# Moved topics and watched/tracked/muted categories
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/moved-topics-and-watched-tracked-muted-categories/30848
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [July 7, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moved-topics-and-watched-tracked-muted-categories/30848 "2015-07-07T02:03:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@AdamCapriola](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AdamCapriola)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2015, 2:03am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moved-topics-and-watched-tracked-muted-categories/30848/1 "2015-07-07T02:03:06Z")
I’m not sure this should be considered a bug or rather functionality that could be improved, but if a topic is recategorized from Category A (which I’m watching/tracking/muting) to Category B (which I’m _not_ watching/tracking/muting), I’ll still be watching/tracking/muting the topic.
In the opposite scenario (topic changing from Category B to A) I’ll then not be watching/tracking/muting the topic.
This can make for unexpected notification behavior. The simple fix is to check for user category notification preferences when changing topic categories. There could also be a check if the user manually adjusted their notifications for the topic (or automatic tracking kicked in), but I don’t know if that’s possible or desired.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2015, 4:07am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moved-topics-and-watched-tracked-muted-categories/30848/2 "2015-07-07T04:07:35Z")
That is how it works at the moment, but it is debatable whether or not that is correct. If a topic is changed months later to a different category you watch, should it then show as unread for you?
For rapid recategorization it probably should respect your preferences, though.
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### Author:  [@AdamCapriola](https://meta.discourse.org/u/AdamCapriola)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2015, 12:06pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moved-topics-and-watched-tracked-muted-categories/30848/3 "2015-07-07T12:06:39Z")
Months later: probably not. Within 24 hours: definitely yes. I don’t have any stats but I’d guess after a few days the likelihood of a topic changing categories is pretty low. A customizable setting would be cool.
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### Author:  [@TechnoBear](https://meta.discourse.org/u/TechnoBear)
#### Post date: [July 7, 2015, 12:41pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moved-topics-and-watched-tracked-muted-categories/30848/4 "2015-07-07T12:41:13Z")
> [@AdamCapriola](#):
>
> if a topic is recategorized from Category A (which I’m watching/tracking/muting) to Category B (which I’m not watching/tracking/muting), I’ll still be watching/tracking/muting the topic.
That caused me no small degree of confusion when I first encountered it, because the notification at the foot of the topic said “You will receive notifications because you are watching this category” after it had been moved to a category I was not watching. I then assumed something had gone awry with my preference settings. It took me some time to work out what was going on.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moved-topics-and-watched-tracked-muted-categories/30848/5 "2016-07-03T22:09:33Z")
We did fix this, if a topic is recategorized soon after creation it will respect your watch preferences for the new category it is placed in.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [July 3, 2016, 10:09pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/moved-topics-and-watched-tracked-muted-categories/30848/6 "2016-07-03T22:09:38Z")