Would it be possible to add a new sorting query to the topic filter, such as order:op_edited, which would allow us to sort topics based on the edit time of the original post
Currently, the latest sort order is based on recent activity, so any new reply can bump a topic to the top.However, in certain categories — like Announcements or Documentation — the first post usually holds the key information, and that’s what really matters. When checking for the latest updates, it’s often more helpful to see topics sorted by when the first post was last edited. Right now, older topics with new replies keep appearing at the top, which makes it harder to quickly find the most up-to-date announcements.
About a year ago, the criteria for changing the last_update date on topics has changed. While edits on the last post no longer bump it to the top of /latest, edits on the first post of topics in a category using the doc-categories feature are bumped. In those categories, a bump can be caused by a reply or an edit on the first post now. So it doesn’t necessarily mean there was an edit, but it helps noticing edits on a post where changes are important.
I have a couple categories of content written by employees (Authors who write Technical Articles). These are not quite Curated Knowledge (different system) but they are “documents” that may live a long time and sometimes have discovered errors.
So, I recently changed the TimeToEdit = 0 [unlimited] for TL2+ so these Authors can come back and edit old TechArticles.
AND
I have an Editor who monitors and curates content at a high-level, I would like to periodically check on any of these updates to confirm “brand, grammar, etc” without forcing the authors to have to wait to republish to fix the errors / update the content.
So, I was trying to build a filter so she could have a destination where she sees “all records edited from category=X,y,Z of the original post in the past ## days”.
So far, the winning suggestion is the Data Explorer report.
But I can also see a derivative use, from a couple of other “managers” wanting to keep tabs on their cohort of employee-authors and see “activity”, over time, including OP edits.
Are those articles always the first post? Then you might be interested in the Allow unlimited owner edits on first post category setting.
I also feel like data explorer (maybe paired with scheduled reports) is your best option here. It doesn’t seem like you need a way for every user to order topics by the date of their last edit, but only a few selected people.
ANDDDD - bonus is that it is PER category. So I can reset the global setting back to “a relatively longer time” for trusted users without blowing up my Forums.
(as a former business analyst - I too love getting back to the why (use case) and letting the folks like yourself help me with the What/How).
You rock @Moin. Thanks.
