Private Threads INSTEAD of PM's

[falkers]

I'm for this also, strange it hasn't already been done if you ask me :)

[Alk]

While I am not an IPS Customer like the others, and so I don't use IPB v2.1 :"> I would like to see this feature too. :) Although I can't have it myself, :P I thought I'd put my post in anyway. :D I use the PM system about 2-5 times a day, and often they are repetitive replies. It gets very messy, and extremely difficult to follow. In fact, the replies to the PM go on so much that I often find myself having to remove the "older" quotes, leaving the most recent, that I am directly replying to, remaining. I don't use the PM for general chatter either, as I don't have the time or interest for that, but I use it for informing my staff. I'm sure many people asking for this feature are in the same situation. Often PMs turn into discussions. This is where you need the private threads...

I propose a slight change though; that is, to have 2 systems. PM and Private Topics. My reason is because mostly all the BBs have PM, so to cut this out would be a disadvantage to IPB. However, having private topics would be a huge advantage to IPB. So, I think there should be a choice. For example, when writing the message, you have the option of creating it as a private topic (from which point you are given the URL or you are redirected and a link is sent to the recipient) or sending it as a PM, using a drop down box. This way, less changes are made to the layout. You press one button to privately contact them, and you get a choice after writing the message. The choice will allow the author to decide, "is this a one-off Private message a message or will it be a private discussion?". Hence, need for 2 systems. Besides, the actual writing of the PM, it's exactly the same as writing a post. In fact, they are almost the same screens. I hope you see my point and it's not completely silly. :ermm:

P.S. Love the new post screens for IPB v1.2. I preferred vB because of them, however, IPB 2.1 changes your mind. ;) Never seen the facility to "move" words either, very clever and useful. Well done. :thumbsup:

[damien245uk]

Yeah, I agree - I do actually think it would be best all round to have both systems and (hopefully) integrate them such that board admins can enable either, both or neither as they see fit.

One main problem I can see with actually replacing the PM system with private threads is that some admins would probably prefer to stick with the PM system for one reason or another - having both would cater for this.

[smashIt]

as i see it with normal pms you only see one single post of the private thread

[Alk]

Yeah, I agree - I do actually think it would be best all round to have [b]both[/b] systems and (hopefully) integrate them such that board admins can enable either, both or neither as they see fit.

One main problem I can see with actually replacing the PM system with private threads is that some admins would probably prefer to stick with the PM system for one reason or another - having both would cater for this.

Precisely. It would be a bad thing for IPB if they replaced it. IPB would be on the sideline if an Admin wanted the PM system like all the other BBs have. It would single IPB out against loads and loads of BBs, not just phpbb for example. What I'm saying is it would be a major thing. :P I like the Admin CP idea you have too. Very appropiate. :thumbsup:

as i see it with normal pms you only see one single post of the private thread

If I understand you correctly, my answer is no. It keeps on quoting. You end up getting 7 quotes within quotes. :lol:

[Dream On]

This is A a Very good and better PM System then the one we have our community is very larg and we need this feature it is easy and better

[Coder]

I also like the idea, but if your board had thousands of members it would be hard to find the couple ppl you wanted to see the thread.

[Wolfie]

I think the idea would be similar in fashion to using MSN messenger and including people into a chat.

You would already know who you are going to include, so you wouldn't necessarily be hunting through 50,000+ members.

[Michael P]

Passwordable topics? Dean has a Mod for that I think, thats also something I owuld like to see.

[Michael_C]

I think the best solution would be to keep the current PM system but make it work like a forum as has been suggested. It is easier said than done because of CC and forwarding but I think it would be possible.

[Keven Fox]

I like this but there is something I saw once at a vb site (a modification I think) which I wanted, it's similar to this but not quite the same.

What I saw was a forum where people could post a topic, but nobody could see the post at all except staff. I thought this was useful for many things including people reporting/explaining things for staff eyes only.

[Ankit]

I think the best solution would be to keep the current PM system but make it work like a forum as has been suggested. It is easier said than done because of CC and forwarding but I think it would be possible.

Right, that's what I was thinking. Instead of having to invite people, you just send the PM, and when they respond to the PM it becomes a thread. Instead of quotes within quotes, it'd just be reply posts. No need to invite anyone.

[//Nathan]

Yeah, I made this suggestion a while ago. Like the original poster, I've seen this in use on an Infopop board. That's one of two features that forum system has that I liked -- that and the floating FastReply iframe.

The invite thing lets you include more than one other person in the private topic. For example you could invite 5 people.

IMHO the best way to do it would be to have a "Private Topics" "Category" at the bottom of the forum. Only private topics you've started or have been invited to are listed. Like as far as the database/system is concerned, there is one category called Private Topics that has ALL of them, but each user can only see the ones their userID has been authorized to see.

Maybe if a broader feature were added in IPB where on a per-topic basis, you could ban a user. Each topic posted by members would be viewable by all (restricted by group permissions) but it would be possible to remove access by one or more members to a topic, and the private topics would work on the same system -- that instead of everyone having permission to see topics posted in the Private Topics category, only the members named by the topic starter would have permission.

[Wolfie]

I like this but there is something I saw once at a vb site (a modification I think) which I wanted, it's similar to this but not quite the same.

What I saw was a forum where people could post a topic, but nobody could see the post at all except staff. I thought this was useful for many things including people reporting/explaining things for staff eyes only.

For that, set a forum up where all posts require moderation approval.

I'd like for a per-forum setting to be available to control the default setting for who can see topics in the forums. ie, "All members can see all topics", "Members can only see their own topics", "Members cannot see any topics", but then per topic (and per post, of course), staff could change the setting, so a forum could be used for feedback only, feedback with dialog and so on. It would act just like the "hide/show" flag, except that it'd be like the next step for it. Like "Hide", "Show" and "Only show topics started by member".

Along the same lines, it'd be nice to have a setting where only moderators of a forum could start topics (as a fixed setting per forum that would be in addition to permissions). So a moderator of a forum could start a topic and then all those with permission could reply.

The invite thing lets you include more than one other person in the private topic. For example you could invite 5 people.

IMHO the best way to do it would be to have a "Private Topics" "Category" at the bottom of the forum. Only private topics you've started or have been invited to are listed. Like as far as the database/system is concerned, there is one category called Private Topics that has ALL of them, but each user can only see the ones their userID has been authorized to see.

I think it'd be better to have a "Private Topics" area, either directly or through the UserCP, or be able to set up a forum and through the admin CP, just like you can select which forum is the "Trash Can", you'd be able to say which forum is for "Private topics". Then set permissions on it.

Either way, the ability to add people in should be easy. Just have the memberID of each member invited to be part of the topic. However the original topic starter should be like the "person in charge", so that if they want to have a private conversation with 2 or 3 people, the others can't just randomly invite people who in turn randomly invite others, etc. The topic starter would have to agree to any invites wanting to be sent out, or send them out personally.

[Dream On]

Any Commants from Matt about this Feature ? :D

[Falling Down]

a suggestion: what if EVEY User had a own Forum on the Boardindex which only he/she can see. And inside insted of starting a new topic there would ba a "write pm" button.

>Any Commants from Matt about this Feature ?

He never commenst feature suggestions.

[John IV]

Totally Awesome Suggestion! +1

[Logan]

I agree that it wouldn't be a bad feature as long as there was a choice between the pm center or the "private threads" for private messaging.

[John IV]

I agree with Logan. :)

[//Nathan]

Well wouldn't both be redundant?

IMHO the PM system as is isn't very good. On a board with private topics, I'll use the feature a lot more. The PM system is really only good for sending quick messages... it's not very good for keeping a conversation. So really I guess it depends on whether you need a PM system for quick notes or for private conversation?

How about... Private topics... And quick notes. Quick notes would be like PMs, but they'd only be the notification. Limited to a small window, with a scroll bar, and buttons to close/delete and reply. The quick note appears at the top of the recipient's page, like the PM notification, but it's just a quick note. If you expect a reply, a conversation to stem from your note, you'd do a PM/private topic.

[Guest]

This sounds like an interesting concept, i think you'd still have to go to a separate 'PM Center' where you find these private topics though, I don't like the thought of having a personal category on the forum. :thumbsup:

[davgw]

Private topics is a nice idea, but if it is to replace the PM system then I can see a few snags looming.

At present (as users) we have space allocated for a set number of PMs. This is so that the database doesn't get filled with PMs that members are too lazy to remove. I mean, once the PM box is full, you're forced to delete some to make room for new ones. If the PMs are between a number of people, like topics, where does the space restriction come in? Also, at present, admins and moderators can't easily look at PMs (unless a modification is installed), so you'd have members using up finite space 'privately' with endless 'topics' that can't be deleted, that can't be moderated, and the concept falls over.

[Grant]

I would say it would be a little more like gmail. The PM-topic-thread would be a way to imitate gmails conversation ! I was thinking how we could have a smiliar feature than gmails conversation, but didn't thought the answer could be as simple.

Oh, and there comes again my old thoughts/hopes/dreams of IPS implementing an Webmail client... but yes this idea could make this implementing "a lot" easyer... this could be done similarly like RSS did facilitate the implementation of topic syncronisation across different forums... in our/this case entering emails could be saved as a post in the Email-forum

Add some ajax to make post collapsable, and there you have an InvisionGmail...

Ok, sure, it is harder to implement than to describe, but I have the impression this could be feasible. Wouldn't this be a nice addition to IPB and IP.dynamic ?

First of all you don't need AJAX to make the information collapseable. That would be the power of just plain javascript. AJAX = Talk to Database (correct me if im wrong.)

I LOVE THIS IDEA..

+100

I wonder why he didn't implement that a long while ago. Plus with the new and imporved AJAX system the PTM (Personal Thread Manager) could 'Pop' up with a message that says Someone has sent you a PMT(Personal Message Thread) Accept? They click yes they are redirected. They click No. The message disappears and the PMT is sent back to the origenal sender saying "Your thread was not accepted. We have returned the message to you"

Great Idea.

[damien245uk]

At present (as users) we have space allocated for a set number of PMs. This is so that the database doesn't get filled with PMs that members are too lazy to remove. I mean, once the PM box is full, you're forced to delete some to make room for new ones. If the PMs are between a number of people, like topics, where does the space restriction come in?

Surely you can restrict the number of posts just the same if you like? However, I think the best way to handle this would be to have the thread starter responsible for the thread in that they can delete it completely once it has served its purpose. PMs can already be between a number of people so it is just a case of slightly redefining the concept of space restrictions for the new implementation.

The private threads need not result in a completely new system, but a slightly different presentation of the existing one. Ideally, I think the behind the scenes code would be changed a little, but the main change is in presentation - people are already sending messages to one another (=posts) but have to have quotes in quotes in quotes to have a private conversation with one another about something.

At present you don't want a couple of members just starting a topic somewhere on your board to talk to one another about something, but at the same time telling them to use the PM system isn't that realistic in many circumstances as it only supports 'quick notes' as someone else has already renamed them - it is no good for conversations where each member posts 3/4 replies each.

I do however think that the multiple participant private topic idea should be scrapped - or at least the admin should be able to set the limit on the number of participants. Personally, I would only want to allow 2 of my members to hold a conversation in this way (perhaps 3 max.) to ensure that this isn't used instead of the main forums where it would probably be more appropriate.

Also, at present, admins and moderators can't easily look at PMs (unless a modification is installed), so you'd have members using up finite space 'privately' with endless 'topics' that can't be deleted, that can't be moderated, and the concept falls over.

PMs are not moderated at the moment - as you said, you can't see what is put in them without a mod. - the private thread system would not be any different so why does it suddenly require moderation??

However, whilst we're talking about this, I do think it would be useful to have more built-in snooping of PMs and/or their replacement feature. I know IPS have decided that revealing the content of them to admins is a breach of privacy and that is fair comment, but I would like to see the ability to see who has sent messages to who, and perhaps the titles of those messages. I would also like to be able to limit the number of messages each member can send (or perhaps the number of different members they can send to) within a time period (much as you can already do so with the emails).

My main concern with the PM system is that people sign up and then PM everyone on the board about their own site or advertising some other product etc. At present all we can do is turn PMs on/off for these users, but it would be great to be able to have more restrictions - perhaps even select which groups can PM which other groups (e.g. 'new member' group can only PM admins/mods). I also think you should be able to have an option to let a group receive/reply to PMs, but not create new ones (e.g. so admins can PM new members, and the new members can reply to them, but can't PM other board members unless a board member PMs them - is that clear?).

I'm sure I should've created about 5 more feature suggestion topics for this post, but at least they're all related to the PM system so still on topic yeah... :unsure: o:)

[Quillz]

I personally think the idea behind private messaging is fine. But, as Dark Reality said, it needs to be overhauled for 2.1. I don't really think "private topics" are that much different, and thus, wouldn't be very beneficial. Just my opinion, though.