Recognizing a new post has arrived via API

David Sargrad

I am using the NodeBB API within my web application. I'd like to present a notification when a new posting appears within one or more categories.

What should I monitor within the API that would tell me that a new post has arrived, or that a post has been updated, or even that a post has been deleted?

I'm looking to act on any change in a category.

Is there something like a "category detail version number", or a "category update sequence number" that I can monitor via the API?

julian

Ah, you'll just want to upgrade to v3.6.0

or that a post has been updated, or even that a post has been deleted?

This part would require custom plugin logic though.

David Sargrad

hah.. you da man @julian

you are so freaking fast.. it sounds like you've already implemented this? what specifically will i find in 3.6.0

julian

@baris implemented the ability to "track" a category, which replaces the former "watch" logic. Watching a category now means you will be notified when new topics appear. That's been a longstanding ask which was recently implemented

David Sargrad

very nice.. ty.. didnt realize that there is also plugin support.. cool stuff

julian

Also, ironically, the reason I was quick to reply was because I am "watching" the technical support category so I got a push notification immediately.

David Sargrad

hah.. neat!

David Sargrad

ya we are looking to use nodebb in our solution.. it will run adjacent to our web app.. in that context i am also going to be interested in the customizability, and even the pluggability of nodebb.. more to come on those questions.

David Sargrad

as an aside.. i thought i saw reference to socket.io in the nodebb docs.. do you support socket.io interfaces that would deliver notifications in an asynchronous fashion?

<baris>

@David-Sargrad yes you can connect and listen for real time events. For example on pages like /recent we listen to new topics/posts here and then show an alert. The socket event listeners receive the newly posted data for the topic/post.

David Sargrad

@baris Thanks.. we are likely to use that.. i have quite a bit of socket.io experience in prior systems that we've built.

saikarthikp9

@julian What kind of push notification have you set up for yourself?

julian

@saikarthikp9 nodebb-plugin-ntfy