Private Messages

Post by **tex** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 5:16 pm

Hi All,

It appears that quite a few members either do not understand how to use the Private Messaging option on this board, or they simply overlook the notifications when they have messages waiting in their mailbox.

Understand that the system will only notify you once, after a message is posted to your private mailbox. If it shows that you have a PM, but you forget to open it, there will be no more notifications for that particular PM in the future, whether you read it or not. The message will still be there, but the system will mark it as read, so it won't notify you again. Also, if you aren't logged in, the system has no way of identifying you, so your PMs won't be available for viewing, and the system will make no attempt to notify you that you might have one or more messages waiting, until you log in for the first time after the PM was sent.

There's no telling how many PMs are stored in the database, that were never opened by the recipient. For example, I notice that I have 5 in my Outbox, at the moment. Two are from November of 2008, two are from March of 2011, and one I posted this afternoon. I'm sure the newest one will be opened by the recipient, but I have no idea why any of the older ones were missed. The two from March, 2011, for example, were in response to members who requested information on where to send contributions for the flower fund. I hope no one is upset, because they think that I didn't make any attempt to respond to their request.

If you want to see if someone received the PM you sent them, just click on your "Outbox". If you can see that the PM is there, then they never viewed it. Also, note that as long as a PM is still in your Outbox, you can edit it, if you wish to do so. Once the recipient opens it, it will disappear from your Outbox, and the system will add it to your "Sentbox". Once it's in your Sentbox, obviously, it's too late to edit it.

I'm guessing that the reason why many people overlook PMs is because they either have pop-up notifications turned off in their profile on this board, or they have pop-ups turned off in their browser. Without the pop-up, it's easy to overlook the system's notification among the links at the top of the page, so they never realize that they have a PM waiting for them to open.

Sooooooooo, in an effort to combat the problem of missed PMs, I've changed the color of the notification for PMs from the default color of blue, to red, and enlarged the text size, so that it's easier to notice.

Will this help? Am I overlooking something else that might be the source of the problem? It's always a good idea to check your PMs once in a while, just to see if you might have somehow overlooked a notification. I can recall a few instances when I've logged onto the board, and noticed that a PM notification suddenly popped up, but I was busy trying to respond to someone's questions in a post, and by the time I finished, I forgot all about the PM, and went on to read the rest of the new posts, and then logged out. At that point, I noticed that the Pop-up notification was still in my tabs, so I logged back on, and read the PM, (even though it was already flagged as read, by then). If it hadn't been for the pop-up, I would have surely forgotten to check for the PM.

Anyway, I'm hoping that making the PM notification easier to see, will remind us to check for PMs, so that we don't miss so many of them. Missing a PM can sometimes lead to all sorts of anxiety/misunderstandings, obviously.

Also, please be aware that new members cannot see anyone else's e-mail address buttons, or PM buttons, etc., until they have written at least 5 posts. The reason for that is to prevent some spammer, or some other troublemaker from signing up just to harvest e-mail addresses, or to send inappropriate PMs. If a new member posts spam to the board, that's easy to catch, and any moderator can set that account inactive and remove the posts. Private messages are a different story, though, and, neither I, nor any moderator would be aware of inappropriate PMs, unless we happen to receive one, or the recipient notifies us. That's why I added the limitation based on post count. That number can be changed to anything I select, but I feel that 5 is a reasonable number.

If anyone has any thoughts on any of this, or can suggest a good reason why some of it should be changed, I'm always open to suggestion.

Thanks for reading,
Tex

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 5:49 pm

Tex,

I receive email messages when someone sends me a private message - this is definitely better for me. Some women wouldn't admit to how many pairs of shoes I own... I would blush to tell you how many browser windows I have open at the moment. (At any moment.)

Is email the default notification option for private messages? Or was I so self-aware I chose it

? (Not likely, given the gluten-haze at the time I joined!)

Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I did send one message that my recipient hasn't read yet.

I am sure that people use this forum in a great variety of ways, and it is remarkable how well it serves our varied needs and methods!

Love,
Sara

MBombardier · Post by **MBombardier** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:09 pm

Tex, I like it! I clean out my e-mail inbox pretty religiously, and I always check to see if I have any private messages when I log on, but I like the red. How festive and encouraging when it says that there is a new message! And if there are no new messages, why, it ensures that we haven't missed anything. Good job taking care of us, as always!!

nancyl · Post by **nancyl** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:12 pm

Tex,
That was a great idea to put it in large print bold red letters. It definitely is more noticeable. I for one am guilty of not checking to see if I had any PM's.

Nancy

Gloria · Post by **Gloria** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:42 pm

Ah, so that's why the large red type. I've never had a problem with reading private messages. We usually get two notifications: one through email, and another when we log on. That's enough notice, I think.

Thank you for trying to improve it, though.

Gloria

Post by **tex** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:00 pm

Sara,

To be honest, I don't remember what the defaults are, but I'm guessing that both e-mail notifications and pop-ups are default selections. Of course, anyone can turn either one or both off in their profile, or they can override those settings by disallowing pop-ups in their browser, or filtering e-mail notifications out in their e-mail client.

In this age of overuse of e-mail and pop-ups, I suspect that some members automatically deselect those options when they sign up, out of habit, which creates a situation where PMs can be very easily overlooked. Since we don't allow any spam by PMs, I consider all PMs to be important, so I leave both notifications active, also, just like Gloria.

Tex

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 7:18 pm

Good to know Tex - makes sense.

Pop-ups just confuse me (I blame a lifetime of gluten consumption

)... I am very impressed with our ability to share so much in this forum, and also to send a personal message when appropriate. The very high quality of the discourse, and low amount of crankiness, spam etc. - is truly a credit to all of us... but especially to you.

Speaking of PMs - since I emailed you my churning thoughts about zonulin, gluten, the universe and everything some time back, I'm sure you're not surprised that I am pondering this E. coli outbreak in Europe with a fresh eye. I would love to know how patients' responses are different according to the GS status - genetic, diagnosed, or otherwise... I was focused on the Big Baddies like cholera and typhoid as a reason why zonulin might be more active in some than others (to allow a more rapid and vigorous immune response)... but there's E. coli, everywhere...

Even crazier baddies like the Black Plague would have come around so infrequently and randomly, I'm guessing those with genetic immunity (or greater resistance) were just wildly. Though surely where the death rate was highest in plague times, that luck would translate in a significant change in the genetic makeup of the population...

I still think turning zonulin off is a Bad Idea. Sorry, Dr. Fasano.

And sorry, Tex, for the digression. Still trying to ponder this.

Love,
S

Post by **tex** » Sat Jun 04, 2011 10:30 pm

Sara wrote:I still think turning zonulin off is a Bad Idea. Sorry, Dr. Fasano.

The body is more complex than we can ever comprehend, and every aspect of it exists for a reason. I agree with you - it's not nice to try to fool Mother Nature, because every time we try to do that, we end up compromising something else. As we all know, there are no free lunches, and yet we try to ignore that fact, every time we get a prescription filled.

Love,
Tex

annie oakley · Post by **annie oakley** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 4:43 pm

Look pretty self explanatory Tex I for one like it !!! thank you !!

sarkin · Post by **sarkin** » Sun Jun 05, 2011 5:42 pm

Tex,

When I first read your comment about 'every time we refill a prescription...' I agreed, and reminded myself why I don't take medications. EXCEPT - I tried a Claritin last evening. Been dizzy all day, plus mild morning D that could be from food... or the antihistamine, or any one of its ingredients (including, of course, my old friend lactose).

Or - the dizziness could have been the tail end of that cold. Not thinking I'll try another Claritin soon, though...

Love,
Sara