We have a Discourse instance (forum.ohlasy.info) and a separate website (ohlasy.info) that displays a list of latest topics pulled from /latest.json. Users can click on the topic name to get to the discussion. The question is, where does the link lead to? I have tried /t/:id and /t/:id/latest. The first link always leads to the beginning of the topic, the second one leads to the last post. Is there an option to go to the first unread post for the current user (if logged in) and to the beginning of the topic otherwise?
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Sorry, I misunderstood the question! There is no single magic link that’ll take you to two different locations in the topic.
There is, however:
-
a link that will take you to the
bottom of the topic consistently
https://meta.discourse.org/t/slug/106476/last -
a link that will take you to the
top of the topic consistently
https://meta.discourse.org/t/slug/106476/1
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Thank you! Neither of these options work well for us, though. Linking to the first post doesn’t make much sense for logged-in users who have probably read most of the topic already. And linking to the latest post doesn’t work well for… almost anybody. Those who have seen a part of the topic would lose track and those who didn’t would be thrown in the middle of a discussion, having to scroll to the top.
Would you consider adding / accepting a feature that would allow linking to the latest post read by the logged-in user or to the first post if the user is not logged in?
Or do you have other suggestions how to make this “latest posts on our discussion forum” website box work well?
I am open to adding an /unread postfix like we have for /last, feel free to send a PR
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Note, there is a subtle difference between these two:
- latest read post
- first unread post
See also:
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Did this ever get added Sam? Going to t/id/unread doesn’t work - but perhaps a different word is being used?
If it hasn’t been added this would be a really nice feature to have 
Nope, not added yet.
I too would love a “go to first unread” keyboard shortcut. It is a nice power user feature that allows you to regain control if you are dumped into a topic you have already started tracking far into the topic.
Concrete example:
- I start tracking: Events Plugin 📆
- I read up to post 100
- I click a link somewhere by mistake to Events Plugin 📆 - #428 by oca
- I missed 100-428 now and have no easy way to get back to 100
Ability to Jump to First Unread post in Topic Navigator / Progress Bar has not progressed over the years, same goes for: Remembered Topic location should be "First Unread" post instead of "Last Read" post
I think as it stands today, @codinghorror is happy to add a keyboard shortcut here for first unread. But we have not gotten to it yet, nor scheduled it.
I guess it is such an edge case to have these giant topics like @Wingtip tends to have AND have someone actively lobby for it.
The other problem with this power-user feature is that it is very hard to explain per: Will disable_jump_reply make a return? - #10 by codinghorror
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I’m glad you would like to see it too Sam and I hope we’ll see it soon 
Another place where I think it would be incredibly handy is when viewing a post via the flag system - it would be nice that it either ignores you own personal position, or, whenever you click through to a specific post for and Topic it asks you on leaving whether you would like to retain your original position, or set the most recent portion. If it tells you which post you had previously see (and maybe all you to jump to it) along with the post you later came in to (perhaps via review queue or post link) I think that would be super useful 
The flag system is definitely a problem for me atm, as I am avoiding carrying out those duties as I don’t want to lose my own position in those topics. Pretty sure others probably feel similarly?
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Just wondering if any progress was made on this after?
I am considering moving a few more forums over to Discourse (in conjunction with our custom homepage system) but one of the biggest criticisms we had on previous installs is that those links (on our homepage and custom pages) always went to the first post and people found it frustrating having to scroll through the thread again.
I think what’s true today is that the link to a thread will go to the last read post if there are unreads, or to the top of the thread if there are not - or if the account is not logged in. (Please correct me if I’m wrong)
If you mean links from within DC then yes, but we are referring to links we can use outside of Discourse (such as on a custom homepage or parent site).
I think this is desperately needed. But it also shouldn’t just be a keyboard shortcut because I use the site on my mobile a lot. A button next to the page numbers?
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Do you have any recent experiences that about make you feel this way? Always helpful to collect those real world anecdotes.
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Gewoon mijn eigen dagelijkse ervaring.
Ik beheer een druk forum en ik wil alles lezen, maar ik heb niet altijd tijd.
Dan, wanneer ik een @vermelding of antwoord krijg in een bericht, ontvang ik een melding. Ik kan niet op de melding klikken omdat ik weet dat het ver naar beneden in de lijst zal springen en ik veel berichten zal missen. Het is een absolute nachtmerrie om omhoog te scrollen en te proberen te vinden waar ik gebleven was.
Dus mijn meldingengebied wordt nooit gebruikt, wat betekent dat ik meldingen dagen later mis, en soms zijn ze belangrijk.
En als ik zie dat ik een @vermelding heb in een thread genaamd “Voorbeeld Thread”, en die thread niet gemakkelijk te zien is in de lijst, kan ik er niet eens naar zoeken, want dat brengt me naar het allereerste begin van de thread en ik moet helemaal naar beneden scrollen om te vinden waar ik gebleven was.
Er is gewoon geen gemakkelijke manier om de thread te openen waar ik gebleven was als ik daar een melding in heb.
Het is een echt nare situatie voor mij!
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Yeah this is the thing that comes to mind for me as well – something like the “back” button we currently have on the timeline that appears of you scroll in the other direction, but to go to the beginning of your first unread post instead.
I could imagine it being a user preference as to whether it shows up or not.
I have wanted this in the past, but personally haven’t felt a need for it recently, so the stories do help to understand where the request is coming from, thank you.
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