Update for new feature just installed: Private Messaging

I have just released the code for the private messaging feature. When logged in you should see a Messaging link in the row of links at the top of all pages. Click on the reload or refresh link of your browser in order to load the new style settings that will cause the messaging pages to display correctly.Private messaging allows you to send messages directly to other members. It works pretty much like other browser-based email facilities.The Messaging link will blink every 10 seconds when new messages have been posted to your inbox since the last time you viewed it. When you have unread messages in your inbox this link will include their number between parentheses.When viewing the messages in a folder you can sort by each column heading by clicking on it. Clicking on it again reverses the direction of the sort.You can create new folders by clicking on the Add Folder link in the navigation bar on the left.I have changed some of the style properties for other areas of the board, so you may see minor changes in appearance here and there.Please post to this thread if you find problems or bugs or if you have suggestions.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Yes, and buddy lists, too. I'm looking for a better name than "buddy lists", suggestions welcome.AbE: A search facility is coming, too.Edited by Admin, : Change author.Edited by Admin, : Add additional piece of info.

All dBCodes for normal messages also work in Private Messaging.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

What browser are you using?

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Forgot to mention, default settings for the size of the message and private message boxes (the text boxes where you type your messages) now appear on your profile page. You can change these settings to anything you wish.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Regarding the overstrike problem on the PM folder column headings, I did see this problem the first time I viewed the PM page with IE8, but then I clicked the refresh button, and now I can no longer make it happen. If you're able to repeatedly reproduce this then just tell me the steps.About the failure to paint the entire page, I see this maybe once a week. If you're seeing it more often can you think of any sequence of things you do that might lead up to this?

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I see the problem but cannot make it happen on purpose. Please let me know if you see it again.Edited by Admin, : Grammar.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

See Message 1.Just giving this a bump since I released this during the holidays. I'll give it one more bump in a week or so, or when I release the Contact List enhancement.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

About 1, 2 and 3a, they're coming in the next update, whose primary feature is contact lists. Not sure when that will be, but not too long. It's mostly done, I'm currently ruminating about how best to integrate the dropdown for selecting names. As with houses, the finish work takes the longest.About 3b, I want to do this. It requires Ajax, which we already use, but it also requires some nifty dynamic menu coding, for which a great deal of code is implemented but not yet released as I haven't deemed it ready for prime time yet. I continue to think about how and whether I can deliver something reliable and solid in the short term.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I've just installed a software update for the first stage of implementation of contact lists. More functionality is coming soon, this version has these features:

• In the Private Messaging navigation bar there is now a "Contact Lists" heading under which will be listed your contact lists. Click on a contact list to see the contacts in the list. Initially, of course, you will have no contact lists.
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• Also in the navigation bar is an "Add Contact List" link. Click on it to add a contact list. A dialog window will pop up into which you can enter the name of the new contact list. Click "Go" or hit enter.
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• After creating a contact list you'll be taken to the Contact List page where you can add contacts. Click on the "Add Contacts" button. A dialog window will pop up into which you can enter the names of members, separated by commas. Click "Go" or hit enter.
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• To use a contacts list simply include it in the To, Cc or Bcc lists, but preceded with the at sign character: @. For example, if you have a contacts list called Friends, then to send a private message to your friends you would enter @Friends in the To list box.
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• There is one contact list that is automatically created for you. Each time you send a message, everyone on the distribution list is added to the "All Contacts" list. You can edit who is on this list, and you can even delete the list, though it will be created again the next time you send a message.

Next I will be adding links in a few handy places for sending private messages. For example, message posts will include a link for sending the author a private message.After that I will be making it possible to select names from contact lists for insertion in the To, Cc and Bcc lists.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

I've just installed a software update that provides links to send private messages in several convenient places:

• In the display of messages, a link to send an author a private message now appears with the rest of the author's information. Look for "Send Private Message" beneath the Member Rating and above the link for displaying only that member's posts.
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• On a member's thread list page, the "Send Private Message" link appears at the top of the page with the other member information. It appears beneath the profile and email links and above the post rate.
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• On a member's profile page, the "Send Private Message" link appears at the top left of the box of profile information.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

This should be fixed now.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

That was the original intention, obviously just a case of referencing the wrong variable. Easy to fix, thanks for catching this! Yes. I'll add this to the enhancement list. It also blinks every 10 seconds. Blinking is incredibly annoying to most people, that's why I chose a 10 second interval. Would a faster interval make it more noticeable without being annoying? Laziness is the mother of invention. If Heinlein didn't say it he should have.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

This is fixed.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director

Hi Stile,I've got good news and bad news.First the bad news. About name completion, not yet. I don't know when I'll get to it. Sorry.But now some good news. You can now select names from your contact lists into the "To", "Cc" and "Bcc" boxes. Anyone you've ever sent a message to is already in your "All Contacts" list. If you click on the "To" or "Cc" or "Bcc" links it will bring up a box with all the names from your "All Contacts" list. Just click on the names and they're added to the list of names already in the input box.You can select a different contact list. The last contact list selected is persistent. It will be the one selected the next time you click on the "To", "Cc" or "Bcc" link. Each link separately maintains which contact list is selected for it.

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--	Percy
	EvC Forum Director