Website issue/glitch/eccentricity?

[thebattleship]

Hi all,
Pretty new member here, been browsing obsessively for months but have been getting to posting more lately! This is one of the loveliest communities I have ever had the pleasure of joining. I'm starting this thread to report on a frustration and perhaps seek clarification. The issue is as follows:
I have sent several private messages to individuals on this website, and I know that I have at least one received message in my message inbox. However, (and I have SOME technical knowledge to phrase it thus) it looks like the 'landing pages' for the message inbox/outbox on this website are somehow two separate locations, because sometimes (and I don't remember/know exactly how I achieved this result) I access a page (it has a brownish background like this forum) that perfectly, accurately reflects all of my messages, but at all other times, when I go through the standard Account and Notification/Messages links on this website, I have NO inbox mail and NO outbox mail. Very weird and very frustrating. I believe the issue is that there are somehow two locations and they are not cross-communicating, but I am at a loss as to how something so huge would not be noticed, and also as to why the centralized, highly public links are the ones that link to the dysfunctional landing page. I am almost certain I am missing something huge, perhaps just a piece of internal knowledge about the technicalities of this website like a reconciliation period between server data, because right now I don't get at all why I can't see my mail. Thoughts, comments, suggestions - would welcome all! Thank you!!

 

[sasquatch]

If I remember right there's a PM system within the forums which does work, and a PM system on the pipesmag site (outside the forums as it were) which does not.
If you are logged into the forum, and look on the right side of the screen near the top, you'll see a link to your mailbox, the working one.

 

[sablebrush52]

There are two messaging set ups here and they are completely separate. There's the much more popular PM system, which lack all features except the ability to type, and which is accessed off of the forum page and then there's a separate messaging option, which has formatting, paragraphs, etc, which is accessed off of your account. Never the twain shall meet.

I'll be curious to see what happens with the upcoming announced updating of the site.

 

[thebattleship]

Thank you very much boys, I suspected something of this sort. But now, for me to reliably access my messages in the 'forum' inbox and to make sure that any messages I write are sent properly to other people's usable 'forum' inbox, what is the procedure?
I confess Sasquatch that I do not see any link to the 'forum' mailbox on the upper right hand side of my screen. Do you mean the black top tab? The rightmost link there is 'Visit'.
At this point I know I have to go with the flow (as is usually the case with technology), but want to know how best to do it. What do you do to check your 'forum' inbox PMs consistently? Again, many thanks.

 

[thebattleship]

Update: This struck me as very workaround, but I have concluded that the best way I can find so far to consistently check my PMs is just to bookmark the 'forum' inbox landing page link: http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/pm.php
Perhaps this will help somebody, or perhaps somebody will tell me I'm crazy and suggest a better consistent solution, perhaps a working link I am not finding.

 

[mikethompson]

If you are logged into the forums, on the main forum page on the right it will tell you if you have any PMs that are unread.

I honestly didn't know there was a separate messaging system for outside the forum.

 

[ssjones]

Mike identifies where you want to locate your PM's. And, you can opt to receive an email verification on an incoming Private Message (or forum message). 99% of all messages are done thru the PM system. I'm not sure why we have two separate options, and I suspect it will go to one, connected, during the update.

 

[paulfg]

Indeed a little strange ,it took me a while to realise why I was getting e-mails saying you have a message but nothing in my inbox.

i only discovered it with the help of members here guiding me through it.