# What do you guys think? Am I Robinson Crusoe?



## The Backward OX (Feb 20, 2011)

So, someone posts to a thread. You respond, and you think, “That should start a dialogue going between us,” that is to say, you think your comment will bring forth a further response from the guy or gal on whose post you commented.

Of course, your response may well bring comments from others, but that’s beside the point, that’s not what I’m on about here. My point goes something like this:

Other sites using vBulletin, which is used here, have as one of their *default settings* an *automatic subscription mode* to all posts. This means, amongst other things, that whenever members of such a site post to a thread, they receive an automatic email advice of subsequent posts to that same thread. Here, at WF, the default setting is ‘*Do not subscribe*’ and if you want those notifications, you must make the choice yourself to change the setting.

Now, if we used the same system used elsewhere, people’s thinking would be jolted by those automatic advices. They might think, “Wow. Look what Foxee/Olly/Bruno had to say about my post. I should put them straight/thank them/whatever.”

But as it is, it’s down to pure chance whether or not that poster is aware of your response. And for some of us, some form of acknowledgement is a combination of good manners, reassurance and stimulation. 

I wrote to management months ago on this topic. As nothing has changed, I now wonder if I’m a voice crying in the wilderness. Are you ever peeved if response-seeking posts of yours go nowhere? Or am I Robinson Crusoe?


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## Baron (Feb 20, 2011)

You've brought this one up before and the answer is the same.  When the site changed hands last May the default was set to automatically send e-mail notification of responses to posts.  However this default setting does not apply to members who registered before last May.  New members may also change the default on their own profiles so that they do not receive notifications.


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## The Backward OX (Feb 20, 2011)

The joys of getting old. Short-term memory loss.


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## Foxee (Feb 20, 2011)

The automatic subscription thingie can make your email inbox explode.


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## The Backward OX (Feb 20, 2011)

But not if you use a program like Mailwasher and view everything on your ISP's server. Then you just delete what you don't want, click on a link to go straight to the thread, or wherever, and never go near your email program. A beggar on the streets of Delhi would have more in his bowl than my Inbox contains.


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## TheFuhrer02 (Feb 20, 2011)

As far as I could remember, I don't receive any e-mails of sort informing me of threads I've posted on being replied to here in WF. Am I missing something in the equation?


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## The Backward OX (Feb 20, 2011)

TheFuhrer02 said:


> As far as I could remember, I don't receive any e-mails of sort informing me of threads I've posted on being replied to here in WF. Am I missing something in the equation?


According to Baron's comment above, you might be borderline. But if you definitely don't, and want them, go to Thread Tools at the top of this page, click, then click Subscribe, and make your selection from the next window to open.


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## Hawke (Feb 20, 2011)

Fuhrer: Go to _Settings_. Scroll down to _Subscribed threads with new posts_. Below that is a bar with “_View all subscribed threads_.” Click it. Now, under *Notification*, click on the boxes of the threads you want to be notified of, then go down to the bar below it called _Selected Threads_. Click on that and it will give you options to choose from, such as _Instantly, using email_ and _Daily, using email_, etc. 

Hope that helps.


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## The Backward OX (Feb 20, 2011)

My way's easier


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## Baron (Feb 20, 2011)

It's all subterfuge.  This is what he's looking for...


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## Hawke (Feb 20, 2011)

Sorry, Ox. I didn't see your post when I posted. 



The Backward OX said:


> My way's easier


Easier, sure. But my way's better if you're bored. ;P


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## Foxee (Feb 20, 2011)

If you need emails I can hook you up with my grandparents, my parents, and a random guy from Austrialia who all send tons of email forwards. Once you're on their lists you'll be crying for an empty inbox.


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## The Backward OX (Feb 20, 2011)

Foxee said:


> If you need emails I can hook you up with my grandparents, my parents, and a random guy from Austrialia who all send tons of email forwards. Once you're on their lists you'll be crying for an empty inbox.


 
http://www.writingforums.com/writer...s-think-am-i-robinson-crusoe.html#post1412913


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## TheFuhrer02 (Feb 20, 2011)

@Ox and Hawke: Thanks for the info. 

@Baron: Joan Collins? Isn't she the one from Dynasty? No offense but... that's like 1980's. I wasn't even born yet...


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## Sam (Feb 21, 2011)

The first thing I do after clicking on 'new posts' is look for the little green icon which tells me I've posted in a thread. If there's a new reply to it, I go to that thread first -- and then every other one I've posted in. Subscribing to threads is an alternative. Depending on how frequently you post, though, you could have 59 e-mails in the space of a few hours. That's just annoying.


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## Foxee (Feb 21, 2011)

The Backward OX said:


> http://www.writingforums.com/writer...s-think-am-i-robinson-crusoe.html#post1412913


I was responding to this part:


> A beggar on the streets of Delhi would have more in his bowl than my Inbox contains.


It's not like it matters.


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## Baron (Feb 21, 2011)

TheFuhrer02 said:


> @Ox and Hawke: Thanks for the info.
> 
> @Baron: Joan Collins? Isn't she the one from Dynasty? No offense but... that's like 1980's. I wasn't even born yet...


 
Perhaps not but Ox was already approaching a half century.


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## Olly Buckle (Feb 21, 2011)

About 20 years ago I had a job on the hop picking. There was an old lady on the hop yard who sliced the bottom of the bines and did all the od jobs, like collecting wood for a fire from the hedge and making tea on it. Her family were Irish gypsies and she grew up in a caravan, she still couldn't stand being indoors with the windows shut any time of year, She wore a sack for an apron, had lines in her face you could have lost a finger in, and when she laughed you could see both her teeth. One day, chatting, I discovered that she was almost exactly the same age as Ms Collins.

Here is Ms. C about the same time.

http://www.google.co.uk/images?clie...eJozQ4gbwjvnKCQ&ved=0CCoQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=545


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## The Backward OX (Feb 21, 2011)

Olly Buckle said:


> About 20 years ago I had a job on the hop picking.


So you had a job when you weren't ready for it. And picking what, exactly?


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## Shirley S. Bracken (Feb 21, 2011)

I only receive the first response after mine.  Then I go to the thread and see that there are also others that have posted.  That keeps my box from filling up.


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