Once you log in to the forums, it’s rather easy to see new posts (only) and you can do it one of 2 ways:

1. At the top of the main page, there are links for “unread posts” and “unread topics”. Either will take you directly to things you haven’t seen without having to click a gazillion times.

2. Any categories that have unread topics/posts will be highlighted. Topics where you’ve already read the posts will not be highlighted (see image below).