Notify if user does not receive copies of Private Messages in their email.

[starwatcher]

Title:
Notify if user does not receive copies of Private Messages in their email.

Area:
Profile page and private messaging

Summary:
A note that "this user does not receive emails of private messages" - or something like that - would allow other users to seek another method of contact.

Description:
On our profile page is a handy little link for another user to click and send a Private Message.

But some users are more savvy about using services / setting up their studios than others. Recently, a friend discovered that they'd never enabled delivery of private messages to their email address... and they did not know to check their inbox. When they discovered this oversight, some waiting messages were over a year old.

The setup to manage notifications looks pretty self-explanatory to me; I don't think you can improve it. BUT, if someone has NOT enabled email delivery of Private Messages - whether deliberately or through oversight - it would be useful to have an automatic 'warning' appear under the Private Message link. I'm thinking of something like, "This user does not receive emails of Private Messages."

This would serve two purposes:

1] Alert those who want to contact the user that another method might be more effective.

2] Alert the user (when they visit their profile page) that they need to change 'something' in order to receive PMs via email.

I don't suppose this is a major problem, but it affects how we socialize with other people. When we send a message, how long do we wait before pressing for an answer? If we're patient, did the intended recipient actually SEE the message? If we take another route to send a message (email, comment on post) after a few days, are we pushing someone who's already bogged down with more important issues? In this specific case, the user who discovered the mistake had months-old supportive messages; they were mortified that they hadn't answered the senders.

I can't think of any drawbacks; it seems a simple notification of the state of a particular DW studio, no different from the profile page showing who is subscribed or has access to who.

Poll #3902 Notify if user does not receive copies of Private Messages in their email.

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 44

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
6 (13.6%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
2 (4.5%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
31 (70.5%)

(I have no opinion)
4 (9.1%)

(Other: please comment)
1 (2.3%)

Comments

[firecat]

I honestly don't see how another user knowing that, "This user doesn't receive emails of Private Messages" is intrusive.

It's hard for me to explain why it feels intrusive, but it does. I guess partly because almost all my other DW settings are private unless I explicitly choose to make them public. But if this setting were opt-in, it wouldn't do what you want it to.

all this does is confirm that this user wishes to remain unreachable.

No, it doesn't. It tells you that the person hasn't set the setting, but it doesn't tell you anything about the person's wishes or whether they saw your message. The person might regularly check their DW inbox, in which case they would see the message even if it's not e-mailed. The person might not be receiving their email for one reason or another, in which case they won't see the message even if it is emailed. So it just pushes the question "Did this person see my message?" out one layer, it doesn't answer the question.

I would support a setting that specifies which users (e.g., "everyone," "access list only," "no one") can send you PMs. LJ has such a setting and apparently notifies you if you try to send a PM to someone who doesn't allow it. If this were opt-in, then it would in fact confirm the user wishes to remain unreachable.

[starwatcher]

.
You - and the others - have shown me aspects I was missing. Thank you.

I would support a setting that specifies which users (e.g., "everyone," "access list only," "no one") can send you PMs.

Good idea. Seeing that spelled out, would probably draw attention to the setting, make it less likely to be overlooked. Some things are easy for a newbie to miss, but we can't take each by the hand individually.
.

[denise]

I would support a setting that specifies which users (e.g., "everyone," "access list only," "no one") can send you PMs. LJ has such a setting and apparently notifies you if you try to send a PM to someone who doesn't allow it.

So does DW! It's on the Manage Profile page.

[firecat]

Oh there it is! I was looking in the Notifications section. Thanks!

[cheyinka]

Well, you can already specify which group of users can send you PMs - it's in the Edit Profile page. Do you mean choosing whether that information's displayed on the profile?

[firecat]

Nope, I just missed where that setting was.