Options Manager -- Private Messaging

These options are set from the Other tab of the Options Manager interface.

Introduction to Private Messaging

Discussion boards thrive on the interaction between participants in a public environment. However, there are occasionally desires for participants to take discussions into private. The Discus Pro private messaging feature allows members to hold discussions off the forum by facilitating the sending of e-mail messages. It also ensures privacy, by allowing members to receive messages without ever revealing their e-mail address to the sender.

A board member starts the private message process by viewing the profile of the member to whom they wish to send the message. (The profile is linked from many places, including the user list and as a link under the author's name in posts.) When private messaging is enabled, an icon and link on the profile page allow the private messaging system to be accessed.

When one Discus Pro board member chooses to send a private message to another, the subject line as chosen in the private message form becomes the subject line of an e-mail message, and the text entered into the box becomes the text of the e-mail. Depending on your settings, the name and e-mail address of the sender can also be made into the "From" address on the e-mail message. This e-mail message is then sent to the recipient, without the sender ever learning of the recipient's e-mail address.

Private messaging is particularly useful in its ability to accommodate:

• Classified Ads/Personals: A message can be sent to an member in privacy, since the recipient never has to reveal their e-mail address to the sender.

• Member-to-member Discussion: Rather than starting up an e-mail program, pasting in the address, and so on, messaging is accomplished through the familiar web interface.

Configuring the Options

Enable private messaging (sending personal e-mail through board): This box must be checked in order to use the private messaging features. This places a link to send a private message on each member's profile page.

Always show sender's e-mail address within message: By default, the sender has the option to choose whether or not their own e-mail address will be included in the message. If this box is checked, the sender's e-mail address will always be included in the message.

Board administrator is not subject to private message limits: If checked, the board administrator will not be subject to any of the limitations on the number of private messages sent and received.

Display sender's IP in sent private messages: If checked, the IP address of the sender will be included within any private messages.

Display sender's full name rather than username at top of private messages: If checked, in the line that by default reads "Congratulations! You have received a private message from the following discussion board user:" will be followed by the full name, rather than the username, of the sender. This option is purely aesthetic in function.

Insert sender's e-mail address into message headers: If checked, private messages through your board will have the sender's e-mail address inserted as the "From" address. This is useful to prevent people from e-mailing you with their replies because they didn't read the instructions.

Do even if "Hide real e-mail address" preference is checked: By default, if a user has checked the profile feature to hide their e-mail address, their address will not be inserted into private message headers. If you check this option, their e-mail address will be inserted into private message headers anyway.

No more than __ consecutive message(s) per week without a reply from that user: This is a useful feature to prevent harassment. If checked and if a number is supplied, one member will not be able to send more than X messages per week to another member, without that member replying by private message. A good setting is 2.

At the bottom of the message, control how the usernames of the sender and recipient are displayed: Choose one of the options to control how the sender information will be displayed at the bottom of the message. Descriptions and examples are provided in the Options Manager interface itself.

Maximum message length: __ kB: Enter a number to limit the maximum size of messages sent through your board. A setting of 0 means that there is no limit. A good setting is in the 5-10 range, which will allow for a short message but will not run the risk of overwhelming the recipient with a huge message.

Limit messages sent per hour/day/week: Enter a number to limit the number of messages that a particular member can send per time period. In order to be able to send a message, a member cannot exceed their maximum from any of the time periods you configure (e.g., a member can't send more messages per hour than the limit, even if they are under the limit for the week). A setting of 0 means that there is no limit, but this is generally not a good idea.

Limit messages received per hour/day/week: Enter a number to limit the number of messages that a particular member can receive per time period. In order to be able to receive a message, a member cannot exceed their maximum from any of the time periods you configure (e.g., a member can't receive more messages per hour than the limit, even if they are under the limit for the week). A setting of 0 means that there is no limit, which for this setting is generally the best choice.

View Private Messaging Log: Click this link to spawn a new window with a record of all messages sent within the last week. You can filter the log by sender or recipient by entering a username into the appropriate box and clicking the "Filter Log Entries" box. Or, you can filter by date by choosing an option from the drop-down box.