NULL first_visited_at dates in the topic_users table

dev
4

I’ve done some more testing.

It definitely has to do with tracking state.

When a member is either Tracking or Watching a category, a row is inserted into the topic_users table when a topic is created in that category.

A row is not inserted into the topic_users table when a topic is created if a member has that category tracking state set to Mute or Normal.
And the row may not be created depending on other of the members Preference settings, if they post a reply in the topic etc. i.e. one of

created_topic: 1, 
user_changed: 2, 
user_interacted: 3, 
created_post: 4, 
auto_watch: 5, 
auto_watch_category: 6, 
auto_mute_category: 7, 
auto_track_category: 8, 
plugin_changed: 9

When a member visits a topic the logic tests for the presence of a row in the table.
If there is no row an INSERT is done.
If there is a row, an UPDATE

I think the solution would involve checking for the presence of a NULL first_visited_at field in someway somewhere. But I don’t know what would be the best way to go about it yet.

2 Likes