Subscriptions here are a little bit annoying, but crucially neccesary given the number of sub forums and the fact older threads get removed from view (depending on your settings)
I also use the 'view unread threads' button, but that does mean i get a lot of stuff I'm not really intrested in, and sometimes I want to go back and find an older thread that is not 'unread'

This is my current method of tracking threads.

1) Turn subscriptions on. This is available in your user control panel ( buttons at top of page).
This means you will get an email when new posts happen in a subscribed thread. I think you only get one email per updated thread, not per new post.
2) subscribe to the thread. Big button, top left hand corner of the thread. You can also subscribe to entire forums if you like.

3) Go to your email provider. Create a new sub-inbox called Battlecomms or Taccomd or whatever makes you think of here. Details will vary.

4) Create a new email filter. In yahoo this can be done through the 'mail options' button. I'm using [if sender contains 'tactical' send to 'taccoms' inbox]. Depending on what other mail you get, this might need to be made more specific.

5) Sit back and watch the notifications flood in, without flooding your 'real' emails. (I have a similar system set up for facebook notifications too)

I just go straight to unread posts...

_________________
SG

Ghost's Paint Blog, where everything goes that isn't something else.