@WildWing, from this thread:
Watched Threads - No option to view only unread Watched threads. it looks like they nixed the direct link to show unread watched threads... but that's as of January 2019, so I dunno if they re-added it.
Also from that thread, someone made a paid add-on that's $25 up-front + $15 annual renewal fee:
Watched Thread Filtering
Yuck. I'll continue seeing if there's any filtering option that's exposed, at least what I can see as a user.
Edit: Last post is from March 25, 2019, saying a lot of members are bummed about this, so it's possibly still not re-added.
Edit 2:
This post from XF Mike allows users to "Filter" and then "Save as Default":
Edit 3: OK, Mike's suggested workaround of using the Filter doesn't even work. Watched means "Watched Forum" rather than "Watched Threads."
So setting the filters like shown in that screenshot only shows unread threads in every forum I'm watching.
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Edit 4: OK, here's what I think. I think this is something that XF Developers need to address, since -- looking at the Filter screenshot that XF Mike posted above -- that Filter UI is available in both the
What's New --> New Threads and
What's New --> New Posts.
Specifically, what I'd like to see the developers carve out is the Filter checkbox for "Watched Content."
- Current behavior: It's defined as any content in a forum that I watch. This is silly and gives me thousands of threads.
- Expected behavior: Create two options: "Watched Threads" and "Watched Forums" that are more granular/specific so we the users can specify exactly what we want and also so the filter can be set in the URL by forum admins. In other words, when I click "Unread Watched Threads," I expect to see exactly that, watched threads that are unread. Not a list of all threads in all watched forums, which pretty much defeats the purpose.
I almost want to create a XF forum account (been meaning to anyways as a prospective customer) just so I can suggest this to the development team. Seems very straightforward to code, since it just seems like basic database querying and filtering/sorting. Nothing "new" that needs to really be done.