How Can I Limit Unread Content to Topics and Specific Forums?

[Helene]

A number of members have asked how to limit Unread Content, particularly to remove the Calendar content from the stream.  In 4.X, the paradigm is "Activity Streams," and you can customize any of those default streams and save your own, and, then, make this your default.

If you want to retain settings, it is critical that you name and save them (Steps 7-8), or they will be good only for your browser session.

TO SET UP A CUSTOM ACTIVITY STREAM FROM SCRATCH:  

• Easiest if you *don't* want to specify forums.   If you want to specify forums, you'd have to edit the stream, anyway (see below).

1. From the main menu, click the "Content" Tab, then "My Activity Streams" and click "Create New Stream":

2a.  Enter a name for your stream

2b.  Make your selections.

2c.  Save your stream.

3.  If you want this stream to be your default "quick" search and appear in the upper right and bottom right, click the checkbox in the light gray circle to the right of the stream name.  Please note, until you check it, the old default is retained:

After you click the checkmark, it will appear in a green circle, and the "quick" search will be changed to the newly selected default:

The new stream will appear in your Custom Stream List:

 

TO SET UP A CUSTOM ACTIVITY STREAM BASED ON AN EXISTING STREAM OR TO EDIT AN EXISTING STREAM:

1. Select the activity stream on which you want to base the new one (Default or Custom stream) or the one you want to edit (Custom Stream only).

Option 1:  Select the stream from the main menu "Content" tab > "My Activity Streams":

Option 2:  Click the quick search link at the top  (or bottom) of your screen, if this is the one you want to edit:

2.  Select the down arrow to the right of "Content Types" (Step 2a) and then "Topics" (Step 2b):

3. If you want to specify specific forums or subforums only, click the wheel to the right of "Topics" to reveal the "Narrow by Forums" option.  Otherwise, go to Step 7 to name your settings.

4. Click the "Narrow by Forums" button, which will display all of the main forums.  

5. Select all forums you want to appear on your feed; as you click them, they'll appear in the list under "Narrow by Forums":

(Any forums with a triangle pointing right have another layer of forums below.  Clicking will expose those forums; unclicking will hide them.)

6. When you are finished selecting forums, click outside the forums list, and select "Apply Changes."  This changes the settings for this session only.

You can continue to customize any of the other settings before you name your stream and save your settings.

7.  To name your settings, click the Save As New Stream Button.  If you are making edits to one of your custom streams, the "Save Changes" button will also appear, and you'll have the option to update your existing one or create a brand new stream.

8. Give the stream a name and click "Create Stream":

Here is where it gets tricky:

1. If you save the stream, it will create a new stream under "Content" > "My Activity Streams" > "Custom Streams":

1. If you are creating a stream from a default stream, this will not change the default stream settings.
2. If you save an existing Custom stream name rather than edit it, it will create a duplicate Custom stream under the same name. (Example above where I created two custom "Unread Content" streams.)  
3. You can name your Custom stream the same name as a Default stream and then make it the default stream, but that's just a recipe for confusion later on
4. It is best to change the name to something unique unless you are editing a Custom stream.  

8.  Click "Save Stream."

The new stream will appear as a custom stream.

9.  If you want this stream to be your default "quick" search and appear in the upper right and bottom right, click the checkbox in the light gray circle to the right of the stream name.  Please note, until you check it, the old default is retained:

After you click the checkmark, it will appear in a green circle, and the "quick" search will be changed to the newly selected default: