Exclude threads from the Spy feature.

[SL89]

I'd really like to see the ability to Hide threads / posts from showing up in the 'spy' function. I usually just let the spy window sit there so i can cherry pick things that are of note to me, but sometimes it gets bogged down by one thread. It would make things a little easier to be able to 'hide' the thread and exclude it from the spy. Thanks!

[chzel]

Easy solution is to refresh the page, it gets rid of the "ghost" topics.

[SL89]

Here's an example:

Let's say I never want to see the Great/Interesting Find's thread. (For whatever reason) I want to be able to hit a 'hide' somewhere on the Spy page and prevent that thread from showing up in the Spy ever again. If i wanted to bring it back i could unhide it from the thread itself or something.

[chzel]

Got it!
I thought you meant what happens sometimes when there are new posts in a thread and the spy displays the same thread 3-4 times.
Not a bad idea!

[SL89]

Thanks, its one of the niceties of reddit that i figured would translate well here.

[andrewjoy]

I too find this frustrating but its how its designed to work possibly an option to cap it to one post per topic would be nice

[SL89]

Again, I don't care so much about a popular thread I want to follow cropping up again and again. I rely on this actually. But let's say i was seeing a lot from a thread I disliked or was not participating in and wanted just to omit it.

[Madhias]

Another thing with the Spy is that when I go back to the Spy without refreshing it is not 'new'. I always refresh then again. Sometimes I forget, do not look instantly, and later I am confused since the page is not reloaded automatically. So when going back it seems that I always see the cached version. Don't know if this is a browser setting or a feature!

[Muirium]

It's a longstanding bug. I always get it when I leave the spy open for long enough, on every computer and browser I've ever used for DT. The best way to trigger it is to hit the back button a couple of times after posting. Flaky!

I don't like the idea of silencing threads from the spy, by the way. It's not like we're such a high volume forum. And I think SL89 only wants it because of the spy's bug, not the intended behaviour of one entry per thread, period.

[webwit]

When I made the spy, subforum and topic filtering where on my todo list, but I never got to implementing it. Don't know if/when I will, I'm very busy the next two months. The trick is to make it as lightweight as possible, because people are running the spy all day and it fires a request every 20 seconds.

Caching was enabled on request: http://deskthority.net/post123588.html#p123588
This caused the effect on the spy, because you'll get the initial page view, not the updates by javascript which you got after that.
But this is about caching on the entire site, I can probably disable it for the spy.

[seebart]

I don't like the idea of silencing threads from the spy, by the way. It's not like we're such a high volume forum. And I think SL89 only wants it because of the spy's bug, not the intended behaviour of one entry per thread, period.

Agreed, I use the spy when I specifically want a quick overview of everything going on. In the sub-forums I then go into detailed threads and posts. No need to silence anything there.

[Madhias]

It would be great if caching can be disabled for the spy! It is not a big problem, but you could miss interesting discussions or ... sales.

[seebart]

It would be great if caching can be disabled for the spy! It is not a big problem, but you could miss interesting discussions or ... sales.

yes but if know about that "bug" you won`t miss anything. I`ve gotten used to it in a way.

[SL89]

Muirium, no It's not just because of the bug. I just constantly see entries for things I'd rather not see and would like the option of filtering them. The cool thing about having options is people like Seebart who like it as is don't have to utilize it, but people who want the option can use it for what they see.

[seebart]

I´m not against having that option, even if I might not use it.

[SL89]

Oh I know, I was just saying having the option leaves both paths available to take.

[SL89]

@webwit, would it be possible to revisit the idea of excluding or 'muting' threads from the Spy?

[webwit]

Not anytime soon I'm afraid, I'm busy until the end of the year.

[Muirium]

Also: the Spy is the firehose. Aim it at your face in peril!

I wouldn't bother customising it for people's individual needs. How would we undo our blocks, etc? You increase state a lot that way. And defeat the purpose of the Spy.

I'd rather see it reflect edits, and de-duplicate. Our Portugese threads are so busy, often my spy is half filled up with just one or two of them if I haven't manually reloaded it in a few hours. I don't want to mute those threads. I just want them reflected fairly, once each.

[SL89]

@webwit, thats fine, i mean, so long as we can check it out before april that would be cool

@mu i understand you don't want muting, but like i don't see why you need to automatically dismiss the idea of it because it lacks appeal to you. You've literally said don't customize it, then you suggest a customization, which is it?

[Muirium]

No customisation. I want a bug fix. When I'm at my computer I'll show you a screenshot. But you've surely seen it yourself: when the spy is dominated by multiple posts from a *single* thread. That's bullshit and I'd like it fixed whenever convenient.

The trouble with customisation is support burden. Right now, the spy is the same for everyone. Once people can mute threads or sections, they will, then will forget or simply didn't realise what they were doing (this is fundamental human nature and cannot be fixed with Are you really sure about that? nag boxes) and then will want help and will post asking for this in the forum. How do we help them when we can't see the same thing?

I don't know about you, but the steady stream of poor confused bastards in 7bit'd GB threads really pisses me off. He relies on the community to hand hold his customers for him. And, now I've long given up helping them myself, the practice makes a mess of the forum. His threads are epic bug reports by his buyers about his ordering system. Bugs that are never fixed. Because in his eyes, they are features.

The less things we have like that on the forum — permanent streams of confusion and unresolved appeals for help — the better. They are self inflicted wounds.

[SL89]

No customisation. I want a bug fix. When I'm at my computer I'll show you a screenshot. But you've surely seen it yourself: when the spy is dominated by multiple posts from a *single* thread. That's bullshit and I'd like it fixed whenever convenient.

I think I know what you mean, but a screenshot would be appreciated.

The trouble with customisation is support burden. Right now, the spy is the same for everyone. Once people can mute threads or sections, they will, then will forget or simply didn't realise what they were doing (this is fundamental human nature and cannot be fixed with Are you really sure about that? nag boxes) and then will want help and will post asking for this in the forum. How do we help them when we can't see the same thing?

Much like the Buyer Beware disclaimer, User Beware! It's easy to support that when you don't have to support it. If you really need a fix for it, maybe a button that just 'Reset Spy Preferences' can be had to just resets any and all changes from the default. This way if someone mutes a thread and forgets about it, they can just nuke the settings for the spy back to default. No support needed beyond telling them where the link is.

I don't know about you, but the steady stream of poor confused bastards in 7bit'd GB threads really pisses me off. He relies on the community to hand hold his customers for him. And, now I've long given up helping them myself, the practice makes a mess of the forum. His threads are epic bug reports by his buyers about his ordering system. Bugs that are never fixed. Because in his eyes, they are features.

Then that's his prerogative, I mean, nobody is obligated to help his customers. If they report the bugs through the proper channels then so be it, but if not then they don't get addressed. I'm not sure what 7bits insane trains have to do with the rest of the forums, besides being a containment thread for the lowest denominator.

The less things we have like that on the forum — permanent streams of confusion and unresolved appeals for help — the better. They are self inflicted wounds.

As i proposed, it's a very easy fix. User Beware, and one click reset. There is no reason to dismiss a potential feature off the bat. If it's unfeasible then so be it, but if it is doable, then why not. As an example, I don't come to DT to see people talk about Paris, or to discuss keyboards in Portuguese, but others may want just that. So why can't we just hide those threads (again if technically possible) and only have the cream rise to the top as it were.

[Muirium]

A nuke all customisations button is a pretty good solution. No matter how convoluted someone's setup has become: there is only one answer. I'd never put up with it if I actually wanted customisations myself — I'm a crazy complex tinkerer, you should see my mail rules and custom keyboard shortcuts, which I craft over years at a time — but a panic button has its place.

Where are you thinking of storing these customisations? Server side, per account, I presume? Client side, per browser, would probably be easier to implement, but not nearly as nice to use.

[SL89]

I know the feeling, my email stuff and scripts and whatnot are all pretty intense. But for just a mute fuction a nuke all settings would work.

I don't know enough to suggest, but if its as you said, and its easier to make it per browser then probably that.

[webwit]

I want a bug fix. When I'm at my computer I'll show you a screenshot. But you've surely seen it yourself: when the spy is dominated by multiple posts from a *single* thread. That's bullshit and I'd like it fixed whenever convenient.

That's not a bug but design. If you start the spy, go away for half an hour and a topic gets three new posts, you see the three new posts in the spy.

[SL89]

Also if something like Mu is describing happens, he can just mute the thread and then its no big deal.

[scottc]

No customisation. I want a bug fix. When I'm at my computer I'll show you a screenshot. But you've surely seen it yourself: when the spy is dominated by multiple posts from a *single* thread. That's bullshit and I'd like it fixed whenever convenient.

I actually quite like this, whether it's a bug or feature or whatever.

[Muirium]

Yeah, you got my description. Here's an example of it in progress:

Forum spy.tiff (654.39 KiB) Viewed 15091 times

I don't mind a few repetitions. But the main Portuguese thread at DT gets very fast and furious quite often and will dominate the whole spy. The (insufferable!) Paris thread was like that earlier today. But, oddly enough, the Romanian Corner was busy as I was last AFK.

Get what I'm saying? Many threads can take off, quite unpredictably. And the spy is a single page, there is no "next page" button for action to spill onto. (And I don't think there should be.) So heavy duplication bumps a lot of stuff clean off.

It's noise vs. signal. A judgement call, apparently. I'd ask for a preference, but we have just the one duck.

Also if something like Mu is describing happens, he can just mute the thread and then its no big deal.

I have no plans to mute any threads. I'm a mod. I can just delete them instead!

[scottc]

I don't think the forum likes your tiff (seriously?!) attachment, Mu!

[Muirium]

I had to grab it from my home computer — the effect builds up over time, and I had it on all day today anyway — so I had to resort to ye olde NeXT-style Grab utility to actually snatch it over VNC. Guess what single file format it supports? Renders fine in Safari, mind…

Okay, here's a conversion to png:

Forum%20spy.png (406.77 KiB) Viewed 15072 times