Are you receiving email notifications for private messages?

Send me a test message, I have it enabled.

(Oh, and by the way, I hate Indian Mynahs :rage:

Quoting Wayfarer

Send me a test message, I have it enabled

The members who reported this problem are receiving email notifications for PMs sent by me, but not for those sent by others, so I can’t check if this is a general problem by sending a PM from my own account.

Quoting Wayfarer

Oh, and by the way, I hate Indian Mynahs

It’s weird how many Australians have said the same thing since I became a myna-enthusiast. Americans are the same with the European starling. They’re amazing birds, and your hatred is sublimated xenophobia. (I’m half joking, so don’t take offence. Only half though)

Blame the idiots who introduced them.

I first noticed them when I was still living at home with my folks. An invasive species in Australia. They’re super-smart, real scrappers, aggressive, who will generally prevail over everything in their ecological niche. At the last house I lived, there was an Australian native species with the homonym ‘miner’, a honeyeater, which were sufficiently prolific to keep the Indian Mynahs at bay. I’ve since moved out of the greater Sydney area and disappointingly they are quite prolific hereabouts. They bring down the neighbourhood.

Reply to Wayfarer Definitely sublimated xenophobia.

But you’ve given me an idea for a discussion about wildlife nationalism, something I’ve always found weird.

Reply to Jamal Are they common where you live? (I know it's completely disconnected to the thread, but anyway....)

Reply to Wayfarer I’m currently in Kazakhstan and they’re native here, filling the same niche as their relative, the European starling, does in Europe. They hang about outside where I’m working, demonstrating their impressive mimicry.

Back to the topic: if people can send PMs among themselves to test this, I’d be grateful.

@Wayfarer @Jamal

Sent one to each of you.

Reply to fdrake I didn't have it turned on for myself. I do now if you want to send another.

I have received one private message from @unenlightened and it doesn't pop up in the email either.

It seems like it only appears when it is your the one who writes us, @Jamal

Reply to javi2541997 Thanks. I'll wait a while to see if anyone else has more to say about it, then I'll send an email to support. They usually respond quickly.

Reply to Jamal
Hello Jamal and co,

I did get one, but none afterwards. And haven't changed any settings.

Not sure this is relevant, but I also forward all mails from rhephilosophyforum to a named folder, but this specific mail landed in rhe junk-mail, and somehow it got deleted when I tried to move it. :scream:
Paranornal activity... :scream:
I'm a subscriber, so I demand you save me first! :*fidget fidget fidget --- panic!* :scream:

NB: The facts are true.

Jokingly and kindly,
Caerulea-Lawrence

Reply to Caerulea-Lawrence Thank you for adding more complexity to the problem. :wink:

Your email platform’s classification of the email as spam might be to do with the fact that the domain doesn’t have a DMARC record published, in which case I’ll need to fix that myself rather than getting PlushForums to do it.

Maybe that’s causing the other problems, but it doesn’t account for the fact that people are notified about messages from me but not about those from others.

It's working fine for me.

@Alkis Piskas @javi2541997

I just sent an email to PlushForums support:

A few of our members on thephilosophyforum.com have said that they're not receiving email notifications for private messages, although they are still receiving them for other things. Some of them are saying they receive such notifications for PMs sent by me, but not for PMs sent by others. None of this makes sense to me except maybe that their email platforms are sometimes classifying the emails as junk or rejecting them, and other times not, seemingly randomly.

What do you think?

Quoting Jamal

’m currently in Kazakhstan and they’re native here, filling the same niche as their relative, the European starling, does in Europe. They hang about outside where I’m working, demonstrating their impressive mimicry.

When I was a kid living in Epping, a Sydney suburb, it was Starlings, no Mynas. The Starlings were supplanted by Mynas, and I never saw Starlings again.

Reply to Janus I just learned that both were recklessly introduced to Australia around the same time in the mid-19th century. Your evidence suggests that mynas have the edge over their European cousins. Why can't they all just get along? Families eh.

Reply to Jamal Thank you so much for your effort to work this out. I like the message, now it is time to wait for PlushForums support's answer.
For the moment, you have won a bottle of Andalusian olive oil. :blush:

Reply to Jamal It's possible the dominance is regional and shifting. Perhaps starling still predominate in some areas. It's an interesting subject I may researvh when time allows. A friend used to refer to mynas as "the mafiosa of the ird world" . They owned the rubbish tips until the "bin chickens" (white ibis) made it a duopoly.

Reply to javi2541997 Great! I'll pick it up next time I'm there.

Reply to Janus

[quote=K. M. Haythorpe, D. Sulikowski & D. Burke (2012), Relative levels of food aggression displayed by Common Mynas when foraging with other bird species in suburbia]Overall, the findings suggest that Common Mynas do not display more food-related aggression than other species in suburban habitats, suggesting that competitive aggression over food is not likely to be one of the behavioural traits leading to the success of Common Mynas in suburban habitats.[/quote]

@Alkis Piskas @javi2541997

The response from PlushForums:

It would seem unlikely for some emails to be received and others not, unless the receiving mail server was unreliable or being throttled, which can happen.

Perhaps it's a misunderstanding of when notifications about PMs are sent. They're sent when a conversation is started, primarily. Users also have the option of being notified about updates to bookmarked conversations, assuming that conversation has been read and therefore the new message is "fresh".

Perhaps the next time a user reports such a case, send us the specifics (email address, approximate time, expected reason for the notification), we will comb through the email logs.

He later clarified that notifications about PMs are sent only...

• When a conversation is started
• When a bookmarked conversation is updated, assuming it has been read, and the user has this option enabled

So if you haven't bookmarked a conversation, you won't receive notifications of new replies. This dissolves the problem, I think (on the assumption that the messages you weren't notified about were updates to an existing conversation).

NOTE: To bookmark a conversation, toggle on the star icon at the bottom.

Quoting Jamal

So if you haven't bookmarked a conversation, you won't receive notifications of new replies. This dissolves the problem, I think

Ok, clear and understood. I bookmarked our conversation and clicked on getting notified when a bookmarked conversation is updated. I guess it will work out now.

Reply to Jamal Interesting thanks.

Reply to Jamal
Yes, that's correct. That's what's happening.

@Jamal The problem has been fixed. I followed the path to setting up bookmarked conversations, and yes, I got notified in the email that Alkis Piskas wrote me a private message. :up:

cc: @javi2541997

Quoting Jamal

It would seem unlikely for some emails to be received and others not, unless the receiving mail server was unreliable or being throttled, which can happen.

Does this mean that my mail server (receiver) is unreliable? Javi's too?
But that's why I suggested to ask other members too. I can't do that. You only can.

Quoting Jamal

They're sent when a conversation is started, primarily

What does this mean exactly? When does a conversation start?

Quoting Jamal

Perhaps the next time a user reports such a case, send us the specifics (email address, approximate time, expected reason for the notification), we will comb through the email logs.

I don't think this is legal. It's a privacy violation.

Quoting Jamal

So if you haven't bookmarked a conversation, you won't receive notifications of new replies.

But I had not "bookmarked" anything when I received a notification about your PM, twice or more times

Quoting Jamal

This dissolves the problem,

What do you mean by "dissolves"?

Quoting Jamal

To bookmark a conversation, toggle on the star icon at the bottom.

Thanks. I didn't know about that.

The last message I’ve got was from Michael if I’ve received any more it’s not showing up

Reply to Alkis Piskas

An odd post Alkis, but I'll assume you've written it in good faith.

As my post made clear, the problem is dissolved, which means that we have discovered that there was no problem in the first place, except that we didn't know how the system works. Now we do. Read on while I explain it again...

Notifications about PMs are sent only...

• When a conversation is started [i.e., when a PM is first sent to you at the beginning of a private conversation]
• When a bookmarked conversation is updated [i.e, new messages are sent in the conversation], assuming it has been read, and the user has this option enabled

So if you haven't bookmarked a conversation, you won't receive notifications of new replies.

So, to receive notifications for all PMs including updates/replies, be sure to bookmark your conversations and check the checkbox labelled "Email when my bookmarks have new comments".

Quoting Alkis Piskas

Does this mean that my mail server (receiver) is unreliable? Javi's too?

No, ignore that. He only suggested that as a possible cause, but it's clear that the problem was just our expectation that updates/replies to a conversation trigger email notifications.

Quoting Alkis Piskas

I don't think this is legal. It's a privacy violation.

Not true, but it's irrelevant, because we won't be asking him to do that.

Quoting Alkis Piskas

But I had not "bookmarked" anything when I received a notification about your PM, twice or more times

That's because that PM was the initial PM of a conversation, rather than a reply/update to an existing one.

Quoting Jamal

An odd post Alkis, but I'll assume you've written it in good faith.

You mean, the "cc"? Yes, I improvised a little ... I didn't know where and how else else to indicate that! :grin:

Quoting Jamal

As my post made clear, the problem is dissolved...

I see. OK.

Quoting Jamal

So if you haven't bookmarked a conversation, you won't receive notifications of new replies

You mean that you "bookmarked" have both conversations you have started with me, right. Yet, the star ("bookmark") seems not to have been clicked (it's not black).

On the other hand, @javi2541997 told me a few hours ago in a PM that, I qute, "It actually works because I have been notified in my email your answer.", even if the conversation was not "bookmarked".

Quoting Jamal

check the checkbox labelled "Email when my bookmarks have new comments".

As I have already told you, I have all 4 options selected, since day one and have never chenged them.
Which brings me to another point: just the option "Email when I receive private messages" should do the job (independently of "bookmarks").

So, based on the above two remarks, "bookmarks" do not seem to work or at least not consistently ...

Quoting Jamal

I don't think this is legal. It's a privacy violation.
— Alkis Piskas
Not true, but it's irrelevant, because we won't be asking him to do that.

Question to ChatGPT: "Is it an invasion of privacy to give out someone’s email address without asking permission first?"
Reply: "Yes, giving out someone's email address without their permission can be considered an invasion of privacy. Email addresses are a form of personal information that individuals often consider private, and disclosing it without their consent could potentially lead to unwanted messages, spam, or even harassment."

"Using someone's address without permission is illegal."
(https://www.dakotapost.net/blog/what-to-do-if-someone-is-using-your-address-illegally)

"The Computer Misuse Act 1990 makes accessing online accounts and computer systems without authorisation a criminal offence."
(https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/unauthorised-access-to-online-accounts-and-personal-data/call-for-information-unauthorised-access-to-online-accounts-and-personal-data)

Quoting Alkis Piskas

So, based on the above two remarks, "bookmarks" do not seem to work or at least not consistently

They do work. The issue is dealt with.

Quoting Alkis Piskas

Is it an invasion of privacy to give out someone’s email address without asking permission first?

Who said anything about giving out email addresses?

I’ll answer that question, because I have no intention of discussing it: nobody did.

Quoting Jamal

Who said anything about giving out email addresses?
I’ll answer that question, because I have no intention of discussing it: nobody did.

Not that it's important, but my comment regarded PlushForums (administration), not you, since I know that you wouldn't do such a thing. (Re: you mentioned that PlushForums responded --among other things-- with "Perhaps the next time a user reports such a case, send us the specifics (email address, approximate time, expected reason for the notification), we will comb through the email logs.")

But let's drop this out of the window.
What's much more important --actually, the news of the day!-- is that I made PM notifications work (for me too):
1) I started a new conversation with @javi2541997 and clicked on the star ("bookmark"). I received a PM notification email.
2) I have also received (earlier) a PM notification email regarding a non-bookmarked conversation that I "bookmarked" a long time after it had started.

So I guess, that the conversation must be bookmarked at start seems not to be a prerequisite.

***

Everything is OK now. Thank you very much for your help! :up:

Quoting Alkis Piskas

Not that it's important, but you mentioned that PlushForums responded --among other things-- with "Perhaps the next time a user reports such a case, send us the specifics (email address, approximate time, expected reason for the notification), we will comb through the email logs."

He works for PlushForums, so he already has access to all the email addresses, because members of this forum signed up to a PlushForums forum. He nicely offered to do something extremely tedious to help solve this non-existent problem. Email addresses are not shared or used in any way outside of TPF/PlushForums.

Reply to Wayfarer @Jamal aka mynah bird... Per your question, I am pretty sure that I have failed to receive email alerts for the last 3 PMs in my inbox (over the last month). I used to receive email alerts before.

With reference to starlings: "The birds were intentionally released by a group who wanted America to have all the birds that Shakespeare ever mentioned. It took several tries, but eventually the population took off. Today, more than 200 million European Starlings range from Alaska to Mexico, and many people consider them pests."

For god's sake, importing alien species merely as literary decoration is just not acceptable.

A number of serious invasive species have arrived by accident in shipping containers of various kinds. The seemingly innocuous European earthworm (a longer, fatter worm than native North American earth worms) are causing problems in forested areas because they eat all of the leaf litter on the ground, which facilitates soil loss when it rains, and changes the ecology of the forest. It took the worms roughly 75 to 100 years to work their way out of farming areas into the northern hardwood forests, crawling along like worms do. (We call them nightcrawlers; they're good bait for fishing.)

The gypsy moth, emerald ash borer, and various other plants and animals have caused lots of problems--like deforestation--because they have no predators in this hemisphere. A Japanese lady bug was introduced (deliberately) to eat aphids on soybeans. They do that really well, but in the fall they start looking for winter quarters (that would be our houses). They have a bitter odor, and they leave spots on outside walls (never mind them getting inside).

Florida is dealing with pythons and other large invasive snakes that people have dumped in the swamps.

Reply to Jamal
Fine. Thank you.
:up: