Never miss a post from your favourite contributors. HU introduces "Follow Me"

[AussieNeil]

Using the newly introduced "Follow me" feature, HU users can now get updates whenever a post they follow has new activity or when someone they follow posts something new.

This is how it works:

To Follow someone: To track a particular contributor's latest posts, click on their profile (icon) and then click on the "+ Follow user" button. (The button changes to a "(green tick) Following". You’ll be notified of any new post they write. Plus their posts also appear pinned alongside your newsfeed (hint - right hand column). You won’t see their private posts from communities you’re not part of.

To Follow a post: Just click the "+Follow Post" button at the bottom of any post (located to the right of the Recommend button) and you will get updates on every reply to that post (doesn’t include replies to another member’s comment). It also appears pinned in your newsfeed (on the right hand column under "Recently viewed posts).

Your list of followed users and posts on the right side of your news feed shows you everything you’re tracking.

Want to stop following a post or user? It’s easy, just click on the [b"]Following" button on the post or the user's profile. (The 'Following" button changes to "x Unfollow" as soon as you move your mouse cursor over it.) Don’t worry, we won’t tell them you unfollowed!

Enjoy!

Neil

Photo: Grain harvesting is under way now and the silos will soon be filling, with the grain later railed to port for export.

[Kwenda]

Thanks Neil, this is a long awaited improvement.

Would this thread also be a good time to explain four other features.?

1)If a member makes a post do they automatically follow the post.?

2)When following this post they wrote do they get a notification e-mail when someone comments on a comment.?

3)For questions as above 1) and 2), do the same comments apply when a member posts a ‘Question’ as distinct from a ‘Post’.

4)Lastly I have noticed that on my Android tablet I get a red notification sign on the page.

If I click on it I get taken to a post I had perhaps had written.

However if I go DIRECTLY to that post the red notification sign does NOT go off.

Is this an Android bug, or common across all platforms.?

Dick

I come back in to add an addendum to my post above.

Having written these comments I now see that I cannot 'follow' this thread, the sign has gone.

Is the following now automatic since I have made a comment.?

Dick

[Joel in reply to Kwenda]

Hi Dick,

Great questions. I'll do my best to answer them for you.

1. Yes, sort of. You should already be receiving notifications when someone responds to something you've written (which, in essence, is what following a post is about).

2. No. We thought for the first iteration that it may be overwhelming to receive a notification every time someone responds to a response (and so on). So, for now you receive a notification when someone responds to the main post (for example, your comment was in response to the main post. The one I'm writing now is in response to you, not the main post). This notification is a platform notification (i.e. the bell in the green bar) as opposed to an email. Again, we found in testing that an email with each reply posed the risk of bombarding users with too many emails. If you follow a user, however, you will receive an email notification each time that user creates a new post.

3. Yes. Same rules for both questions and posts

4. Not a bug, just a feature that needs further refining (good point).

You can't see the '+ Follow post' button? This is what I'm seeing: docs.google.com/a/healthunl.... If you're seeing otherwise perhaps get in touch via the 'help' link in the green bar.

[Kwenda in reply to Joel]

FYI Neil

Have replied via the 'help' link as requested.

Cannot see the follow post button on posts I have written or commented upon.

Dick

[Kwenda in reply to Kwenda]

After some back and forth with HU, plus some testing work, first ‘Joel’ and then ‘Pepa’ confirmed as follows.

‘You won’t see the button on posts you have written as you are sort of following them anyway.’

‘You see the button on posts others have posted (included posts you have not commented).’

‘I can confirm that if you comment on a post, the +Follow button won’t disappear.’

Dick

[splashsplash]

This seems like a positive addition to posting. Can we also add the country of origin to people's profile? I remember others also asked for this in the past as where you are in the world seems to radically affect treatment.

[Kwenda in reply to splashsplash]

GREAT IDEA..

Perhaps just a little flag in a corner.??

Dick

[AussieNeil Administrator in reply to Kwenda]

The country indication has been sorely missed, particularly by volunteers and administrators. (The first version of HU had this and the ability to locate members living near you.) Latest news from HU is that they are looking at implementing something, but there's nothing definite.

Neil

[Graham2222]

Thanks Helpful changes and suggestions.

[AussieNeil Administrator]

If you'd like to use this feature, make sure that you check your Follows settings under your Contact Preferences:

healthunlocked.com/settings

(or click on your username in the green menu bar and select 'Account'.)

i.e.

Follows

Email me when a user I follow writes a new post

Email me when a post I follow has new replies

HU advise:

"On following post, please note that the email notification is not currently working. But you should see the in-site notifications for new comments on posts you follow.

On following users, both in-site and email notifications should be working. Please check you email preferences:healthunlocked.com/settings"

Neil