Re: Private Message System

having email notification of a pm is very against the punbb philosphy. its just extra bells and whistles. the main point of a forum or message board is for communication between a larg group of people that aren't online at the same time. during use of the forum it is understood that people may not get the information immediately. if you need to contact someone immediatly use the IM, or email functions to more directly contact someone. a pm is only a private message on the forum, it should be considered the same as a post that only the intended recipient can read and reply to. it should not be used as a replacement or augmentation to normal email. it was not designed for that level of use.

Currently Reading: State of Fear, by Michael Chriton
Currently Playing: Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (PS2)

277

Re: Private Message System

You have to agree with talonhawk that e-mail notification of new private messages is silly? - Cool. I got a message telling me I have a new message!

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

278 (edited by lament 2005-01-14 20:23)

Re: Private Message System

what's silly is annoying animated .gif avatars. wink

we might as well get rid of topic subscriptions too.  why would I want to get an email that someone responded to a topic when I can just visit the forum and check myself?

that's my point.. the only difference is the labeling.  one's private, one's public.

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Re: Private Message System

Besides that, on a large comunity site, what would the load be on the mail server each time a PM was submitted.  I get enough spam as it is. That counter to the punbb philosophy.  If PM is going to be a mod, then simple notification on the site is all that I think would be required.  (e.g. Logged in as Rickard, you have X # of new messages)

280 (edited by lament 2005-01-14 20:31)

Re: Private Message System

buzzkill wrote:

Besides that, on a large comunity site, what would the load be on the mail server each time a PM was submitted.  I get enough spam as it is. That counter to the punbb philosophy.  If PM is going to be a mod, then simple notification on the site is all that I think would be required.  (e.g. Logged in as Rickard, you have X # of new messages)

load considerations should be make by the person running the bb, and i think it should be an admin option to turn on/off emailed PM notifications.

where the heck is chacmool to talk about this? smile

edit: also as a user, you should be able to choose to turn OFF email notifications of PMs.

Re: Private Message System

i would even suggest that email notification of new replies would be superfulous. however, that is more justifiable for most people.

Currently Reading: State of Fear, by Michael Chriton
Currently Playing: Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (PS2)

282 (edited by lament 2005-01-14 23:14)

Re: Private Message System

i just realized you can turn off avatars. yay!

however, that is more justifiable for most people.

but why? because it's a nice convenience.

like right now, for instance.  i am working, i got an email saying someone replied to this topic that i've subscribed to, and I go to the site.

why can't the same be done for PM's, which are based on the same principle? it seems silly to say no to one and yes to another, when they serve the same purpose - to let you know that you need to go visit the site now. they're both convenient.

are they both absolutely necessary?  no.  yet one is praised and another is panned.

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Re: Private Message System

>> You have to agree with talonhawk that e-mail notification of new private messages is silly?

I'm sorry but I totally disagree. A private messaging system that notifies me when I get a private message is a great tool. For example, perhaps I've sent a PM to someone to initiate a conversation on some topic. I run my own business so I can't sit there and wait. I'm off doing my work. But I check my email regularly - it's part of my job. So when I see that email from the Board telling me I've got a PM I know the person has repsonded. And I can then make time to go read it.

Also, a PM system isn't just about convenience, it's also about creating stickyness for the forum. And stickyness is good. People have to come back to the forum to get their messages. We all want our members to participate and giving them reasons like having private messages to read is as good as any other reason - if not better.

In fact, I participate on another forum where we call it stickymail. It's a highly valued addition to the board. For those of us who participate there often (I'm a mod) it's a great way to communicate about things we don't necessarily want in public.

And PM is a great way to remain anonymous if need be. Private messaging is a great way for us to communicate in private without revealing our contact info. People can converse in private without revealing an email address or personal name if they want.

Anyway. My 2p. wink

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Re: Private Message System

lorax wrote:

>> You have to agree with talonhawk that e-mail notification of new private messages is silly?

I'm sorry but I totally disagree. A private messaging system that notifies me when I get a private message is a great tool. For example, perhaps I've sent a PM to someone to initiate a conversation on some topic. I run my own business so I can't sit there and wait. I'm off doing my work. But I check my email regularly - it's part of my job. So when I see that email from the Board telling me I've got a PM I know the person has repsonded. And I can then make time to go read it.

Yes, but what I was trying to get at was what good the PM function did in that case. Wouldn't it have been better to get the message directly in your inbox?

lorax wrote:

Also, a PM system isn't just about convenience, it's also about creating stickyness for the forum. And stickyness is good. People have to come back to the forum to get their messages. We all want our members to participate and giving them reasons like having private messages to read is as good as any other reason - if not better.

I guess so. As a visitor, I would consider it a nuisance though.

lorax wrote:

And PM is a great way to remain anonymous if need be. Private messaging is a great way for us to communicate in private without revealing our contact info. People can converse in private without revealing an email address or personal name if they want.

That is probably the only "pro PM" opinoin I've heard so far that I agree with 100%.

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

285 (edited by lament 2005-01-15 01:30)

Re: Private Message System

Rickard wrote:
lorax wrote:
lorax wrote:

And PM is a great way to remain anonymous if need be. Private messaging is a great way for us to communicate in private without revealing our contact info. People can converse in private without revealing an email address or personal name if they want.

That is probably the only "pro PM" opinoin I've heard so far that I agree with 100%.

Well yeah that's a given - we're not arguing that.

that's the reason we have a PM system in the first place - otherwise it would just be an email.

We're not even arguing "pro-PM" or not.

it's the to-email-on-PM-or-not-to-email-on-PM that we're discussing here.

focus people! smile

and is chacmool purposely avoiding this thread?

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Re: Private Message System

I think Chacmool is deep in the World-of-Warcraft swamp right now smile

"Programming is like sex: one mistake and you have to support it for the rest of your life."

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Re: Private Message System

focus people

Sorry for going OT.

Yes, but what I was trying to get at was what good the PM function did in that case. Wouldn't it have been better to get the message directly in your inbox?

Not necessarily. I'd rather go the Board in most cases because if it comes to my inbox I'm likely to read it and put off responding where as if I'm at the Board reading it, a response is only one click away.

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Re: Private Message System

You say you need an email notification to tell you that you have a PM.  Here's a suggestion: put the message in the email - you're checking your email anyway, why not receive the message at the same time?  Then you don't need the PM because you're already using email.

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Re: Private Message System

D9r wrote:

You say you need an email notification to tell you that you have a PM.  Here's a suggestion: put the message in the email - you're checking your email anyway, why not receive the message at the same time?  Then you don't need the PM because you're already using email.

In that case, you might as well use the board email form.

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Re: Private Message System

D9r wrote:

You say you need an email notification to tell you that you have a PM.  Here's a suggestion: put the message in the email - you're checking your email anyway, why not receive the message at the same time?  Then you don't need the PM because you're already using email.

I didn't say I need it. I said I prefer it! smile It's personal choice. My previous message explains why.

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Re: Private Message System

To give a practical example of the need for email notification: I just had an email from a member complaining because people had contacted him directly by email, from the forum. I think some members will never like being contacted directly by emails whereas they would accept an email notification. It's a small but important frontier for many people.

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Re: Private Message System

I think some members will never like being contacted directly by emails

tell them to turn it off then

whereas they would accept an email notification

why would they accept that rather than being emailed directly?

293

Re: Private Message System

we can run in circles all day, but I think there's enough people that think the option to turn on/off email notifications of PMs is something that would be greatly welcomed.

Re: Private Message System

then make a differen pm mod to use that feature. chacmool (spelling?) is very close to the punbb philosophy, less is more. basic pm for private messaging, not an augmentation to email. if you want the features you are asking for, ask for it in a different mod. this mod has a vision and is well liked as it is. and please quote me using the quote function.

Currently Reading: State of Fear, by Michael Chriton
Currently Playing: Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (PS2)

295

Re: Private Message System

you're right: my request for an email on a PM requires an entirely different mod.

roll

296 (edited by Mako 2005-01-16 06:52)

Re: Private Message System

Or if you want it that bad, make it yourself. Just use the same code as the subscription code. Wouldn't be very hard.

Hell, we don't even know the status of this mod for v1.2. I am getting pretty close to porting it over myself. If anybody wants me to do so, just say so.

"You start coding. I'll go find out what they want." - Computer Analyst to Programmer

297

Re: Private Message System

best is to ask the original author of the mod first ... just in case ...

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Re: Private Message System

Mako wrote:

Or if you want it that bad, make it yourself. Just use the same code as the subscription code. Wouldn't be very hard.

Hell, we don't even know the status of this mod for v1.2. I am getting pretty close to porting it over myself. If anybody wants me to do so, just say so.

It would be great if you could port it over im sure the author wouldnt mind considering that punbb is open source and that a mod for punbb would be persumably of the same licence nature.

So yeah, please if you can port it over id love to have a PM for my forum.

PS i dont know if its in the PM mod already but if you could code some sort of check box system instead of deleting posts individualy that would be good also. Thanks. smile

-gezz

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Re: Private Message System

just wait for Chacmool its his project and i'm sure he'll do a good job of it, porting it to 1.2 isn't going to be as good as Chacmool rewriting the script for 1.2

300

Re: Private Message System

any info about mass private messaging for admins ?...(sorry to disturb this debate)