What An Absolute Mess

[georged]

There's some sort of obscure, impossible-to-respond-to "message service" of spectacularly horrible design connected to this board that is NOT the PM facility.
I got notified via email that someone had messaged me through it, clicked on the link inside that email, and ended up on some mystery page on this site. The first sentence of what someone had to say was there, but that's it. No way to respond or see the rest of the message that I could discover, AND I managed to delete it by trying to open it further (so to speak).
So. Does anyone recognize what I'm referring to? If so, please fill me in. And if you recently sent me a note using it, please try again via PM.
Thanks

 

[mayfair70]

I blame Gremlins.

 

[ashdigger]

You can't read messages from emails.....they are placeholders and notifications.
You have to log into the site to read them.

 

[georged]

Turns out the username is still embedded in the email I received --- carburetor422
But... this board has no user index to contact him through, or access his post history. WTF?
Mayfair -- no gremlins required. Shitty software design doesn't need them. :evil:

 

[georged]

Ashdigger -- I was, and still am, logged in.

 

[beefeater33]

Google is your friend..........

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/estate-pipe-help-2

 

[georged]

What is the Goggle thing of which you speak? Never heard of it...
.

 

[ophiuchus]

Google is your friend..........

http://pipesmagazine.com/forums/topic/estate-pipe-help-2

Well, hell! That explains that much! :lol:

 

[beefeater33]

:D Sorry, Can't help you much with the rest of the mystery!.......... (shitty software thing)
Edit: YES, That's it! Helps you see into the past and future, just have too wear them in the privacy of your home....

 

[sablebrush52]

He's a guy in your neck of the woods who's looking to learn about restoration. Blame me. I suggested that he contact you. He probably used the other messaging system that is found by going to the Pipes Magazine home page and then accessing your account from the drop down menu. I think I've used it maybe three times, always in response to a received message.

 

[georged]

He's a guy in your neck of the woods who's looking to learn about restoration. Blame me. I suggested that he contact you. He probably used the other messaging system that is found by going to the Pipes Magazine home page and then accessing your account from the drop down menu. I think I've used it maybe three times, always in response to a received message.

Ah.
You'd think there'd be some sort of integration of the message facilities. (Been here for years and that's the first I've heard of a second one)
Of course, in 1993 when this forum's software was written---or was it 1893?---such things probably weren't a priority.
Thanks for the heads up.

 

[sablebrush52]

I suspect that this other system was originally intended to be the primary private messaging system as it has some features that the PM system doesn't. But who bothers with anything but the forum, so the PM system gets the most use, crappy as it is.

 

[ssjones]

Hmm, let me see if I have understand this dilemma....
You can give this guy an old bowling ball and a dull pocketknife and he can make you a perfect Dunhill stem, but he can't read his PM's....
Just kidding George!
For some reason, we have two profiles on this forum. One for PipesMagazine.com and the other for the forums. 99.9% of your PM's are generated thru the forum. But, if someone finds your PM.com profile, they can send a message thru that profile as well. I haven't rec'd one in ages, but I think the email notifications look pretty similar. If you go to your PM.com forum, you can see "Messages".

 

[perdurabo]

It's the Fifth Column! :twisted:

 

[georged]

For some reason, we have two profiles on this forum. One for PipesMagazine.com and the other for the forums. 99.9% of your PM's are generated thru the forum. But, if someone finds your PM.com profile, they can send a message thru that profile as well. I haven't rec'd one in ages, but I think the email notifications look pretty similar. If you go to your PM.com forum, you can see "Messages".

That catch being that the rarely seen/used version literally doesn't work. It shows you the first half sentence of the message with no way to see the rest. The screen is essentially frozen. It's only clickable icon turns out to be "delete" (which I discovered the hard way---no indication that's what it is until after you step on the land mine).
Not just clunky, and not just useless, this Mystery Messaging Feature (MMF) actively creates problems. I must now track the guy down who is trying to reach me (which is also a PITA here because there's no user directory)
Anyway, I know you guys just lease or buy this program so can't fix/change it at the code level, but I bet you can switch off the Absurdly Shitty Parts (ASPs) of it from a menu somewhere.

 

[carburetor422]

I didn't mean to cause quite a stir, but sablebrush52 is correct. It was I who was trying to contact you George. As being new to the forum, I'm still learning all the in's and out's. I sent you another PM (hopefully I did it correct this time). If it appears I didn't, well you now know where to find me.
Also I thank you for going above and beyond to trying to find me, I do appreciate it and hope to be in contact with you soon.

 

[ssjones]

The mods definitely cannot alter or change any forum or site functions.

I can read completely (reply, etc.) to the few messages in my inbox, I'm using Firefox.

I'll FWD this to Kevin.
Under the website user interface there is also a section called "Wire". I have messages there, but I don't know how they got there. It might be from folks who sent "friend" requests. I'm not sure as to to purpose of the "friends" function either.

 

[georged]

Contact established. Excellent! :D
No worries carburetor, you did nothing wrong. The combination of this site's Eoarchean Era software and my experience as a systems-level IT guy for 19 years converged, is all. :lol: (Few things get me cranked faster than encountering you've-got-to-be-kidding-me-bad code in 2017. This shit was figured out long ago.)
I'll PM you (meaning through the forum) my telephone number. Ring me if you're so inclined.

 

[mso489]

Maybe it's Snuggy Bear with the FSB.

 

[lucky695]

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