When I searched for the answer I found a few posts talking about how confusing the terminology was and it seemed as though the developers were considering changing it to subscribe or something? What is the difference between watching and tracking a topic?

As noted in the above screenshot, watching means you’ll receive a notification for every post made within the topic. Tracking means you’ll only be notified if someone replies to you directly (by clicking the reply button under your post), or mentions your @username

The settings descriptions in https://yoursite/my/preferences/tracking are pretty straightforward: [The image displays a list of categories and tags in a digital interface, possible for a social media platform or content management system. (Captioned by AI)] These settings are affected by the ones above it in the preferences: [The image displays a user interface with a section titled "Topics" and options for creating topics in the last 2 days, automatically track topics in the last 5 minutes, and tracking a topic set that is closed when user post in a topic. (Captioned by AI)] I also inquired with the Settings helper for a full explanation: Understanding Discourse Tracking Settings and Scenarios Lilly: please explain in detail the tracking settings in user preferences in Discourse. compose your answer like a help topic and give me example scenarios of how the tracking settings work for categories, topics and posts. settings_explorer_bot: Tracking Settings in User Preferences - Discourse Help Topic Understanding how tracking settings work in your user preferences can greatly enhance your experience in a Discourse forum. These settings determine how you receive notifications and stay updated on the activities within categories, topics, and posts that matter to you. Here’s a detailed guide on tracking settings for categories, topi… Read full transcript

Very confused, watching vs tracking a post?

Product Support

ondrej September 12, 2024, 4:11pm 2

Topic		Replies	Views
Actual difference between "tracked" and "watching first post" Product Support	28	10806	December 15, 2018
Automatically set Topics to Watching after posting Feature	18	4828	October 11, 2016
Better terms for watching (and tracking?) UX	33	7048	February 27, 2023
New setting for watch/track preference when posting new topic Feature	1	694	December 8, 2017
Is any possibility to automatically make the topic's notification level as «Watching» instead of «Tracking» for a user who have posted a reply to this topic? Product Support	1	1140	October 12, 2016

Very confused, watching vs tracking a post?

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