I figured out how to mark threads as read but….

I'm not sure I'm following you - maybe because I've never selected "Now."

I'm a recent convert to the Marking-as-Read thing. This is what I do:

I open the board and immediately check mark all the threads on the first page I'm not interested in ever reading. Then I go to Actions and choose Mark as Read and then Forever. If I Refresh right away, all the checkmarks will go away and all the "New"s will go away. If I don't Refresh right away, the checkmarks (and I think "New"s) will stay, which is fine because the check marks still alert me that I don't intend to read those threads.

If I open a thread and THEN decide I never want to read it again, I do the same thing after the fact - choose Mark as Read and then Forever. When I hit the NSBR tab, there's no New in front of the thread, but there shouldn't be in any case, cause I just read it.

Am I making a lick of sense? Maybe refreshing will help in your situation.

(So, what does "Now" do?)