Notify for all replies on boards?

[elr0y]

I would like members to receive notifications for topic replies when they are monitoring an entire board. Currently, members only receive e-mails for new topics when they are monitoring a board.

I didn't see a mod for this functionality, but see it exists in other forum software.

Is this functionality not ported from 1.x? Did I miss the mod or setting for this?

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Neorics]

I think there is no feature or mod to support that at the moment.

[Rumbaar]

Was this functionality in 1.1.x?  I'm sure if they are set to be notified via the whole board it would be only for new threads, in both 1.1.x and 2.x.

[owcommandpost]

I agree with Neorics.
I've not been able to find any option for enabling such subscriptions.
Would be nice to have,
if only for staff so they could better watch for spam posts across the entire forum.

[Rumbaar]

You can use the moderate boards feature a bit more in 2.x to help control spam.  Though the best way it is to stop them from registering.

[owcommandpost]

True Rumbaar,
However I found this on my forum this morning while researching this topic.
I'm running on SMF 2.0 RC1
At the top of each board there is a list of tabs.
1 of the tabs says "Notify"


Click it and a confirmation box will open which reads like the screen shot below

click OK and voila! you're subscribed to the board you've selected
I just completed a test run and I DID get a notification via email about the newly posted topic in a board I was subscribed to!

[Rumbaar]

Yes but you will still not normally received multiple e-mails from the same thread after the first post until you visit again.

[owcommandpost]

True I think that using this feature is best suited for staff members if they are regular contributers and log in most everyday.
Of course general members could also use it though I'm not sure how it would best serve them unless they just want to know when
new posts are made in a favorite board of theirs?

[greyknight17]

elr0y, is this issue resolved now? As mentioned this is not a feature of SMF where you can subscribe to all the boards automatically and get email notification of every new post and topic.

[Ian S]

... where you can subscribe to all the boards automatically and get email notification of every new post and topic.

I think that this would be a v useful feature - a single option "received notification of all posts" with option to have message attached. Some other boards have this and some of my forum members have requested it.

Ian

[青山 素子]

I think that this would be a v useful feature - a single option "received notification of all posts" with option to have message attached.

Having the option to have an e-mail sent to every single member for every single post would quickly get those that used it kicked off their hosts for the volume of mail it would cause to be generated. Perhaps a mailing list would be a better option for your use.

For those members that want that kind of volume, SMF provides RSS support so you get notified on new posts.

[owcommandpost]

Having the option to have an e-mail sent to every single member for every single post would quickly get those that used it kicked off their hosts for the volume of mail it would cause to be generated. Perhaps a mailing list would be a better option for your use.

"Option "
is the keyword here.
Even though you have the feature availible
that is no guarentee that every member would use it.
In fact most probably wouldn't but,
it would be most useful as a staff option so mods and admins would readily know when new post(s) are made on the forum.
JMHO

[Rumbaar]

Those that want it do have the option, just have to click notify for each and every board.  But after the first e-mail of the same thread it would wait until you've visited again before sending any new notifications of that thread.

[metal450]

I think that this would be a v useful feature - a single option "received notification of all posts" with option to have message attached.

To me, this is an absolutely crucial feature and one of the only things that's keeping me away from SMF.  I have a private forum that's used exclusively by a small group of 4 or 5 business partners, in lieu of email.  So, rather than sending information back and forth (CC'ing everyone else), we just post to the board - and anytime anyone posts all 5 of us see it, as if it were email.  Without proper notification functionality, SMF can't really be used this way.  See below...

But after the first e-mail of the same thread it would wait until you've visited again before sending any new notifications of that thread.

So what if you want to be kept in the loop without coming to visit the site all the time?  Or what if you get notification of a reply that ISNT pertinent to you, but then miss the next reply that is - because the forum only notified you of the first.  You'd never even know you missed something important.

Those that want it do have the option, just have to click notify for each and every board.

That's not really an option because it's so prone to error.  What if one person forgets to click on one topic?  They'd accidentally miss all the information there until they visit the site to post something themselves, hopefully noticing the topic they'd missed.  But what if that person is more of a passive reader than a poster?  Making them visit the site and click "notify" over and over isn't really a good solution.  I personally know many people who are busy enough that, if it wasn't presented to them in their inbox, they probably just wouldn't bother.

So again, the purpose of automatic notification has been defeated.  Users really should be able to "sign up" to a forum, just like a mailing list, and get all the information there.  When you sign up for a mailing list they don't often say "we'll just send you one month's newsletter, and no more until you visit our site, and any time we release a new product line you have to specifically ask to be notified of those types of products."  It just wouldn't be good business.

Personally, I've already got a solution that works for me, but would be more than happy to switch over to SMF were this properly implemented.

[青山 素子]

To me, this is an absolutely crucial feature and one of the only things that's keeping me away from SMF.  I have a private forum that's used exclusively by a small group of 4 or 5 business partners, in lieu of email.  So, rather than sending information back and forth (CC'ing everyone else), we just post to the board - and anytime anyone posts all 5 of us see it, as if it were email.  Without proper notification functionality, SMF can't really be used this way.

Why do you want to use SMF as a mailing list? That's what mailing lists are designed for. (Single address to send to, multiple recipients, option for online archive, threading support for threading-capable e-mail applications, etc)

I mean, SMF is great and all, but your needs are better suited to a different kind of application than a forum.

So again, the purpose of automatic notification has been defeated.  Users really should be able to "sign up" to a forum, just like a mailing list, and get all the information there.  When you sign up for a mailing list they don't often say "we'll just send you one month's newsletter, and no more until you visit our site, and any time we release a new product line you have to specifically ask to be notified of those types of products."  It just wouldn't be good business.

A forum isn't a mailing list. To expect it to behave like one is like expecting a dog to behave like a fish - they might both be animals, but they are very different from each other.

If you have a dedicated server somewhere, look at GNU Mailman. It will fit the needs you described above. If that isn't possible, there are quite a few providers of private mailing list services you can look at.

[metal450]

Why do you want to use SMF as a mailing list? That's what mailing lists are designed for. (Single address to send to, multiple recipients, option for online archive, threading support for threading-capable e-mail applications, etc)

I do see your point, but on the other hand, I don't see a reason not to have an option to subscribe to a forum and all of its content.  You can already subscribe to a forum such that you get notified of new topics.  And you can subscribe to a topic so you get notified of new replies.  So why not simply have an option where a user can subscribe to a forum, and anytime a new topic is created, they're subscribed to that too?  I haven't looked at the source, but it seems like it'd be very trivial to implement...so why not offer it, if even just a few users would find it useful?

(And chances are if a few people bothered to comment about it here, there are probably countless more who would also like it.)

A forum isn't a mailing list. To expect it to behave like one is like expecting a dog to behave like a fish - they might both be animals, but they are very different from each other.

Okay, so maybe the newsletter wasn't the best example   But in any case, my opinion does stand.  SMF provides exactly everything I could want, with the sole exception of allowing users the ability to be subscribed "completely" to a forum (that is, to be notified of everything written within it).  It gives a neat, topic-organized account of parallel conversations, with the ability to add and remove access by users and groups.  I can have different forums for different projects, where only the people involved can get in.  It facilitates quick and easy searching.  I can go back and revise topics later if more information becomes available.  The ONLY thing it doesn't do is give me the ability to allow "members of a certain forum" (for lack of a better word) to be always updated of what's going on in that forum.  Thus, the users themselves must be responsible to check back constantly.  This is not always the desired behavior.

Here's an example of the mod that allows this functionality in phpBB: hxxp:www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopic.php?f=70&t=560271 [nonactive]  Personally, I like SMF's clean interface MUCH, much better than phpBB. I just wish it had that feature.

[metal450]

I guess you still don't feel this is something worthwhile to provide.  Shame.

I couldn't help but notice this thread also has more than 1,600 views.  To me that means quite a few people other than myself and those who've posted here are at least somewhat interested in having it. 

Just food for thought.

[青山 素子]

I guess you still don't feel this is something worthwhile to provide.  Shame.

2.0 is way too far along in the development cycle to even add this feature if we wanted to. It would have to wait for the next release after the 2.0 series at minimum.

I couldn't help but notice this thread also has more than 1,600 views.  To me that means quite a few people other than myself and those who've posted here are at least somewhat interested in having it.

It could be because the topic isn't marked solved and it's in a support board. Our support people routinely check unsolved topics.


But, back on the topic, there are quite a few disadvantages I can see to even doing this. First, you'll quickly run into problems with major mail services and ISPs blocking your incoming mail. Good luck getting your hosting company to contact them all about that. Second, it's hideously resource-intensive. On a somewhat moderately busy board, you'd need to throw a lot of hardware in the mix to create the e-mails and send them out. I suppose you could have a dedicated outgoing server, but that's extra hardware to pay for then. Folks on shared hosting would be hit even worse perhaps as many shared hosts have a cap on how many outgoing mail messages are allowed per day.

I suppose it's an idea, and perhaps even a valid use. However, that still doesn't negate the fact that SMF isn't mailing list software, it's a web forum.

[metal450]

2.0 is way too far along in the development cycle to even add this feature if we wanted to. It would have to wait for the next release after the 2.0 series at minimum.

Aha.  Well, would it be something relatively simple for me to hack in myself then (in 1.x, temporarily)?  Again, without having looked into the source, based on the fact that both new-topic notifications and existing-topic-new-reply notifications exist it seems like it'd be fairly painless to make it so that notified new topics always get their posts set to notify as well?  Or am I way off?

there are quite a few disadvantages I can see to even doing this. First, you'll quickly run into problems with major mail services and ISPs blocking your incoming mail. Good luck getting your hosting company to contact them all about that. Second, it's hideously resource-intensive. On a somewhat moderately busy board, you'd need to throw a lot of hardware in the mix to create the e-mails and send them out.

I absolutely agree - on a moderately busy forum, this would likely be a foolish option to enable.  However, there could be situations - like mine - in which such an option COULD be useful, and not suffer from the issues you mention (small, closely-knit, private boards).

Another perfect example just came to mind: a few years ago I worked at a small game development company (~10 employees).  They had internal webboards where they discussed product ideas, policy changes, etc.  Although the management was constantly telling everyone to be sure to check the boards daily, people often wouldn't bother - and would miss important info.  Given the ability to set everyone to "notify-all", each post would mean 10 emails sent - and everyone kept in the loop - while still providing all the nifty advantages that a webboard has over regular mailing lists.

(Again, you might argue that a mailing list would be a more suitable application for such a situation.  Maybe.  But webboards do offer a much cleaner, thread-organized, user-access-enabled, attachment-supporting, centralized venue for such discussions - which is why they used them in the first place.  If only they had a way to make certain those 10 people received all the new information therein...)

Yep, for large, public boards, it would make little sense to enable.  But for smallish private ones, I can see many benefits

[phaeth]

Don't know why this doesn't receive more support from the creators of SMF. 

This topic has over 10,000 views on the phpBB boards.  With only 60 some posts. 

Granted that some would check it a few times while waiting for a response, it would be grossly overstated that those participants would equate to as much as 1,000 views.  However, for the sake of argument, lets assume it did equate to 1,000 views by staff and posting contributors.  That means 9,000 views are by those searching for just this option.

Where as most other features (before they became a feature and were mods), received an average of 5,000 views.  The most seeing as much as 30,000 views (high demand) and others seeing as little as a few hundred views.    The difference in views between high demand and common interest being about 15,000 views.  To clarify:  The features that had common demand had 15,000 views less than high demand features--there was not much, if at all, an inbetween-----high demand features quickly jumped the 15,000 that marked the difference.

In summary, this topic has much more common interest than what is thought by developers.  The amount of attention given to the topic is not parallel to the attention that is asked by the users.

====On a side note:
Although forums are not mailing lists and likewise mailing lists are not forums, however, it serves with great purpose to combine the two to make a new and stronger product especially when it is asked for in demand.  Some things are not so quickly to see that they should be combined such as cookies and cream...but when done so a great product is born.  Such a thing is created by requiring much imagination, one in such a situation could only hope that what he is looking to create lies before him to make the imagination part less stressful in the hopes of it having any demand at all.  In this thread's example, this man would be so eager to put together what is being asked to be combined--it takes the guess work out of it and is a guaranteed hit!

Mailing lists lack the ability to refer back to (in one place) multiple topics by multiple people--The organization of threaded conversations amongst several topics in the same category. 

Forums lack the ability to automate the task of having to GO TO and retrieve ORGANIZED data that we wish were automatically given to us when we asked for such information to be forwarded as it became available.

Combine the above two together and an instant hit is created.  It may not serve it's purpose by all users, but then again not everyone likes cookies and cream, rather, they prefer peaches and cream or perhaps better yet something entirely different... opinions are like noses in that everyone has one, but everyone loves to smell (albeit different scents).

I talk too much.

TLDR, blah blah blah