The discussion revolves around the behavior of unread and new topic indicators in a forum interface, specifically when topics are read in a different browser tab. gerhard notes that unread counts do not automatically disappear after reading a topic in a new tab, which they consider a potential bug. Motera8 confirms that the unread count never disappears automatically and requires a refresh. kensims agrees, stating they’ve never seen the count update automatically when reading in a new tab. sam explains that previously, the system would refresh the suggested topics list on read, but this caused confusion due to shifting content. They propose a solution: updating the visual indicator (e.g., blue/green) for read status without causing full refreshes, which would help users track unread topics more reliably.
I’m not sure if this is an actual bug (regression): When I go to the Latest tab and see topics with unread posts in it, I usually open them in a new browser tab.
The unread count on the Latest page doesn’t change until I refresh the page. Is this my imagination or did those unread indicators disappear without refreshing the page up until recently?
Edit: Looks like I imagined this previous behaviour. Let’s call it a feature request then. 
These have never dissapeared automatically for me, I always had to refresh the page.
Same thing applies to the “suggested topics” unread count, by the way.
I also read the topics in a new tab.
I’ve never seen the count of unread posts for an individual topic automatically refresh.
The count of Unread and New topics in the navigation bar does automatically refresh when the focus returns back to that tab.
What used to happen is that we used to “refresh” the suggested topic list, but it caused massive confusion.
It was a full refresh on change so sand was always shifting.
I am thinking I will change it so we update blue/grey circles in the topic lists live (as we have the info) its fairly light weight and definitely helps with multiple browsers open, I will not shift the ground underneath you, cause I feel that can cause a lot of confusion.