New Message Notifications

We just rolled out a simple update to the way notifications are calculated in the navigation bar. Previously they would be calculated on the fly, which would take about 0.06 seconds for each page view in order to count your new messages across the site. This was less than ideal, because it slows down load time, and if we need to calculate this number for 10, 20, or 50 users in a second, it's a lot of strain on the database server.

The new method is simply caching it, so it has no affect on load time. Instead, when you post a comment, the cache is incremented for the appropriate user. If you post a comment on a giveaway, then the giveaway creator has their new messages incremented by one, and if your reply is in response to someone else, their notifications increment. Of course when you visit the messages page, and Mark as Read, this number is reset to zero.

This works well, but it may be slightly inaccurate at times. For example, if someone responds to one of your comments in a giveaway, and that giveaway is then deleted, your message count will still show you have a new message. However, when you visit the messages page, you simple won't see the message, since it's no longer available. An alternative would be recalculating the cache for all users in a deleted giveaway or discussion, but doing so for thousands of users might not be the best route. I think it's an acceptable trade off though, and it remains accurate 99% of the time, and we get faster load times for every page view, and less load on the database server.

Lastly, the notification count in the navigation bar has been reset for everyone, so if you had previous unread messages listed there, you'll notice it's been cleared.