Ambiguous notifications count

[#1]

@James_B 

For a couple of weeks I’ve been seeing inconsistent new notification counts.  In the “space” of taking some down time, I’ve not looked at my notifications page for 2+ weeks.

Upon logging in I see 101 new notifications reported.

Subsequent to making a post, circa 50 notifications are then reported.

If I allow the session to time out and I login again I see 100+.  I see different experiences on other devices.  The experience is reproducible.

We have seen similar over the years - it is as though the service supplier has several service instances … which they are not keeping in sync.  Thus depending on which instance of the service services the connection, the user experience is inconsistent.  I will try to refrain from accessing the notification screen so that the supplier can inspect the case.

[#2]

Now that I can get in with the correct CSS rendering...

Notification Count on Login

Notification Count after having made a post

[#3]

That's an odd one, @Townman 

I'll raise it with Khoros.

Thanks for flagging.

James

[#4]

@James_B 

Any news please?

I suspect something supplemental in play here.  The notification counts are now 101 / 77.  Some increase in the notifications count is to be expected given replies to my subscribed threads, however the higher number is not increasing.

[#5]

Hi @Townman,

Khoros have asked - When the superuser views their notification feed (clicks on the counter), does the count reset to zero as expected, or does it remain at an elevated number?

Thanks

James

[#6]

@James_B 

So the they can investigate I have not done anything which might reset the count (trash the evidence).

I cannot discern what gives rise to seeing one number or the other.  Having ‘switched’ to the lower figure being reported, it sticks with that until whenever.  I suspect that there is a timeout somewhere.

Note I have multiple devices accessing the account some of which have “stayed logged in” set.

I am posting this from my phone which does not have stay logged in set.  At the moment I see a count of 101.  I have seen 102.

i expect that after posting this I will see the lower number.  Whilst the lower number is rising (as is to be expected as I’m not ‘servicing’ notifications) the higher number is not, suggesting that source of reporting has an upper limit.

Surely the supplier can run a data query against my account to see what the number should be?  My estimate would be 150.  Count by type might be a useful diagnostic.

edit: expectations fulfilled - count now reported as 78.

edit: now 77 … some thing does not add up!

[#7]

@James_B 

Any update please?

Here are more observations on the oddities...

1. The higher count changes to the lower count following a post to a thread
2. It does not change on sending a PM
3. It sticks at 101 unless I receive a PM, which does increment it ... and it decrements after reading the PM
4. The lower count reverts to the higher count after some indeterminate period which appears to be less than the logout period ... though that could be muddled by having multiple concurrent sessions on different devices
5. The lower count varies up and down as I look at various threads, possibly as though looking at a thread for which there is a notification changes the notification count - this is not something I have observed before; I thought notification counts were not adjusted until the notification page is accessed (which I am still avoiding doing)

[#8]

@James_B 

Is a meaningful response from the supplier a likely outcome here … or do I park this as another characteristic of this flaky product and just move on?

[#9]

Hi @Townman,

I haven't had any further updates yet but I'll keep you in the loop. Hopefully it's a straightforward fix.

James

[#10]

@James_B 

Would you know if someone is investigating this ... or is this a different characteristic of the same gremlins.

I little earlier I sawn NO NOTIFICATIONS being reported on my mobile following having seen 101 reported.  I became miffed fearing that some bright spark might have thought that the "solution" here is to clear the counter 'for me' ... something I could do myself (rather than retain the account status for investigation.

However a little later a count of 50 was returned, though that is somewhat lower than the previous lower number.  Still no not happy, but better than all of the notifications being vapourised.

Back on my laptop, I again see 101...

Until I make a post...

Something weird is happening, but its not wonderful.

What has the vendor done to investigate the matter?

What are my unread notification counts by type?  I suspect that some scenario shows the count of everything. whilst elsewhere is showing a sub-set count.

Is there a count ceiling in the system?  The higher count has never exceeded 101 unless I have unread PMs; that reported count is 101 + number of unread PMs.

Has there been any changes to the notification logic?  It issued to be the case that the notification count was not adjusted until visiting the notifications page, at which point it was set to zero.  Now it appears that visiting a post which is 'notified' causes the notification count to reduce even though the notification page has not been visited.