Recently, I got two email notifications that I had private messages. When I checked my inbox, only one message was there.
At one point in the past, I tried to exchange PMs with a couple of members, but am not sure those PMs ever reached them – perhaps they were left thinking I was simply rude in not replying, or was a stalker sending multiple messages.
I would have thought this was all my own message mismanagement – or poor social skills – until today, when I saw on a thread that another member had had a similar problem.
Is the board burping some of our PMs out into the ether? Are some accounts more problematic than others for sending/receiving?
Our forum software, phpBB, is structured in a way that may allow you to receive an email notice about a new PM but then you won’t see one. This is because the program allows a person who has sent a PM to delete it if the recipient has not yet opened it. In effect, the sender has changed their mind and decided not to contact you.
Some email providers throw away emails sent from forums. I’ve seen this most often with providers like AOL and Yahoo. They don’t warn you that they aren’t delivering your messages, either. I’d recommend that forum members not use Yahoo or AOL addresses in their profiles.
It’s also common for forum members to change their email address and not update their email in their profile. These members will never receive any further emails from the forum, including those that announce private messages. Sometimes it’s possible to Google the member’s user name or other personally identifying data to find their current email address, but that’s a lot of work.
– until today, when I saw on a thread that another member had had a similar problem.