Comments on 3620 | MetaTalk

How hard would it be to have a way to keep track of threads you are particularly interested in but have not posted in? I use the pulldown feature to keep track of my commented threads, but there are other threads that I would enjoy keeping up with-problem is I forget about them.
I guess I had in mind something like a checkoff box or something. Would this be hard to do?
(please don't suggest I comment in these threads too. I blab enough around here as it is.)
posted by konolia to feature requests at 12:35 PM (44 comments total)

I second the idea...assuming it's not a nightmare to implement...but if it were a simple thing to do, I would love this feature.
posted by dejah420 at 1:08 PM on October 23, 2003

Can we get a password change feature first?
posted by insomnyuk at 1:20 PM on October 23, 2003

Comment but with a simple:

[tracker]

or perhaps just a period:

.

;-P
posted by mischief at 1:22 PM on October 23, 2003

Ummmm, I just bookmark them. Simple, no?
posted by ashbury at 1:25 PM on October 23, 2003

(whine)But I WANTED A BOX TO CHECK OFF!(/whine)

*small voice* a . will do. *Sniff*
posted by konolia at 1:30 PM on October 23, 2003

Can we have a racist feature too? I mean, like, when anyone makes a post about jam or bread or rock bands or carpet cleaners or dust mites or the 1957 potato famine you can just have a MeTa post created that goes SO AND SO IS A RACIST!!

I think we need that.
posted by xmutex at 1:33 PM on October 23, 2003

mischief, that could get annoying really fast.

konolia why don't you just try adding them to your bookmarks or favorites in a folder for your favorite threads?
posted by insomnyuk at 1:33 PM on October 23, 2003

Excuse me. Haven't software companies figured out how to keep track of important things on the web yet? I mean, something like, oh, a bookmark?

Oh yeah ...

(Just felt like snarking, sorry. But I keep track of significant MetaFilter threads with a bookmark, in their own folder even. When they die, I delete them. Easy as cake ... no wait ... pie ... ok, it's just simple.)

On preview, the sleepless laughing one beat me to it.
posted by Wulfgar! at 1:45 PM on October 23, 2003

On preview, the sleepless laughing one beat me to it.

Is this kind of analogous to something along the lines of "the evil one" or the "soulless one" or something?

:D
posted by insomnyuk at 1:53 PM on October 23, 2003

konolia why don't you just try adding them to your bookmarks or favorites in a folder for your favorite threads?

I'm drowning in favorites as it is. Plus I think it would be less complicated for me to handle it like I do commented threads. So posting "track" would handle that.

I did at one time bookmark important threads like the 911 thread, but sometimes all bookmarks disappear when husband fiddles with computer (think Tim Allen.)
posted by konolia at 2:01 PM on October 23, 2003

insomnyuk, this is absolutely no reflection on you, your posting or commenting history, but when I see your nick I just picture someone sitting in a highbacked chair, with a wild-eyed roaming stare focused somewhere beyond the cealing, and a goofy grin on their face. They haven't slept in days, and the only sounds they can muster are random "heh, Heh ... heh, heh, Hehh heh heh".
posted by Wulfgar! at 2:05 PM on October 23, 2003

Comment but with a simple:

[tracker]

or perhaps just a period:

.

Funny, I was just thinking of this yesterday myself! I quickly abandoned the idea as way too obnoxious, though.

Also, I think the bookmark suggestion is a poor one.
posted by rushmc at 2:07 PM on October 23, 2003

I've never really cared much for bookmarks for some unknown reason. A friend of mine built a little web app to group and store links on-line and I've been pretty happy with that since it shows all links all the time (so it stays fresh, in many ways) and it allows me to access links I've found at work at home. [friend-of-self-link]

Though, it would be interesting to see how long it took before a "What are all those silly 'track' comments about?" thread on MetaTalk.
posted by Ms.JaneDoe at 2:24 PM on October 23, 2003

Wulfgar!, actually, you're pretty darn close to reality.

rushmc: do you have a better idea?

I guess if you have a blog you could use trackback to keep a list of your favorite posts. Random periods in the middle of threads could get really annoying.
posted by insomnyuk at 2:26 PM on October 23, 2003

I do that whole period thing, but with stupid injokes. Hasn't backfired, in fact, everyone thinks I'm hilarious for some reason.
posted by Stan Chin at 2:42 PM on October 23, 2003

.
posted by yhbc at 2:43 PM on October 23, 2003

rushmc: do you have a better idea?

Barring Matt's involvement? No.
posted by rushmc at 2:52 PM on October 23, 2003

The [tracker] idea would get old very very quickly for those who are trying to read the threads and use the new comments number to see if anything has been added. Bookmarks can be problematic for those who use multiple computers and/or browse MeFi at work (esp if you have a boss who checks your computer on weekends to see what you have been up to). I came up with a simple solution - I remember the threads I am following and go back to them when I remember. If I don't remember them, they weren't that important.

Being able to tag threads to watch would be great, but it is just more work for an (at the moment) overworked administrator.
posted by dg at 3:00 PM on October 23, 2003

I switch back and forth between my comments, recent comments and date, konolia (whatever i'm looking for is usually in there), but sometimes I have to do a google search: www.metafilter.com (topic). My bookmarks folder is cluttered enough as it is too.
and you don't talk too much at all--i hear you used to, but that was a long time ago : >
posted by amberglow at 3:19 PM on October 23, 2003

This is something that has long been on the to-do list, and something that jayallen actually built, a mefi bookmarks mini-site that I think is gone.

Many other communities have a basic feature set, and I've long put it off for processing concerns. I would love to someday do it, especially considering all the cool things you could do with the bookmarks and custom descriptions (let people share them on their user page, let them categorize and sub-categorize them to create directories, etc).

It's another one of those things that uses database processing time and requires a lot of free time for me to program, so it's been neglected.
posted by mathowie at 3:32 PM on October 23, 2003

that could get annoying really fast

No! Really? Whoda Thunkit?
posted by mischief at 3:48 PM on October 23, 2003

I remember the threads I am following and go back to them when I remember.

Age, meds, and parenting teenagers has made that method impractical in my case.
posted by konolia at 8:10 PM on October 23, 2003

"Age, meds, and parenting teenagers has made that method impractical in my case."

I think Miguel will be happy to FedEx you a nice fountain pen, a bottle of ink and a Fabriano handmade notebook.
then you'll be able to write on the first page, "My MeFi"

keep it close to your computer and then just write down thread numbers and stuff in it when you find something interesting.
as long as your husband doesn't burn it or your kids use the pages to roll big fat joints it should probably work
posted by matteo at 4:09 AM on October 24, 2003

my own personal methods include bookmarking posts, copying down the urls in text files, and relying on my memory - all of which have failed spectacularly, so I understand your pain, konolia. I have another idea, though, which might possibly be a good one.

Why not make a blogger account just for your MF links, and use the "blog this" toolbar app. to add any thread you want to keep track of? This thought only just occurred to me, so I can't say if it's actually a very handy idea, but I might try it myself. If it's useful we could even put our own blogger/mefi-tracker urls on our user pages so others could see what we are keeping track of...
posted by taz at 4:26 AM on October 24, 2003

of course, this still won't tell us when a particular thread has been updated... so um, never mind.
posted by taz at 4:38 AM on October 24, 2003

I'ts all settled with Matteo, konolia. As he's in Milan, he'll kindly be taking care of the Fabriano notebook and the fountain pen. Please specify which Italian make you'd prefer - an Aurora, an Omas or a Montegrappa? I say go for the latter, in the America's Cup version.

As soon as you take delivery, let me know so I can send you the nice little bottle of Quink that goes with them. :)
posted by MiguelCardoso at 4:57 AM on October 24, 2003

I built FarFetch to serve my online bookmarking needs. It's pretty primitive, but it has a bookmarklet and it's free and it might be the sort of thing you're looking for.
posted by bshort at 5:18 AM on October 24, 2003

just wondering, bshort - what is the difference between this sort of application and a favorites/bookmark? Is it that it's web-based, so even if you lose your own bookmarks you still have a safe version? (obviously I haven't tried it out yet, otherwise maybe I could answer my own questions...)
posted by taz at 5:43 AM on October 24, 2003

Online bookmarking allows all your bookmarks to be available from everywhere. In any given day I end up using 4 or 5 computers (work, home, laptop, GF's, etc.) and it's really frustrating not remembering on which computer I saved a particular link.

Of course, I'm kind of a link packrat, so this sort of solution might not be for everyone...
posted by bshort at 7:07 AM on October 24, 2003

Ok, if that utility would scrape the pages of the bookmarks for changes every time it displayed them, it would be shit-kicking. Meanwhile, something also useful in the same sort of static way is "b", which you can install on your own server so it won't go away.
posted by walrus at 7:32 AM on October 24, 2003

as long as your husband doesn't burn it or your kids use the pages to roll big fat joints it should probably work

In two days it would be filled with my husband's customers' phone numbers, used as a coaster, then make its way to an obscure place under the couch-or even more likely, the space-time continuum wrinkle that also sucks up single socks, ball-point pens, the Advil, and the phone book (but only when I need to use it.)

As soon as you take delivery, let me know so I can send you the nice little bottle of Quink that goes with them. :)

Kindly disregard the above. I trust your judgement as to pen, but what the heck is Quink?
posted by konolia at 12:08 PM on October 24, 2003

Quink.
posted by rushmc at 12:37 PM on October 24, 2003

Quink too (from the olden days)
posted by amberglow at 12:56 PM on October 24, 2003

Remind me to start a MeTa thread about a problem that could be resolved by sending me a Gibson ES-335.
posted by arto at 2:15 PM on October 24, 2003

I use the notepad feature in Yahoo! Mail to scribble down urls, mefi or otherwise, that I'd like to remember.

Remind me to start a MeTa thread about a problem that could be resolved by sending me a Gibson ES-335.

I want one too!
posted by mcsweetie at 9:33 PM on October 24, 2003

Why not make a blogger account just for your MF links, and use the "blog this" toolbar app. to add any thread you want to keep track of? This thought only just occurred to me, so I can't say if it's actually a very handy idea, but I might try it myself. If it's useful we could even put our own blogger/mefi-tracker urls on our user pages so others could see what we are keeping track of...

I did this very thing a long while back, to the extent of stealing Matt's css and sticking the blog in an iframe on my user page.

It lasted all of about two days before I got distracted by a shiny thing.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 11:14 PM on October 24, 2003

Anyone remember MyMetaFilterFilter (mmff)? It was precisely created for tracking mefi threads you were interested in with some cool DeepLeap-like community features...

Ahh, the golden days of having more time than I knew what to do with...
posted by fooljay at 10:31 AM on October 25, 2003

Honestly, if you hate bookmarks so much and can't use them maybe it's your software that sucks. does it have book mark folders?

now my plug for mac-crap. safari has nice bookmarks that synchronize to .mac and to a web-based bookmarking system that works on windows as well, for when you're at other computers through .mac, it's pretty nice.

saving web pages shouldn't be a problem, really. "we have the technology!"
posted by rhyax at 1:17 PM on October 25, 2003

Look, I am lazy and just want to scroll down a list just like I do threads I have commented on. Half the stuff I bookmark I wind up forgetting I have, anyway-remember, I have some cognitive difficulties on top of everything else. If my memory was decent I could just scroll down the regular front page-because then I would remember what I am looking for.

Besides, Matt said up there that this was a feature he intended to add sometime in the future. I can be patient and wait.
posted by konolia at 3:13 PM on October 25, 2003

[qUONSAR IS PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN THIS THREAD AND WOULD LIKE TO KEEP TRACK OF IT BUT HASN'T POSTED IN IT SO ------> IT'S RIGHT HERE q < -----]/b>
posted by quonsar at 4:02 PM on October 25, 2003

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