'Tis a tiny mail pony... January 19, 2015 9:07 PM Subscribe
Firefox should highlight MeFi's pinned tab on new mail like it does on new comments.
Or am I the only one who doesn't already have a script to do that?
Or am I the only one who doesn't already have a script to do that?
Yes. But. Or, and...
Let me explain.
I didn't used to pin tabs, but I've recently started to and there's a "highlight" behind the icon for a pinned tab with new content, like new tweets or, as I recently noticed which inspired this request, new comments in a MeFi discussion. Dunno the the mechanism behind it, but I suspect it's done with css or something by the same routine that adds the (2) or whatever to the page's title in non-pinned tabs, the behaviour you just described.
Please make it do both. :)
posted by MoTLD at 10:14 PM on January 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
Let me explain.
I didn't used to pin tabs, but I've recently started to and there's a "highlight" behind the icon for a pinned tab with new content, like new tweets or, as I recently noticed which inspired this request, new comments in a MeFi discussion. Dunno the the mechanism behind it, but I suspect it's done with css or something by the same routine that adds the (2) or whatever to the page's title in non-pinned tabs, the behaviour you just described.
Please make it do both. :)
posted by MoTLD at 10:14 PM on January 19, 2015 [1 favorite]
And/or maybe something on the "recent activity" page, to catch both comments and new mail? A pinned tab, opened to "recent activity" with my existing auto-reload extension, which highlights its tab upon activity, would make my day. For those who don't pin tabs, a number in the title would no doubt serve the same purpose.
I'll feel foolish if it turns out the recent activity page already does this. ;)
posted by MoTLD at 10:20 PM on January 19, 2015
I'll feel foolish if it turns out the recent activity page already does this. ;)
posted by MoTLD at 10:20 PM on January 19, 2015
The mechanism is that Firefox highlights a pinned tab when its title changes, so updating the title with a number should automatically take care of that.
posted by floomp at 12:14 AM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by floomp at 12:14 AM on January 20, 2015 [2 favorites]
When you load a thread on MetaFilter, it starts polling in the background to see if there are new comments. Every so often it sends a request to the server to see if anything has been added. If so, it changes the title of the page to include the number of new comments. Polling for new comments puts a much larger load on the server, but we feel like that feature is worth it because new comments are the heart of what MetaFilter does.
We don't feel like MeFi Mail is worth the extra load that polling for new messages in the background would add. We don't want to add more overhead to MeFi Mail when the volume of messages exchanged just isn't high enough to warrant the extra load. We already have a system that looks for new messages when every page is loaded. (It's the new message indicator in the header.) And if you set MeFi Mail to forward to your email, you can take advantage of any notifier of new email you might already have running. (Obviously not available to you if you're not using email, sorry.)
So I'm afraid this request falls into the category of making MeFi Mail more like email which we don't want to do.
posted by pb (staff) at 6:06 AM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
We don't feel like MeFi Mail is worth the extra load that polling for new messages in the background would add. We don't want to add more overhead to MeFi Mail when the volume of messages exchanged just isn't high enough to warrant the extra load. We already have a system that looks for new messages when every page is loaded. (It's the new message indicator in the header.) And if you set MeFi Mail to forward to your email, you can take advantage of any notifier of new email you might already have running. (Obviously not available to you if you're not using email, sorry.)
So I'm afraid this request falls into the category of making MeFi Mail more like email which we don't want to do.
posted by pb (staff) at 6:06 AM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
I long for this to be a problem for me.
posted by h00py at 7:54 AM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by h00py at 7:54 AM on January 20, 2015 [4 favorites]
The polling question was already answered, so I got a browser extension to auto-reload.
All I'm asking for now is, like mathowie described, a change to the page's title reflecting new messages.
posted by MoTLD at 9:28 AM on January 20, 2015
All I'm asking for now is, like mathowie described, a change to the page's title reflecting new messages.
posted by MoTLD at 9:28 AM on January 20, 2015
ah ok, yeah, we can do that. The unread count should be in the title now.
posted by pb (staff) at 9:44 AM on January 20, 2015
posted by pb (staff) at 9:44 AM on January 20, 2015
Some people get way too much memail apparently. This tab would seldom change for me.
posted by cjorgensen at 11:14 AM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by cjorgensen at 11:14 AM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Yeah, this would change about once every two months for me.
posted by dg at 1:37 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by dg at 1:37 PM on January 20, 2015 [1 favorite]
Sounds like someone needs a MeFi penpal!
Is that a thing? It sounds like it should be a thing.
posted by ODiV at 5:48 PM on January 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Is that a thing? It sounds like it should be a thing.
posted by ODiV at 5:48 PM on January 20, 2015 [3 favorites]
Oh god no. I can't keep up with any email. I don't need more.
posted by cjorgensen at 5:55 PM on January 20, 2015
posted by cjorgensen at 5:55 PM on January 20, 2015
How can you tell it's a mail pony? Because it keeps ponysplaining.
posted by XMLicious at 2:40 AM on January 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
posted by XMLicious at 2:40 AM on January 21, 2015 [4 favorites]
Yeah, no, not looking for more e-mail to ignore, but thanks - it was a nice thought :-)
posted by dg at 2:42 AM on January 21, 2015
posted by dg at 2:42 AM on January 21, 2015
Let's just all memail eachother... you start... I'm shy...
posted by one4themoment at 3:46 PM on January 21, 2015
posted by one4themoment at 3:46 PM on January 21, 2015
'Eachother' username is available, or so. I have no shy advice. But it is quite clear.
posted by clavdivs at 5:23 PM on January 21, 2015
posted by clavdivs at 5:23 PM on January 21, 2015
Yeah, I get a MeMail every couple of months or so, my thought process is usually along the lines of:
'Oh a MeMail, how exciting, I wonder who it could be'
*click*
'Oh, it's from matthowie, the big cheese himself, I wonder what he could want to talk to me about'
*brief fantasy in which my limited skill set is exactly what's required to save metafilter from impending doom*
*click*
"Subject : Ask MetaFilter Follow-up"
*sad trombone*
posted by Ned G at 1:47 AM on January 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
'Oh a MeMail, how exciting, I wonder who it could be'
*click*
'Oh, it's from matthowie, the big cheese himself, I wonder what he could want to talk to me about'
*brief fantasy in which my limited skill set is exactly what's required to save metafilter from impending doom*
*click*
"Subject : Ask MetaFilter Follow-up"
*sad trombone*
posted by Ned G at 1:47 AM on January 22, 2015 [4 favorites]
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(2) MeFi Mail: Your Inbox | MetaFilter
instead of the current title:
MeFi Mail: Your Inbox | MetaFilter
I just wanted to be clear on what you're asking for, is that right or do you mean something else?
posted by mathowie (staff) at 9:09 PM on January 19, 2015