SMF has several options for users to view unread posts. Unread posts are topics and replies that have not been viewed by the user. The most common way to view unread posts is through the links in the forum header near the top of a forum page.
- Show unread replies since last visit – Selecting this option displays a list of the topics which have had new posts made in them since the user's last visit. The user has the ability to select to view all unread topics, which will display any topic with unread posts, regardless of their last visit.
- Show unread replies to your posts – Selecting this option displays a list of topics the user has participated in that have unread replies.
There are also other options available for viewing unread posts:
or 
- These icons appear to the left of each board in the Board Index. The second, coloured version indicates that there are unread posts within the board. Clicking on it will take you to a list of these unread posts, displayed by topic.- Recent Posts - If enabled by the administrator, this will display a list of recent posts within the Info Center (below the Board Index in the default theme). This is displayed by post, not by topic, so hot topics may dominate this section. Selecting the icon to the left of the recent posts will enable each post to be read from another screen.
- Unread posts - This option appears to the right of each category. Selecting this option will display a list of unread posts from the boards inside the selected category.
