# Per-user preference: "mark post as read when emailed"
**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256
**Category:** Feature
**Created:** [26.Апрель.2018 23:04:47 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256 "2018-04-26T23:04:47Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@LeoMcA](https://meta.discourse.org/u/LeoMcA)
#### Post date: [26.Апрель.2018 23:04:47 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256/1 "2018-04-26T23:04:47Z")
The complexities of tracking email opens have been discussed before, and the general consensus has been it’s a bad idea to try. However, a number of our users have said that they’d find a per-user preference along the lines of “mark post as read when emailed” very useful, as it’s reasonable to assume that if they’ve been emailed it, then they’ve opened it.
As it turns out, this isn’t an original idea. @mcwumbly suggested the same thing over a year ago:
> [@Apply "mailing list mode" per category](https://meta.discourse.org/t/apply-mailing-list-mode-per-category/47772/19):
>
> I could see a preference (default on?) that says:
>
> clear notifications that I’ve already been emailed about
>
> This avoids the email tracking complexity while setting clear expectations.
I think it’d be best default off, so as to not change users’ current expectations - but we could always add a preference to set the global default.
Would this be welcome in core, or does it belong in a plugin?
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### Author:  [@sam](https://meta.discourse.org/u/sam)
#### Post date: [27.Апрель.2018 00:38:10 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256/2 "2018-04-27T00:38:10Z")
I am mixed on this being a core feature or not, @codinghorror should make the call.
I think the option though is labeled clearly in the spec, and I think it is probably safest to keep it default off (with a site setting to change the default). This does pop up enough to want to do something about it.
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### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [27.Апрель.2018 09:53:50 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256/3 "2018-04-27T09:53:50Z")
I think it adds some landmines and will result in support burden, so I’m against it going into core.
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### Author:  [@Mittineague](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Mittineague)
#### Post date: [27.Апрель.2018 17:39:25 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256/4 "2018-04-27T17:39:25Z")
> [@LeoMcA](#):
>
> it’s reasonable to assume that if they’ve been emailed it, then they’ve opened it.
I’m not so sure about that. I have seen countless posts about PHP mail() returning true, even though the email failed to be delivered. i.e. as far as PHP was concerned, the email had been successfully sent to the email server. Whether or not the email server successfully sent the email to the email client, and whether or not the email client accepted the email, let alone whether or not the recipient opened and read the email was unknown to PHP. eg. the process is like
A → B → C → D
where A knows it handed off to B, but has no way of knowing if it made it all the way to D
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### Author:  [@LeoMcA](https://meta.discourse.org/u/LeoMcA)
#### Post date: [27.Апрель.2018 22:09:00 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256/5 "2018-04-27T22:09:00Z")
Of course, but the context in which I meant that is one where users tell us that it’s reasonable to assume that if they’ve been emailed about it, then they’ve read it. Definitely not making a general claim here that if you send an email to someone that it means it’s been received, opened and read.
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### Author:  [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)
#### Post date: [30.Апрель.2018 04:05:04 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256/6 "2018-04-30T04:05:04Z")
I’m still of the opinion that we should allow users to opt in for read receipts which would mark that post as read. It’s not reliable for the average user, but it’s perfectly reliable for power users who are willing to some troubleshooting in order to achieve their optimal workflow.
> [@Tracking user activity via email](https://meta.discourse.org/t/tracking-user-activity-via-email/56428/5):
>
> Using Discourse as a mailing list is already a power-user type feature, so it’s fair to expect site owners to provide their users with some extra educational material on best practices. Here’s some docs from Mailchimp: My open rates seem high. Here are some common issues that can cause your open rates to be too high. A spam filter is causing high open rates. Aggressive spam filters will click links in incoming mail before delivering them to make sure there isn’t any malicious content. Our …
Still plugin-material though.
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### Author:  [@LeoMcA](https://meta.discourse.org/u/LeoMcA)
#### Post date: [28.Июнь.2018 11:44:11 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256/7 "2018-06-28T11:44:11Z")
Plugin created:
> [@Mark post as read on email](https://meta.discourse.org/t/mark-post-as-read-on-email-post-read-email/90947):
>
> Once installed, when users head to [the email section of their preferences](https://meta.discourse.org/my/preferences/emails), they should see a new preference: [Mark posts as read when I'm emailed about them] Enabling this means that whenever they’re emailed about a post, Discourse will mark the post as read on the website, ensuring their notifications don’t get cluttered up.
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### Author:  [@erlend\_sh](https://meta.discourse.org/u/erlend_sh)
#### Post date: [03.Июль.2018 07:43:47 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256/8 "2018-07-03T07:43:47Z")
---
### Author:  [@codinghorror](https://meta.discourse.org/u/codinghorror)
#### Post date: [29.Сентябрь.2020 21:27:23 UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/per-user-preference-mark-post-as-read-when-emailed/86256/9 "2020-09-29T21:27:23Z")
Отслеживание прочтения писем — задача крайне сложная и в целом «мертвая»
> **[The life and death of email read tracking · Missive Blog](https://missiveapp.com/blog/life-and-death-of-read-tracking)**
>
> This week we sunsetted read tracking ability from Missive. Years ago, after receiving many requests to...