagine getting 50 emails from GR all saying "there has been a new posting on a thread on which you ....."
No thanks!!
I have actually turned OFF this feature on other sites because it got to be such a hassle.
sylvia
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Hi Sylvia,
I guess it is all a matter of personal preference :-)
I put an Update Tracker on my Bookmarked Threads page so it told me straight away that there was a reply - so here I am :-)
Ought to be in bed by now though really - but captivated by radio program - if you can access BBC iPlayer there is an intriguing program about the man who wrote the song "Nature Boy" in the 1940s:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00stsjh/A_Strange_Enchanted_Boy/
One more thread to check after it has just beeped me - then it is up the wooden hill to bedfordshire for me :-)
Best wishes,
Liz
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Hi PigletsPal,
Thanks for the reply - I am getting a better picture :-)
I think why I am finding these tools useful is the context - which for me is urgency plus sometimes limited time to access the internet to check for updates (plus feeble memory!).
In case this might apply to anyone else, the benefits that I have found with Update Scanner are that when I go to the Update Scanner version of "My Bookmarks" it highlights in yellow:
- any change in the number of posts to a thread
- any change to the date and time of the last post to a thread
Where there is a change to date and time but not to the number of posts I think that it must be picking up the date and time of the last edit of any of the existing posts in the thread.
Pity the view doesn't also show the ID of the last poster too as I sometimes check back to find it was me who made the last post :-)
I am anticipating that I might need to do some update-checks by iPhone when I am away from home. Apart from saving time, the benefit of knowing which if any threads I really need to check will save me some dosh :-)
So, I think it is probably more to do with circumstances, rather than personal preference, that has made this issue important for me, at least at this time.
However, thinking about it, I can't imagine going back to doing everything by memory and visual checking of the info on the "My Bookmarks" summary page, as this way is so much easier - I'll put that down to my age :-)
Thanks again for replying,
Best wishes,
Liz
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actually, it doesn't matter how long you are away from the boards
........... the posts will remain on My Threads, and the ones on which you last posted will remain at the top of the 1st page on there (and on My Bookmarks) .................. no matter how far they move down on the actual boards.
You just have to click on the title and you go straight to the thread ..... even if it is on page 60 of the TTF board
The position on My Threads depends on the postings that you yourself have made on threads, not on anyone else's.
sylvia
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