# The new-new functionality: why call it "new" not "unread"? **URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/the-new-new-functionality-why-call-it-new-not-unread/390661 **Category:** UX **Created:** [December 8, 2025, 6:39am UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/the-new-new-functionality-why-call-it-new-not-unread/390661 "2025-12-08T06:39:34Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 20
### Author: ![RGJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/rgj/32/523185_2.png) [@RGJ](https://meta.discourse.org/u/RGJ) #### Post date: [December 8, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/the-new-new-functionality-why-call-it-new-not-unread/390661/20 "2025-12-08T16:20:31Z")
> [@chapoi](#): > > > [@RGJ](#): > > > > What does that “consider topics new when” setting do then? > > I don’t get it: that places topics you haven’t interacted with in a separate list so you know what is new? I’m lost. Let’s get back to the start of this. My setting says this ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/4/0/1/4018f6b685c5241fe8afea2a461099d0fe4b5372.png) So I would assume my “new” list only contains topics that were created in the last two days? My /new list says this though: ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/2/e/3/2e3820b118f9dd6231b028ac3c2399b27aca428e.png) ![image](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/f/d/7/fd7489192a7dd42fc3b526da2cd37e51b0973314.png) (and so on, and so on) As you can see there are 615 “new” topics. The four at the top are the ones I started, some of them with their last activity over two years ago. Then it just shows topics, in order of most recent activity. When I change that preference setting the number just gets higher. My questions: - what logic does determine what is in that list? - what does that setting do instead (since it does not seem to do what it says it does) --- _[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/the-new-new-functionality-why-call-it-new-not-unread/390661)._