I’ve just enabled a feature to show which members are currently online. There’s a list on the homepage:
And on topics, online members are shown with a little green dot:
I can re-style or remove either of these if people don’t like them. Feedback welcome:
0 voters
Thanks for the feedback … looks like I’ll be removing the new feature, although will give it to the end of the day to give everyone a chance to have their say.
So I can feed back to the developer, what is it that people find unappealing about this feature?
How do I hide whether or not I’m online?
I don’t mind knowing about other people, but I like the ability not to immediately respond to every post.
Unfortunately this isn’t possible with the feature as it stands.
Chris, for me I think it clutters what was previously a clean and appealing interface. Also this isn’t an instant messaging site so the online/offline status of users I don’t think is particularly useful.
It clutters the interface, isn’t immediately clear in its meaning and is probably of limited use given that I may show as online when I’m not actually present at my devices. Also, I agree users should have control over their visibility.
I like it - pretty standard fare for a lot of forum sites.
Agreed.
So how does it work? If I’ve the site open in a browser window am I online?
Basically if you’ve used the site in the last five minutes you’ll be shown as online. I think this may include members with a browser window open.
What does ‘used’ constitute?
I’m afraid I don’t know 
Further info and discussion here:
Not a fan, I know it can be seen from behind the scenes regardless, but don’t think everyone needs to know who is online.
When you post we may have a fairly good idea 
On other sites, I can opt out of being seen as Online. I don’t object as such, but I don’t like the lack of choice.
Just checked in to LinkedIn to find a pop up on a who’s online function. Suspicious? 
Thanks everyone for the feedback.
I have now disabled the “who’s online list” for everyone, and enabled the green dots for TL4 members (i.e. @moderators) only.
Good news: it’s now possible to hide your online status (via your preferences).
So – I have enabled the online indicators, with members on trust-level-2 or higher able to see who’s online. I will make the indicator very subtle so it doesn’t cause clutter.
Is the wee green dot next to your profile pick the online indicator?
I wanted to hide this but wasn’t sure if I had or not. Under preferences/interface is an option to “Hide my public profile and presence features.” Is that what I use? If so, it still appears on my screen.
I’ll raise this with the developers to see what’s going on. It may be that you can see your online state (and mods), but it is successfully hidden from others.
