diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 9162caf..3e94dd2 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 1.6.9: ?
  * Added a remove formatting feature to the tools menu. This allows you to
    strip out all formatting from the currently selected text.
+ * Luminotes Discussion forums now change the discussion thread link color
+   based on whether there are any new posts since you last visited the
+   thread. This makes it much easier to keep up with a particular discussion.
  * Fixed a bug in which the filename of an exported HTML file was just
    "export" instead of being based on the notebook name.
 
diff --git a/controller/Forums.py b/controller/Forums.py
index c9f47c5..980e432 100644
--- a/controller/Forums.py
+++ b/controller/Forums.py
@@ -169,9 +169,10 @@ class Forum( object ):
     start = Valid_int( min = 0 ),
     count = Valid_int( min = 1, max = 50 ),
     note_id = Valid_id( none_okay = True ),
+    posts = Valid_int(),
     user_id = Valid_id( none_okay = True ),
   )
-  def default( self, thread_id, start = 0, count = 10, note_id = None, user_id = None ):
+  def default( self, thread_id, start = 0, count = 10, note_id = None, posts = None, user_id = None ):
     """
     Provide the information necessary to display a forum thread.
 
@@ -183,6 +184,10 @@ class Forum( object ):
     @param count: number of recent notes to display (defaults to 10 notes)
     @type note_id: unicode or NoneType
     @param note_id: id of single note to load (optional)
+    @type posts: integer or NoneType
+    @param posts: ignored. used for link-visitedness purposes on the client side
+    @type user_id: unicode or NoneType
+    @param user_id: id of the current user
     @rtype: unicode
     @return: rendered HTML page
     @raise Validation_error: one of the arguments is invalid
diff --git a/controller/test/Test_forums.py b/controller/test/Test_forums.py
index 098d473..a52b5cc 100644
--- a/controller/test/Test_forums.py
+++ b/controller/test/Test_forums.py
@@ -268,6 +268,28 @@ class Test_forums( Test_controller ):
     user = self.database.load( User, self.user.object_id )
     assert user.storage_bytes == 0
 
+  def test_general_thread_default_with_posts( self ):
+    result = self.http_get( "/forums/general/%s?posts=20" % self.general_thread.object_id )
+
+    assert result.get( u"user" ).object_id == self.anonymous.object_id
+    assert len( result.get( u"notebooks" ) ) == 4
+    assert result.get( u"notebooks" )[ 0 ].object_id == self.anon_notebook.object_id
+    assert result.get( u"login_url" )
+    assert result.get( u"logout_url" )
+    assert result.get( u"rate_plan" )
+    assert result.get( u"notebook" ).object_id == self.general_thread.object_id
+    assert len( result.get( u"startup_notes" ) ) == 0
+    assert result.get( u"notes" ) == []
+    assert result.get( u"parent_id" ) == None
+    assert result.get( u"note_read_write" ) in ( None, True )
+    assert result.get( u"total_notes_count" ) == 0
+
+    invites = result[ "invites" ]
+    assert len( invites ) == 0
+
+    user = self.database.load( User, self.user.object_id )
+    assert user.storage_bytes == 0
+
   def test_general_thread_default_with_unknown_note_id( self ):
     result = self.http_get( "/forums/general/%s?note_id=unknownid" % self.general_thread.object_id )
 
diff --git a/static/css/product.css b/static/css/product.css
index 3469746..db74145 100644
--- a/static/css/product.css
+++ b/static/css/product.css
@@ -277,6 +277,10 @@ form {
   line-height: 200%;
 }
 
+.forum_threads a:visited {
+  color: purple;
+}
+
 .forum_title {
   font-weight: bold;
   font-size: 105%;
diff --git a/view/Forum_page.py b/view/Forum_page.py
index d1320b1..4177114 100644
--- a/view/Forum_page.py
+++ b/view/Forum_page.py
@@ -49,7 +49,9 @@ class Forum_page( Product_page ):
         [ Div(
           A(
             thread.name,
-            href = os.path.join( base_path, ( forum_name == u"blog" ) and thread.friendly_id or thread.object_id ),
+            href = ( forum_name == u"blog" ) and \
+              os.path.join( base_path, thread.friendly_id ) or \
+              "%s?posts=%s" % ( os.path.join( base_path, thread.object_id ), thread.note_count ),
           ),
           Span(
             self.post_count( thread, forum_name ),