Why the notification level for a «category definition» topic is «Tracking» instead of «Watching» for its creator?

AI-generated summary

The discussion revolves around a notification level issue for “category definition” topics. dmitry_fedyuk observed that for topics they created, the notification level is set to “Tracking” instead of the expected “Watching”. They provided examples and screenshots to illustrate the issue.

dmitry_fedyuk further explained that this issue is not isolated and provided another example of the same problem. cpradio attempted to reproduce the issue but was unable to do so, and asked for the exact reproduction steps.

dmitry_fedyuk clarified that the issue is specific to “category definition” topics. riking offered an explanation, stating that since the creator of the category definition topic is often the same user who created the category, there is no need for them to receive notifications, which might be why the default notification level is set to “Tracking”.

A category definition topic: Stripe integration - Magento 2
I see at the bottom:

Tracking
You will receive notifications because you posted a reply to this topic.

Another (ordinary) topic in the same category: [Stripe] The test bank cards - Magento 2
I see an the bottom:

Watching
You will receive notifications because you created this topic.

Both these topics are created by me. I have not changed its notification levels.
Why the notification level is «Tracking» for the first topic (a category definition topic) and «Watching» for the second one (an ordinary topic)? Should not it be «Watching» for the first topic?

The same bug in another form: How to install a Mage2.PRO extension? - Magento 2

The system wrongly set the «Tracking» notification level for me with a wrong reason:

You will receive notifications because you read this topic.

I not only read this topic, I am the topic creator. So the notification level should be «Watching».

I can’t reproduce this. What are the exact reproduction steps?

Here is what I did.

  1. First make sure the category I post in isn’t in the Watching/Tracking/Muted sections on User Preferences
  2. Post a new topic in the category
  3. Notification Level was set to Watching
  4. Refresh the page, still set to Watching
  5. Leave and come back, still set to Watching
  6. Reply to the topic, still set to Watching

I’m unsure how you are getting it set to Tracking at this point.

This bug is only for the “category definition” topics. Create a category and test with it “category definition” topic.

That’s because the creator of the category definition topic just happens to be the user that created the category, and there’s no more reason for that person to receive emails than any other admin.