Watching a post helps members follow conversations they care about without needing to check back manually. This is especially helpful for ongoing discussions, support questions, and announcement threads where new replies may be added over time.
Watch a post
Members can watch a forum post directly from the post detail page.
To watch a post:
Open the forum post you want to follow.
Click Watch.
The button will update to Watching.
A confirmation message will appear letting you know that you’ll be notified when new comments are added.
Once a member starts watching a post, they can receive updates through the in-community notification center and email notifications.
In-community notifications
Notifications for watched posts appear in the Comments tab of the notification center. This makes it easy for members to return to discussions they are following and keep up with new replies as they happen.
Email notifications
Email notifications for watched posts are sent in batches rather than as individual messages.
These emails are grouped by post, include new comment activity on posts the member is watching, do not include the member’s own comments, and exclude notifications the member has already viewed in the in-community notification center.
Notification settings
Email notifications for watched posts are turned on by default. Members can manage their notification preferences based on how forum notifications are configured in your community.
Prompt members to watch a post after commenting
You can also setup the community to prompt members to watch a post after they leave a comment. This prompt is only shown when the member is not already watching the post and is not the author of the post.
This setting is controlled in the dashboard and is turned off by default. Community admins can turn on it in Forum Settings.
View watched posts
Members can view a list of the posts they are currently watching. The watched posts list appears in list view only and is ordered by the most recent watch activity.
Track watch activity in the dashboard
Admins can track watch activity from the forum post list in the dashboard.
A Watching column appears alongside other post engagement metrics such as comments, views, and reactions. This gives admins another way to see how many posts are being watched and generating ongoing interest and continued discussion.
Important Callouts
Members do not receive notifications for their own comments.
Post authors cannot watch their own posts from the post detail page.
The post-comment watch prompt must be enabled in dashboard settings before members will see it.
Email notifications are batched and may not send immediately after each new comment.
Notifications already viewed in the notification center are excluded from email batches to reduce duplication.