How do I get forum list to be "most recently posted thread" at the top?

[DSperber]

I've never participated in a Forum where the software presents subject threads in sequence by "MOST RECENTLY CREATED" first (no matter how many back-and-forth posts and replies exist), rather than "MOST RECENTLY POSTED" first.

In other words, if I created a thread 3 weeks ago I now have to page forward an ever-increasing number of pages as time marches on, as the thread becomes older and older. It will eventually appear, when the "create date" of posts finally goes back that originally created thread date.

But in fact there may have been many replies within my thread, the most recent of which might have occurred just today! So I would like my thread to be presented probably on say page 1 or 2 of this "Meetings" sub-forum, because there is a reply in the thread with a very recent date.

Why wouldn't thread topics be presented on the subject list ordered this way, with "most recent reply date" shown first, no matter when the thread itself got originally created?? How can this not be just how topics are presented, without even needing me to customize some setting or request a different sort sequence or organization?

What am I missing? How to I get the thread topic subjects to appear "most recently posted into" first, no matter how long ago the very first post in that thread caused it to be created?.

[Bri]

Hi @DSperber! Thank you for sharing this feedback, and I will pass it along to our team. 

We do not currently have to option to show the most recently updated threads first. However, I encourage you to subscribe to any board in the community where you would like to keep track of any new activity. This will send an email to alert you of any new activity within that particular board. You can also do this for any specific posts that you are interesting in keeping tabs on. 

Additionally, to quickly access any posts you have created, select My Account > Community Profile and you will see a list of your created Posts and Replies.

Hope this helps!

[DSperber]

Well, I am going to reply to your comments. And I'm going to be brutally honest: presenting threads in reverse chronological order based on their creation date (i.e. most recently CREATED shown at the top of page 1) IS THE ABSOLUTE STUPIDEST THING THAT CAN POSSIBLY BE IMAGINED FOR A COMMUNITY FORUM!!!

That means the physical order of threads as shown on Page 1, Page 2, etc., will never change. It will ALWAYS be "newest created first", no matter how active any given thread is or how many participants and back-and-forth replies are involved in that thread. You can have hundreds of participants and hundreds of replies, to a thread that was started back in 2017, and it will be hundreds of pages down in the presentation AND WILL NEVER EVER BE SEEN BY NEW PEOPLE!!!  It can only possibly be seen by already participants, who are kept updated with new email notifications should a new post be added recently.

This is the absolute dumbest thing I have ever heard!! THERE ARE ABSOLUTELY NO OTHER FORUMS THAT ARE ORGANIZED THIS WAY!!!!

Every single forum, and every forum software product, ALWAYS SHOWS THREADS IN "MOST RECENTLY POSTED TO FIRST", not "most recently created" first. That way very active threads always appear on page 1, no matter when they were originally created! New members joining the forum will therefore be able to see threads which have the most recent activity... and not have to page down hundred of pages in order to see a thread that was posted into just an hour ago but happened to be created ack in 2016 (and therefore might be hundreds of pages down).

Honestly, there is ZERO JUSTIFICATION for presenting threads in "most recently CREATED first". And this is confirmed by NO OTHER FORUMS ON THE PLANET EXIST WITH THIS PRESENTATION!!! It is simply incomprehensible that anybody who's ever participated in a forum would think this makes any sense at all!  It only makes NEGATIVE SENSE,  reducing the true value and usability of all of these good threads TO NEGATIVE INFINITY!!!

Honestly... are you telling me that the people who invented Zoom, don't participate in other forums on the internet??  They cannot possibly give me one other example of a forum that presents in any sequence other than "threads with the most recent posts appear on page 1". That's the only possible useful arrangement that makes any sense.

Again, otherwise it is simply pretty much guaranteed that all threads created at least one or two days ago and older WILL NEVER BE SEEN OR JOINED BY NEW PARTICIPANTS!! Why would I continue paging dozens or hundreds of pages down to see if anything interests me. I will NEVER find anything of interest.

 But if a very critical thread that is supremely useful to lots people and has hundreds of participants and hundreds of replies would appear on page 1 all the time (because new replies get posted into it virtually every day), then it will always be on page 1 and thereby increase its visiblity and enticement for others to read it and join in.

THAT IS WHAT A FORUM IS!!!  COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION!!!

And that means "threads are presented in the reverse chronological order by latest posting date"... not by thread creation date.

How can you possibly think otherwise???  Zoom should be ashamed and embarrassed, as should the moderators who are tasked with trying to defend this. There is simply zero defense. It is something no engineer would ever conceive of, as evidenced by the fact that THERE ARE NO OTHER FORUMS ON THE PLANET THAT ARE ORGANIZED THIS WAY!!!  There is NO VALUE TO IT!!!  NEGATIVE INFINITY VALUE!

Do I make my case??

[DSperber]

I am not even going to provide multiple examples of other community forums (in all walks of life and technology and interest) to prove my point. It is simply true that ALL OTHER FORUMS ARE PRESENTED IN "MOST RECENT POSTED-INTO THREADS APPEAR AT THE TOP", reverse chronological sequence by latest-post date... not thread creation date.

I don't have to present 10 examples to prove my argument. There are simply ZERO FORUMS THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN OTHER THAN THIS ZOOM FORUM which appears this way.

Who thought this was "good? And why? How could it possibly be good?? It simply cannot. It is only CONTRARY to what a community discussion requires, namely that "active" threads are always on page 1 or 2, guaranteeing their almost constant visibility, and thus new participants are more likely to read, and then participate themselves with their own new replies... thus keeping this very active thread always on page 1. Self-fulfilling.

How can you possibly conceive of anything but this? It doesn't even justify a profile setting, or programmed option. It simply is NOT THE WAY FORUMS SHOULD APPEAR!!!  It's just not.

Whoever designed this, and now tries to defend it, should simply be fired. They are not an engineer who's every actually looked at or participated in an online forum.

This is truly nonsense. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it. Just shameful.

But mostly... USELESS, which is sad. My two threads keep getting further and further down, dozens of pages down, NEVER TO BE SEEN BY ANYONE NEW who happened not to have seen them on the first day or two after creation. Now they are 1-3 weeks old and GUARANTEED NEVER TO BE PARTICIPATED IN BY ANYBODY ELSE!!!

Just shameful. Really.

[Bri]

Hi @DSperber , our team is always interested in feedback, and we're constantly looking for new ways to improve the user experience in the community. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with us!