# Very confused, watching vs tracking a post? **URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/very-confused-watching-vs-tracking-a-post/326219 **Category:** Support **Created:** [September 12, 2024, 4:04pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/very-confused-watching-vs-tracking-a-post/326219 "2024-09-12T16:04:06Z") **Posts on this page:** 1 **Showing post:** 4
### Author: ![Lilly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/lilly/32/575047_2.png) [@Lilly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Lilly) #### Post date: [September 12, 2024, 4:20pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/very-confused-watching-vs-tracking-a-post/326219/4 "2024-09-12T16:20:47Z")
The settings descriptions in [https://yoursite/my/preferences/tracking](https://yoursite/my/preferences/tracking) are pretty straightforward: ![The image displays a list of categories and tags in a digital interface, possible for a social media platform or content management system. (Captioned by AI)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/e/6/d/e6d97798b37c333b6e6e272e0795fd85d09e394d.png) These settings are affected by the ones above it in the preferences: ![The image displays a user interface with a section titled "Topics" and options for creating topics in the last 2 days, automatically track topics in the last 5 minutes, and tracking a topic set that is closed when user post in a topic. (Captioned by AI)](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/meta/original/4X/c/c/3/cc311125e542d0209fa6d4b553600d22c7b26b9e.png) I also inquired with the Settings helper for a full explanation: > **[Understanding Discourse Tracking Settings and Scenarios](https://meta.discourse.org/discourse-ai/ai-bot/shared-ai-conversations/ESKIjpBpa3TQaziW5HBOHg)** > > Lilly: please explain in detail the tracking settings in user preferences in Discourse. compose your answer like a help topic and give me example scenarios of how the tracking settings work for categories, topics and posts. --- _[View the full topic](https://meta.discourse.org/t/very-confused-watching-vs-tracking-a-post/326219)._