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Furtopia services and support => suggestion box => Topic started by: Avan on August 08, 2010, 10:51:16 am

Title: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Avan on August 08, 2010, 10:51:16 am
I think SMF has an option that allows this.
It would be really useful, since I always forget.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Arbutus on August 08, 2010, 11:20:09 am
I'm guessing you mean in general, for all members, right? Hmm, we can certainly look into this. If it's possible, it'd just be a matter of changing a small setting or two.

Of course, automatically saving all PMs would take up a lot more space on the server, so it may or may not be worth it to do so.

In the meantime, though, anyone who wants their own individual messages to be saved can go to Profile > Personal Message Options and check "Save a copy of each Personal Message in my outbox by default." :)
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Avan on August 08, 2010, 11:34:20 am
 :o
Oh ok!
I never knew it existed for individual members!
XD thanks for telling me.

Though I must ask; how much space /would/ it take?
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Serra Belvoule on October 08, 2010, 02:18:52 pm
Maybe not all of them but have a limit of 5? I mean, I also think the outbox should have some more use ^^
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Cimarron on October 08, 2010, 03:59:04 pm
I agree... maybe have it save your last 5... I always forget if I replied to some of them... so I force myself to delete them as soon as I reply, and sometimes I end up deleting an address or phone number that I needed. 
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Arbutus on October 08, 2010, 04:05:03 pm
Forgot about this thread, sorry! I can try to check into it later...
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Serra Belvoule on October 08, 2010, 05:19:24 pm

Awesome! I will keep tabs on this thread :3
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Arbutus on November 03, 2010, 10:14:37 pm
Okay! This thread has now become a poll.

Basically, we took a look into this and figured out how to make everyone's sent PMs save to their outbox by default. Now the question is, should we do it? Please look at the question at the top of the thread and vote according to your opinion. Feel free to post with your comments as well.

We'll try to go along with all your wishes on this... but if we can't guarantee that changing this setting won't screw up other aspects of the member accounts, we won't be able to do it anyway.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Shim on November 03, 2010, 10:15:35 pm
I voted yes..I think it'd be nice.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Keydon on November 03, 2010, 10:53:57 pm
As someone else who always forgets, I think it would be nice for it to be the default.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: redyoshi49q on November 04, 2010, 03:57:11 am
I think saving outgoing messages by default is a good idea, primarily since new forum users are unlikely to realize that they need to check a box to save a copy of their message.  Also, automatically saved messages in the outbox can be subsequently deleted, whereas a sent message that was not saved is unlikely to be salvaged.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Landrav on November 04, 2010, 02:06:08 pm
I'm not sure if the admins were considering the "rolling" saved messages or what, but I think that would cause trouble as old but wanted messages fall off the end of th conveyor belt, as it were. Just making sure that got out there. Our mods are pretty smart though ;)

I am for this change, seeing as I was one of those who learned the hard way.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Kobuk on November 04, 2010, 03:44:58 pm
I guess I'm one of the few that thinks this is a bad idea. Sounds nice, but if the staff make this a permanent change, then how do we know it won't screw up some other function or feature of Furtopia?
Frankly, I feel members should decide for themselves how they want their PM system set up. Let each individual member decide for him or herself how they want to customise and configure their profile (Which the PM system is a part of.). It is not for the staff to decide or dictate that all of Furtopia's 6000+ members should accept a new change by default or for the staff to decide what is best for someone's profile/PM system. The only time the staff need to adjust someone's profile settings is if a rule is broken, name changes, password changes, etc. Otherwise, a member's profile/PM system is their own little private "sanctuary" so to speak and they can set it up however they want. All a member has to do is go into your Profile >>> Select "Personal Message Options" >>> then put check marks in the little white boxes of what you do or don't want. It's that simple! ;) If those little white boxes were not there, then I could possibly see the staff making a mass change by default. But since they are there in each and every member's profile, then let each member make their own individual choice on how they want their profile/PM system set up.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Yip on November 04, 2010, 05:02:02 pm
I'm gonna agree with Kobuk on this. Although I have no problem with it being on by default, I worry about whether it'll change things for people who've already set that how they want. So unless this change only effect new accounts, I think it's a bad idea.  It's easy enough to change if you want. AND even if you don't change it to save by default, when you send a message, there is a checkbox under the messagebox to specify whether you want the sent message saved.

My main question is: Is it possible to set it as on by default for new members going forward without effecting current members?

Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Arbutus on November 04, 2010, 07:37:32 pm
My main question is: Is it possible to set it as on by default for new members going forward without effecting current members?

Actually, yes, this is completely possible. Hmm... I don't want to reset the poll or add an option after this many people have already voted, but if anyone wants to comment on this alternative, feel free.



I'm not sure if the admins were considering the "rolling" saved messages or what, but I think that would cause trouble as old but wanted messages fall off the end of th conveyor belt, as it were. Just making sure that got out there. Our mods are pretty smart though ;)

This one, on the other hand, wouldn't be possible due to technical limitations.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Yip on November 04, 2010, 07:59:37 pm
I'm not sure if the admins were considering the "rolling" saved messages or what, but I think that would cause trouble as old but wanted messages fall off the end of th conveyor belt, as it were. Just making sure that got out there. Our mods are pretty smart though ;)

This one, on the other hand, wouldn't be possible due to technical limitations.
I recall there being something on the old board back when I joined, where the number of messages you could have saved was related to your member level. I remember hitting the top level (5 stars) would allow unlimited.  I don't think it works like that any more though. (and I'm not specifically suggesting it should. This is just FYI)
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Serra Belvoule on November 04, 2010, 09:07:46 pm
I voted on no for the default, since it's a change that some may not have requested and if this is something new being introduced, I think it'd be nicer to be able to opt in to this instead of having to pull out of something you didn't ask for.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Blastdav on November 04, 2010, 11:10:20 pm
I'm saying yes to it being the default for two reasons;
1.  I can't, at the moment, think of any logical reason why some one wouldn't want to have a copy of the message that they just wrote and sent, in their outbox.
2.  If you want to have a copy of the message put in your outbox and you don't have it set to do this as default, then you're kinda stuck if you forget to set it.  If however, for whatever reason, you don't want to have a copy sent to your outbox, then it doesn't take a second to go to your profile and untick this box here to remove the default setting.
(http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k181/blastdav/picture.png)

Quote
Sounds nice, but if the staff make this a permanent change, then how do we know it won't screw up some other function or feature of Furtopia?
It won't because we know what we're doing o.o  Now...  Are we cutting the red wire or the blue wire? =D

Quote
Frankly, I feel members should decide for themselves how they want their PM system set up. Let each individual member decide for him or herself how they want to customise and configure their profile (Which the PM system is a part of.).
You are absolutely right, and members still can decide if they don't want this option automatically being chcked or not by going and unticking it again in their profiles.  I see no removal of choice here.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Weisseman on November 04, 2010, 11:18:53 pm
I guess I'm one of the few that thinks this is a bad idea. Sounds nice, but if the staff make this a permanent change, then how do we know it won't screw up some other function or feature of Furtopia?


Kobuk. I've edited the forums base code more than once. That has a much higher chance of screwing up functions and features than changing a setting. You're worrying over nothing there :)
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Arbutus on November 04, 2010, 11:37:59 pm
You are absolutely right, and members still can decide if they don't want this option automatically being chcked or not by going and unticking it again in their profiles.  I see no removal of choice here.

I think this is a good point. Even if we make this change, everyone still gets the exact same level of choice, regardless. The default setting would just be different - and it would be different in a way that, honestly, makes more sense. (If we think of PMs as an internal email system, which is what it is, then what sort of email system doesn't automatically save its sent messages?)

Maybe this doesn't make a difference to tech-savvy users who have already gone poking around in their settings and checked the little box. But not everyone - and especially not newbies - is that familiar with how the forum works, and I think making the change would be the most useful option for all.


Also:

Quote
1.  I can't, at the moment, think of any logical reason why some one wouldn't want to have a copy of the message that they just wrote and sent, in their outbox.

This is my situation too. I guess I don't understand why anyone would choose not to enable this option if they knew it was there. It seems like even the people who have voted "no" in this poll have said that they already automatically save their messages, which suggests they find the feature useful.

If possible, I'd like to hear from someone who already knows they can have their sent messages saved automatically, but has chosen not to do so.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Blastdav on November 04, 2010, 11:45:01 pm
Quote
If possible, I'd like to hear from someone who already knows they can have their sent messages saved automatically, but has chosen not to do so.

Seconded o.o
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Serra Belvoule on November 05, 2010, 07:29:26 pm
Honestly, I was thinking more about space issues, but bleh.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Arbutus on November 11, 2010, 08:08:13 pm
Does anyone else have thoughts or votes on this issue? The poll is at 6 to 4 right now, so pretty ambiguous. In the interest of coming to a decision, we'll probably only leave the poll open until the weekend - so this is kind of last call.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Alsek on November 11, 2010, 08:35:10 pm
It's really easy for people who want it to set the feature... for everyone else who might not care either way,  it's a waste of space to store every PM ever sent.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Landrav on November 14, 2010, 12:52:55 pm
I think the main point here is the ease of "recovery" from a mistake.  If the default is set to "save all" then a person who didn't want that setting can easily rectify the situation by deleting an unwanted saved message, and switching the save setting.  If the default is "don't save" then recovery is impossible because, brother, that message is gone for good.

If my experience with PM's is anywhere near average, storage space shouldn't be an issue for a few lines of text, and if it's not, then people probably want to save these big messages they've invested time and effort into.  Seriously, if the staff were truly worried about storage space, the word games section would be the first thing to go.  And if storing this information "breaks" the forum, then I'd say you'd better move to new forum software right quick.

(EDIT) I forgot to mention that while the setting is easy enough to change, it is not necessarily obvious that it needs to be changed.  Better to make it an easily-correctable mistake like I said in my first paragraph.

That's just my assessment of the facts, not trying to be confrontational.  Ask for an opinion and you get ten :D  I think it's pretty clear that the greater advantage for the community would be to change the default setting.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Weisseman on November 14, 2010, 01:14:13 pm
I'd imagine the average PM will be less and 1 byte in size to store. Assuming a PM is 1 byte, to fill 1 gigabyte people would have to send over 1 billion messages to be stored.

Space is not an issue.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Serra Belvoule on November 14, 2010, 02:42:57 pm
Speaking of which, is there anything that works like the outbox in which if you sent a message wrong, you can edit it or delete it if it hasn't been read yet?
Because I've seen this on other forums and I think it's a nifty tool...
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Weisseman on November 14, 2010, 03:14:55 pm
This also appears to be something there is no Mod for  x_x
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Yip on November 14, 2010, 08:56:20 pm
I'd imagine the average PM will be less and 1 byte in size to store. Assuming a PM is 1 byte
1 byte? that must be some dang good compression. One byte is basically one character. Meaning this message (if not compressed) is probably about 350 bytes by itself.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Weisseman on November 14, 2010, 10:26:45 pm
A message of roughly 400 chars is about 500 bytes it seems (I dunno why I didn't test this before on my site >.>)

Therefore it's about 2.15 million messages per gigabyte.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Serra Belvoule on November 15, 2010, 09:22:06 pm
So is it still enough to be handled or not? X3
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Weisseman on November 15, 2010, 11:11:05 pm
Assume all 6027 members have sent 500 messages each (For arguments sake) That's about 3 million message. Double it since everyone will also save a copy. That's 6 million message. That's just under 3 Gigabytes of storage used.

I believe the server has 500 Gigabyte HD.

TL;DR Yes there's enough storage x3
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Alsek on November 16, 2010, 01:21:16 am
Assume all 6027 members have sent 500 messages each (For arguments sake) That's about 3 million message. Double it since everyone will also save a copy. That's 6 million message.

We need to get to work on that.   :o

So should we organize into teams or what?
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Avan on November 16, 2010, 10:53:31 pm
Oh wow. I totally forgot about this thread.

Yeah, if space is an issue, just have word games auto-prune old threads.

And I fail to see the impact of it causing problems for people who didn't have it on originally. Quite simply, it shouldn't have /any/ impact, and if it does, somebody is doing something seriously wrong (like burning a salad). Most people don't know that its not on by default, and thus would be rather annoyed as I was when they discover that it's /still/ not activated for them when it was for all the new people.
And since I apparently have the power to unlock the poll, I am going to inject my own vote into there too :D
Ok, never mind, I don't. But I still vote in favor of making it default.  >:(
(I mean, seriously. Why lock a poll like this? I don't get that...)
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Arbutus on November 16, 2010, 11:31:42 pm
Because I mentioned days ago that I was going to close it by the weekend. Please don't try to undo it, thanks, as you had several weeks to vote. We're already discussing the issue with the votes as they stand.
Title: Re: Sent PM's should save in outbox by default
Post by: Avan on November 17, 2010, 12:00:10 am
Technically, as the OP, I think that my vote should count. I mean, this was a dead thread that I thought I had had resolved, so I never came back to check  >:(


But still, why close the poll? Anyways, I think that the original poll was made with people not having all the facts (ie, size of messages is not an issue)