Question about main site and forum login

[GWNorth32]

I did some searches of the FAQ threads and was unsuccessful in finding the answer to my question.

Is there a way to login to the main site without creating a login on the forum as well. I did not have time to read the forums but did want to make a story submission. After submitting, if I come to the forum it shows my last login at the time of my main site login.

This has the negative effect of not allowing me to see the unread items in the forum or anything new in my subscriptions. Short of burning hours on the forum trying to catch up and then going to the main site to submit is there anything I can do that will allow me to come back to the forum later with my unread info intact?

Thanks

[Weird Harold]

Originally Posted by GWNorth32

Is there a way to login to the main site without creating a login on the forum as well. I did not have time to read the forums but did want to make a story submission. After submitting, if I come to the forum it shows my last login at the time of my main site login.

The main site and the forums both use the same user database, so no, registering for one registers for the other and there is no way to login separately.

[BeachMomma]

I don't think the unread messages is affected unless you click on the threads, is it? I don't navigate the forums by unread messages, but it seems that when I read a thread and go back to the forum list, the other threads are still marked unread.

I have accidentally clicked the "Mark forums read" button a few times, and yes, that's a pain in the ass. As a general rule, I navigate by looking at the thread lists of my favorite forums and choosing which to read - or by checking my subscribed threads for new posts. Another method to the subscribed threads would be to allow email notification, but that doesn't really work for me either. I don't like having my inbox cluttered by notifications.

[OzoneRed]

Create two user id's. Use one of them for submitting stories, the other for browsing the forums. This has an additional benefit: there are Litsters who, if they don't like what you say in your posts, will one-bomb all of your stories. This keeps your posts and your stories separate.

[Weird Harold]

Originally Posted by BeachMomma

I don't think the unread messages is affected unless you click on the threads, is it? I don't navigate the forums by unread messages, but it seems that when I read a thread and go back to the forum list, the other threads are still marked unread.

You're partly correct. vBulletin tracks each thread you read in a per-session cookie so the information is lost when you log-out or vBulletin senses fifteen minutes of no activity. Once you're logged out, last read == last visit and any post older than the time shown in the upper right corner of any forum page -- i.e. "Welcome, Weird Harold. You last visited: Yesterday at 07:24 PM " -- is marked as read.

Having two userIDs, as OzoneRed, suggests is probably the best solution.