Thread: Private messaging

  1. #16
    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
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    Send out a welcome PM that explains this kind of stuff and points to all the announcements. I think you should be able to do it automatically.

  2. #17
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by whiteflags View Post
    Send out a welcome PM that explains this kind of stuff and points to all the announcements. I think you should be able to do it automatically.
    That's a sensible solution. Of course you'd also have to have a more direct way of telling a new user that they have a new private message along with a link to the said private message. A lot of forums do a pop-up either in a new window or just and overlay over the forum window when a new PM is received. You have to assume people that have trouble sending PMs or accessing their account is also going to have trouble realizing they have a PM and checking it. That little notification at the top might seem obvious to most of us, but then the people asking these questions aren't really most of us.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

  3. #18
    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
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    That's actually a user setting.

  4. #19
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by whiteflags View Post
    That's actually a user setting.
    Well then we better make sure it's the default.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

  5. #20
    Unregistered User Yarin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by CommonTater View Post
    So what? Now I have to splatter smilies around like some idiot kid before you can spot a bit of sarcasm?

    Yeah... you really should look into buying a sense of humour.
    Not everyone's sense is as well evolved, refined, and superior as your own, o' master of humor.

    Quote Originally Posted by whiteflags View Post
    Send out a welcome PM that explains this kind of stuff and points to all the announcements. I think you should be able to do it automatically.
    The problem is there are _countless_ forums that send you a greeting PM when you sign up. As such, I think they would be ignored for the most part, considering I've learned to ignore them myself. But that could just be me, dunno.
    Last edited by Yarin; 10-19-2011 at 04:01 PM.

  6. #21
    Devil's Advocate SlyMaelstrom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yarin View Post
    The problem is there are _countless_ forums that send you a greeting PM when you sign up. As such, I think they would be ignored for the most part, considering I've learned to ignore them myself. But that could just be me, dunno.
    Or it could be anyone that feels they can comfortably navigate a forum without reading a welcome post. I don't read them because they're all the same and I've read them before. Someone new to forums in general, however, might find themselves reading it.
    Sent from my iPadŽ

  7. #22
    Lurking whiteflags's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yarin View Post
    The problem is there are _countless_ forums that send you a greeting PM when you sign up. As such, I think they would be ignored for the most part, considering I've learned to ignore them myself. But that could just be me, dunno.
    I don't care about that. The point is mods can quickly close threads about getting one on one help, their lack of ability to have an avatar or a signature, closing their accounts, deleting their posts or code. If anyone has a problem the mods just say did you read the welcome PM. No? Sucks to be you.
    Last edited by whiteflags; 10-19-2011 at 05:06 PM.

  8. #23
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    Quote Originally Posted by Yarin View Post
    Not everyone's sense is as well evolved, refined, and superior as your own, o' master of humor.
    A fact that becomes increasingly obvious with each passing year...

  9. #24
    'Allo, 'Allo, Allo
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    Is it really such a problem? What is it, twice a month? It's hardly something to twist any knickers over. It's a cliche, but if you're sick of answering the question why enter the thread? It's not like these types of threads are ever titled obtusely. Besides, none of the people who ask PM/avatar/signature questions ever post again anyway, so if it goes unanswered, who's to care?

  10. #25
    C++ Witch laserlight's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by whiteflags
    The point is mods can quickly close threads about getting one on one help, their lack of ability to have an avatar or a signature, closing their accounts, deleting their posts or code. If anyone has a problem the mods just say did you read the welcome PM. No? Sucks to be you.
    Then again, the moderators would be able to do those if instructions concerning them were in a stickied announcement too. That said, SlyMaelstrom's point makes sense: a seasoned forum user, or someone so desperate for help that he/she ignores everything else, would not read the message, whether as a PM or a stickied post, but a new forum user otherwise is more likely to read a PM than a stickied post.
    Quote Originally Posted by Bjarne Stroustrup (2000-10-14)
    I get maybe two dozen requests for help with some sort of programming or design problem every day. Most have more sense than to send me hundreds of lines of code. If they do, I ask them to find the smallest example that exhibits the problem and send me that. Mostly, they then find the error themselves. "Finding the smallest program that demonstrates the error" is a powerful debugging tool.
    Look up a C++ Reference and learn How To Ask Questions The Smart Way

  11. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by adeyblue View Post
    Is it really such a problem? What is it, twice a month? It's hardly something to twist any knickers over. It's a cliche, but if you're sick of answering the question why enter the thread? It's not like these types of threads are ever titled obtusely. Besides, none of the people who ask PM/avatar/signature questions ever post again anyway, so if it goes unanswered, who's to care?
    Ummm... I asked when I joined... I had reason to send a PM almost right away, was told about the posting count thing... and, well, here we are...

  12. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by CommonTater View Post
    Way to hijack a thread...
    ...Learn some etiquette and post your messages in the correct forums and in appropriate threads. You won't last very long 'round here, if you don't.
    lol! I find it funny how theres a phrase for everything on the forums. I just felt guilty taking up extra space in the new threads section- i was just hoping someone could quickly answer a small question on the side.

  13. #28
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    So ... now you got this thread... Ask... What's your small question?

  14. #29
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    Couldn't you guys take this to PMs or something?


    Quzah.
    Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment.

  15. #30
    Administrator webmaster's Avatar
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    Adding notes on this to the user welcome messaging is a very good suggestion!

    I already have the forum send a welcome email to new users, but I'd never taken the time to edit it. I've updated it to include a link to the forum guidelines and a special note about the PM system. I also added the welcome PM as whiteflags suggested, with links to several resources as well as a second explanation of the PM system.

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