Couple Private Message Ideas

[Aoshi]

Not sure if anyone will like these two ideas but I think it would make SMF truly unique and could be very useful.

My first idea is to have some sort of private message chat room. A member creates a room and invites other members. It's like any other chat room, except each message is just a private message. In essence, it's just a member sending the private message to all the members in the chat room and the replies are also sent to all the members of that chat room. Could be useful for private conversations that involve more than 2 people.

The next idea which goes along very nicely with the above one is a 'split to private messages' option that a moderator can do. When the thread goes off topic into personal matters between a few members, a moderator can split off that part into private messages between the members involved.


I dunno, just some crazy thinking on my part.

[Tyris]

interesting ideas... and I like to a degree... but I reckon without out it being to a degree real time... not many users would use it... I mean PM'ing between 2 people is fine... but once there are more people, there would be too many messages, that would arrive whilst you're writing one etc...
A chat room mod with user creatable private rooms (that auto-PM's to invite users) would be kinda cool...
Maybe private topics... that'd work pretty coolish... (mod mod)

[Anguz]

the first part, you can more or less do, with multiple recipients

the second part you can't yet, but I like it, dunno how easily it'd fit with the way IM's are handled now though... although you can still tell them to not go off-topic in the thread

[nil]

The first idea sounds cool and is in essence just a private chat room.  I agree with Tyris that a chat room mod would be good.  I also think that with that it would lessen the amount of off topic discusions in threads.

[Acf]

How would you moderate that?? members starting a warez board behind your back...

[nil]

That could happen anyway.  And can't moderators view PMs?

[[Unknown]]

No, they cannot.

-[Unknown]

[nil]

oh. Is that a good thing?

[Ben_S]

Its called privacy, there no reason for mod/admins to be nost at other members PM's

[morph]

I know there was a mod for admins to view the PM's of other members but I didn't really like the idea of it.

[Tom]

Its called privacy, there no reason for mod/admins to be nost at other members PM's

nost?

I just dump the DB and take a look. I accidently noticed it at first, but after I did I was VERY suprised. Users that I trused were doing warez for the very programs that we make. There were many users involved. It was quite dissappointing. If you haven't ever looked though the Personal Message's, IMO you should. When poeple try to screw you over on your very own site, then they forefit their privacy.

[Aoshi]

nost > nosy

I don't want to get into the issue of privacy. It's just not an issue that everyone can agree on.

[Tom]

Ah, sorry. Thats just one thing that happened on my forum are really made me mad. So many trusted users... 

[eFishie]

I would actually like seeing member's IMs. But it would be best as a member-specific property.

[morph]

Heh, well you could slip in a line in the agreement saying "We reserve the right to view any information posted on this site including private messages" blah blah and so on. That's if you want to be all technical

[[Unknown]]

I think it's wrong and I personally will not write an interface to allow you to easily view other's messages without doing it yourself through phpMyAdmin, etc.

-[Unknown]

[eFishie]

Cool, can someone make this a mod?

[David]

Considering I am legally reasponsible for ALL of the content on my server I do not oppose the ability to view member's messages.  This doesn't mean I make it a regular experience of browsing through them.  Think I have only looked at the messages once or twice in close to two years.  Every now and then there comes a situation that warrents it.