Allow adding (or replying) initial/default recipient when replying to a PM

[pauamma]

Title:
Allow adding (or replying) initial/default recipient when replying to a PM

Area:
inbox, private messages

Summary:
When replying to a Dreamwidth PM sent to you, allow adding recipients to the initial recipient (sender of the message you're replying to), or even replacing that recipient with an arbitrary list, for a quick and dirty forward,

Description:
This wouldn't breach privacy that I can see (who the original message went to), because the only initial recipient of the reply would be the sender, as it already is, and no other recipient of the original message would be offered as a suggestion or listed. (Indeed, that would be impossible, as the list of original recipients isn't kept anywhere. One message sent to several users looks the same as several identical messages sent very close.)

Poll #5205 Allow adding (or replying) initial/default recipient when replying to a PM

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 49

View Respondents

This suggestion:

View Answers

Should be implemented as-is.
13 (26.5%)

Should be implemented with changes. (please comment)
0 (0.0%)

Shouldn't be implemented.
15 (30.6%)

(I have no opinion)
19 (38.8%)

(Other: please comment)
2 (4.1%)

Comments

[pauamma]

What would that button do? Forward unaltered with just an indication of the original sender and date sent? Forward with your own text added to the unaltered message sender and text? Forward with the options of making edits to the original text?

[ninetydegrees]

"Forward unaltered with just an indication of the original sender and date sent." I think.

Also, to me, the multi-recipient feature is another idea entirely (which I think I would be for if the number of recipients was limited and the number of times you can sent PMs to X people was limited as well; maybe even just a paid feature).

[pauamma]

Well, I would expect the same limits for multi-recipient reply or forward as the ones already applicable for multi-recipient initial send. (Whatever those are.) I don't see an obvious need for more restrictive limits. Do you?

[noracharles]

I did not know we already could PM more than one user at a time. Thank you!

[ninetydegrees]

Like Nora, I didn't know you could already send the same PM to several people. How do you do that BTW? Use commas?

[yvi]

Yep, use commas. I had to ask in IRC for that, it's not really obvious that it can be done.

[ninetydegrees]

Ok, thanks.
Yeah, I didn't see it mentioned in the FAQs.

[pauamma]

Yeah. Worth a clarification in the UI and FAQ, I think.

[pauamma]

Yes, commas between usernames. (And I thought everyone knew this, but now that I checked, I see it's not mentioned in the compose form or in FAQ 68. Want to suggest a clarification?)

[ninetydegrees]

Want to suggest a clarification?

Definitely but it's unclear to me where one should do that, these days. Comment on dw_docs? File a bug for Project Documentation? So most of the time, I don't say anything because I don't know where it should go (and also it doesn't seem that the stuff we were encouraged to mention in dw_docs are being read by anybody).

[pauamma]

Probably file a bug, since you have a Zilla account. (If you didn't, a suggestion would probably work.)

I don't know what the dw_docs status is now. I'm not actively involved in doc wrangling.

[matgb]

File a bug. And when my life isn't a complete mess, I'll figure out how to get things organised properly.

Theoretically, I'm taking over Docs, but at no point since I agreed to do it have we had a week without some sort of crisis and my brain isn't catching up.

[ninetydegrees]

Ok, done. Thanks.

[noracharles]

+1 to the multi-recipient feature.

I often send PMs to multiple people, and it would be nice not to have to send them one recipient at a time.

I don't see a need for a forwarding button. It's easy to copy a message and send it on; having a button would just be needless clutter, plus it would seem to encourage forwarding, something I think is against Private Message culture.

PMs aren't email, and I don't want them to be like email.

[ninetydegrees]

I think it could be useful for community admins (but there are plans to make the Inbox work for communities so it may make the point moot).

[noracharles]

Oh yes, I see what you mean.