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'Real' private messaging system
I was wondering if there is anything in the works that would resemble a 'real' PM system with an inbox and email notification. I have tried the more basic add-ons already available but they are not really what I'm after, and whispers would probably be confusing for the non-techies.
I am moving lots of people over from Phorum and the feature is pretty heavily used there.
I guess if there is no add-on in development I could integrate Private Notes for Wordpress, but it's not a great solution.
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In Phorum, you have to explicitly click a button to PM a user. It takes you to a familiar page with an inbox and outbox; it will email you a notification and so on.
In Vanilla, it is given to you as an option as you are posting. I am a techie and still found that confusing. I didn't know if it would CC my post to the user or give me an inbox of some kind.
Feedback was generally not good for the feature because of the massive differences between Whispers and PMs, so I turned them off for now, and am looking for other alternatives. I think they are actually too advanced for the average forum user!
I have just been playing with XDTalk for Wordpress, and that is exactly what I was talking about for Vanilla. Some kind of real-time chat system would be bearable if a complex PM add-on is too much to ask for (and I'm aware it's gonna be a big job to write one).
edit: XDTalk relies on Popups being unblocked, and does not store undelivered messages, so it is not actually that great... the system on micromusic.net is an advanced version of it.
Part of the problem with Whispers is, I think, the fact that the 'Whisper Your Comments To' box sits above the normal posting box. If I could have a link to Whisper someone on a different page, I think it would be less confusing?
I can imagine that people would like Whispers when they got used to them, but having just thrust a new forum onto people, I'm sure I'd be taking a risk if I confused them further at this point!
A link in the user profile, near the name, picture etc, that says "Send this user a Whisper".
Or, an icon next to the username in the 'Who's Online' list that would allow you to type a quick Whisper, thus making it more of an IM...
There are a number of requests for a general JS chat system but it's not completed yet...
Of course, this is just my feeling. I can definitely understand the demand for PMs, as we all got used to it using other forum software.
They also believe "Whispering" is a bit like talking behind people's backs. I personally disagree with this point, many times I have whispered to an individual to avoid cluttering up a discussion (although I also used it to vent my spleen at a couple of individuals :-).
I asked, how would you email someone who has their address hidden?
The answer was: I wouldn't PM anyone I didn't know well enough to have their email address. Also, this is a forum, any valid discussion should be public so all could benefit from it.
In any case, I disabled whispers, not for any of the above reasons but to reduce clutter and confusion (for less experienced members). Perhaps as they get more confident and the need arises this situation may change. Personally I think the whisper concept is very useful and very elegantly implemented.
I do hope however, that if a PM system is introduced, it be an optional extension (i.e. not core). I cannot envisage it being any less complex or conceptually simpler than whispering.
That's exactly what I settled for, at least as far as personally contacting the admin (me), it's a bit much to manually create a form for each member though. So yes, I think an extension that did this would be very useful alternative/adjunct to whispers.
Also, what better place to keep a record than in the inbox of your favourite email application?
+1 vote for the profile email contact form extension. Just make sure we can limit the amount of emails sent via it eh?
the reason is logical, with a pm-system you have _everything in one place_ , and this means that the handling is less confusing for a non-geek or in other words for a simple internet user.
the whisper feature is still cool for _in_topic related chitchats but i wouldnt make more out of it as it is ... a whisper function.
so it would be nice to see here a solid integration of a pm-system to manage, send and to recive messages in one place and from one place.
my 10 cents
I hear what you are saying, however as a forum admin I would not be too happy with the overhead used by PMs flying all over the place when we have a perfectly good email system people could be using.
As a user on many forums, I think I've sent 5 PMs total over the many years.
People seem to use PMs to maintain anonymity, the email contact form would maintain the anonymity but put the storage/filing burden on the users where it should be.
Another 10¢ worth, making 20¢ altogether.