PMs - making them more obvious

just do it

Hi there

I notice PMs are very obvious on the touch version but not so on the PC version. I've sent some PMs to people on the farming forum and either not got replies or they replied a good while later stating they didn't get the PM until that moment. So could something similar be done to alert users on PCs that they've a PM?

Boards.ie: Danny

Users have lots of ways to be alerted to private messages already:

• Receive a popup on the site when they visit
• Receive an email
• On any non-default style the number of unread private messages is in bold at the top of every page
• On the default style the number of unread PMs is folded in to the notifications icon that appears in a red square at the top of every page. If a user has the sticky header on (and most do) this follows them down the page as they scroll

Similarly there is a way for a sender to track their message. When sending a message the sender can tick the box to request a read receipt. This is only a request which can be denied by the recipient, they will get a popup asking them to send the receipt or cancel. In my opinion most genuine people will give you a read receipt if you ask.

I'm not sure what else you'd like us to do?

Danny

just do it

Thanks for reply Danny.

The majority of the time I look at the touch version. I'll have a look at the PC version later and see have I any suggestion. Given what you've outlined it could well be enough.

JDI

just do it

Boards.ie: Danny wrote: »

Users have lots of ways to be alerted to private messages already:

• Receive a popup on the site when they visit
• Receive an email
• On any non-default style the number of unread private messages is in bold at the top of every page
• On the default style the number of unread PMs is folded in to the notifications icon that appears in a red square at the top of every page. If a user has the sticky header on (and most do) this follows them down the page as they scroll

Similarly there is a way for a sender to track their message. When sending a message the sender can tick the box to request a read receipt. This is only a request which can be denied by the recipient, they will get a popup asking them to send the receipt or cancel. In my opinion most genuine people will give you a read receipt if you ask.

I'm not sure what else you'd like us to do?

Danny

I've the default style set up and all those features turn off, hence the only indication I get of a PM is the notification number beside my username. As I follow alot of threads and only infrequently get PMs I'm not particularly clued into it. I normally go straight to MyThreads on both versions. Now on the PC version when I click on http://www.boards.ie/#tabs-mythreads it automatically scrolls down a bit meaning the top section containing my username and number of notifications is hidden. I've to scroll up the page to see it. Therefore all in all on the PC version I could easily miss a PM, particularly if I wasn't that computer savvy.

On the touch version it is alot more obvious. When there is a PM it appears like this:


And when there is no PM, regardless of what other notifications I have, it appears like this:


Not sure how much of a need there is for it, but on the full website version you could have two numbers beside the user name with one being for PMs. Alternatively you could have something similar like what appears over the username in the touch version?

just do it

I should add at the time of the screenshot I still have 6 unread threads but on the touch version this isn't confused with the icon indicating a PM, whereas on the full version the notification number goes from this:

.
.
.
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to this:


Visually nothing much different between the two, unlike the corresponding screenshots of the touch version in the post above.

Boards.ie: Danny

Good morning,

Thanks for the detailed posts.

You don't have the email on PM enabled, but can enable it at any time via the Edit Options page.

You don't have the popup on new PM enabled. This wouldn't pop up a PM on the home page but when you view a thread it would. Again, it can be enabled on the Edit Options page.

The default style has Appearance Settings. In there you can enable the Sticky Header, the blue bar at the top of the page will then follow you as you scroll down so you can always see your notifications.

And finally we come to notifications themselves. You can choose what items you prefer to contribute to a notification - unread followed threads, unread PMs, new friend requests and visitor messages. To make the notification icon behave like Touch simply ensure that the only box ticked is the Private Messages one. Again, this is adjustable on the Appearance Settings page.

Given that all the drawbacks you're pointing out are entirely down to your own personal customisation settings I'm still of the opinion we're already doing enough to highlight private messages on the site.

Danny

just do it

That's fine Danny and it is completely your remit. However I've no issue with my settings. I was using my settings for illustrative purposes only.

I posted originally because I felt others weren't necessarily spotting they've received PMs and was deducting it's possible to miss them on a PC. One lad in particular replied roughly a week after I'd sent it and said he'd only just spotted it. He had been active on boards in the intervening period.