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PRIVATE MESSAGING is what should be in the Poll Question. Thanks to webmasta for pointing that out in his reply. The Subject line was also wrong, but I was able to get that corrected. Cannot change content of polls once votes have been started.
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Enhancement Request:

Please activate PRIVATE MESSAGING feature on the forums. This will make it possible for members to have some off-line communications if desired.

Currently, it is impossible for members to exchange email addresses without at least one of them being made available to the public.

If there is a concern about misuse or space resources, perhaps have a one month trial period to see actual results. Set timing to automatically delete after predetermined age and/or size.

There is a PM icon on every message, but PM is not active. If PM will not be activated, perhaps remove the PM icon?

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Note 1: This poll was generated with a beta version of my Poll Generator. See
http://www.textpad.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4345 for more information.

Note 2: Jeffy, do not include this on TextPad Enhancement Request calculations since it is an enhancement to the Forum, not to the program.

I assume you mean "Private message".... I agree it should be turned on, theres some things that are not always suitable for the public board

webM

Thanks webmasta.............What was I thinking?

I have changed the Subject title to PRIVATE messaging but cannot change the Poll.

Hi Keith.

Thanks for your response at:
http://www.textpad.com/forum/posting.ph ... te&p=14198.

Please note that in neither case is your email address actually revealed. When not hidden, email has to go via a web form, rather than using an email client. To change your preferences, click on the Profile button at the top of the page.

But that does not reflect my actual experience. The sender's email address is revealed to the recipient when you send an email by clicking on the email button. Here is an excerpt from an email that I received from someone (real name is replaced) clicking on my visible email button:

Please note that the reply address to this email has been set to that of SenderForumName.

In the email that I received, in the From: field is "SenderForumName@their_email_domain.com". So I can now contact them directly. That is OK if I display my email button. Initially, they do not see my email address, but theirs is revealed to me.

But the basic problem exists if no email button is shown. Then it is not possible to contact another forum member, even indirectlyas suggested above. No Private Message can be sent. No email can be sent asking to reply if interested in continuing the exchange.

I am curious about why PM is not being activated? It seems to work well on the forum for Macro Scheduler which uses the same phpBB software package. Again, why not a trial period to see if any problems happen. Most of the members on TextPad forum seem to be professional mature individuals who would not abuse this. Limit the PM feature only to registered forum members, not to guests.

(Editing note: I added quotes around the sample email address referenced in the From: field. I did this to prevent a link from being made by the forum software as pointed out by webmasta.

Bob .. the link you posted above is funky .. please investigate...

I see two links in my previous post.

The link to the previous forum reply seems to work OK for me.

The sample email link is a dummy. It is not intended to be good, it was for demo only, not intended to be a real email link. How would you suggest that modify it? The URL highlighting happened automatically by the forum software, I did not add the tags.

Let me test here:
1. sample@domain.com = normal, no tags added by me.
2. sample@domain.com = tags added by me.
3. sample@ domain.com = normal, no tags added by me, space added.
4. sample@ domain.com = tags added by me, space added.
5. "sample@domain.com" = normal, no tags added by me.
6. "sample@domain.com" = tags added by me, inside quotes.
7. "sample@domain.com" = tags added by me, outside quotes.

In the preview mode, only number 1 is showing up as a link.
Conclusions:
1. Entering a real email link format with no extra characters will automatically have tags added to make it an email link. (OK, good to know, did not know that).
2. Surrounding a real email link with URL tags, WILL NOT RESULT in a link, not for email, not for web page. (OK, good to know, did not know that).
3. Including " or space in an email link will prevent an email link from being created. (OK, checks for correct format, expected that).
4. Including @ within URL tags will prevent a link from being made to a web page. (OK, checks for correct format, expected that).

So, I will edit the earlier message by surrounding the dummy email sample with quotes. Thanks for the tutorial.

The first link opens post box to post a message with a bbadmin quote.. dunno if thats what you wanted .. i may have misunderstood. (wont be the first time )

I was trying to link to the specific message, not to the complete thread. Have I forgotten another method to do that?

And now, thanks to you, I have a better understanding of some of the board's rules fur creating URLs and links.

I think you wanted this

http://www.textpad.com/forum/posting.ph ... iew&t=4516

instead of

http://www.textpad.com/forum/posting.ph ... te&p=14198

In the email that I received, in the From: field is "SenderForumName@their_email_domain.com". So I can now contact them directly. That is OK if I display my email button. Initially, they do not see my email address, but theirs is revealed to me.

Hi Bob,

OK, you've convinced me. Private messaging is now enabled

Keith MacDonald
Helios Software Solutions

Thanks Keith.....not expecting a lot of volume, but good to have available.

I appreciate your listening.
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And to webmasta:

I think you wanted this

http://www.textpad.com/forum/posting.ph ... iew&t=4516

Yes, that is it! But is there a way to pick that URL up automatically? Or do I need to keep/learn the format and hack an existing URL?
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Thanks again Keith