Forum needs email alerts

  • Please can this forum be modified to send emails for replies and alerts for new topics that are tagged with a ‘watched’ tag.

    There have been several occasions where I have replied, or received a reply to a question but didn’t know about it. I seen many many dead threads where it’s obvious to me that the original topic author didn’t know about a response.

    As a plugin author, I’d particularly like to know if someone has a problem or issue, not find out days later when I happen to visit and log in.

    I believe that adding email alerts would greatly improve the quality of responses here.

    Thanks

Viewing 11 replies - 16 through 26 (of 26 total)

  • But if email capability will encourge users to help out in the forums then bring it on!

    I’m fairly certain that at the very least, more users who create threads with email notifications turned on will be repeat visitors instead of abandoning threads.

    That email notification has to be clamored for is simply disgusting. Is there something seriously wrong with these owner/controller people? WP has been around how long? Forums are its only support?

    Is a forum even a forum without email notification?

    Really, really sick.

    No – there is professional support available. But you do have to pay for it. Try the WP-Pro mailing list or https://jobs.wordpress.net/

    no, a forum with no email notification is not a forum

    I simply only now understand why I always felt on my own with word press.

    I have to actively subscribe to RSS of every topic I would like to be informed about…… and then I have to actively check RSS feeds…. well I don’t… because like millions of other users, I have centralized all of my information in my email (gmail) and every bit of information I need comes automatically to my email …… When I care to reply to a topic on a forum, it automatically signs me up for notifications about future replies or updates to that topic….

    The optional email notification must be there. See ALL the major forum scripts : vbulletin, phpbb, smf, ubb, …… They ALL without exception use email notifications…

    I frankly hate this about wordpress forums.

    If wordpress forums would care about their users opinions, they would not make this feature the personal opinion of this or that person….. WordPress hear me : if you care about users opinions, make a vote ……. let users vote whether wordpress forums must provide an optional email notification or it is not needed.

    I defy you that 90% at least would vote that an optional email notification would be great to have!!!!!!!

    Anonymous User 260705

    (@anonymized-260705)

    Not having email notifications about answers to threads you have created or just participated is a nightmare.

    Hope bbPress 1.1 is applied soon. Thank you for all your work.

    Moderator Ipstenu (Mika Epstein)

    (@ipstenu)

    ?????? Advisor and Activist

    Interestingly enough, most email clients (desktop) seem to have some sort of RSS reader in them. Even Google has google reader.

    While I don’t argue that the ability to email notifications wouldn’t be nice, I don’t think that makes this ‘not’ a forum. Furthermore, as a forum-admin (elsewhere) the pain the utter ass of dealing with bounced messages from some idiot who puts on notifications to their email which suddenly no longer exists (AOL), can really hurt your server or put you on a blacklist. Been there, done that (again, AO freakin’ L AND Comcast!).

    https://www.feedmyinbox.com/ is a nice alternative, IMO.

    thank you very much ipstenu. I really love the idea behind feedmyinbox.

    I’ve thought about this and honestly I don’t see the big deal. Yeah, it’d be handy maybe some times, but surely if you’re that bothered or need an answer so badly, you’d check back on your threads anyway?

    Your profile link provides links back to all the threads you’ve started and shows the time they were last updated, all you really have to do is refresh that one page.

    Thread Starter ianhaycox

    (@ianhaycox)

    I get the point that people can come back and check threads if they are bothered, but often it’s not that simple.

    Without reply notification, I might post a question. I come back and check several times over the next few days and no response. In my mind I’ve pushed my question to the back burner. I’ve got other stuff to do.

    If someone is kind enough to post a reply I may not see it for days, until I come back. The responder has given up on me, cos they got no response or acknowledgement. The cycle goes on with days, even weeks between responses.

    Another use case is someone specifically registers here to post a question, it’s not obvious that they must come back and check. They are only a casual user. People are busy and need a nudge. Does everyone know about looking at their profile ?

    With notifications this problem goes away. Admittedly there are some technical issues with bounced emails etc, but that’s a technical issue, not a usability issue.

    As I said earlier, I think it would help greatly to make WP a better product.

    As an example see https://buddypress.org/community/groups/how-to-and-troubleshooting/forum/topic/wordpress-database-error/#post-51754

    Rhetorical question, but what are the odds that the OP will come back after two weeks and realize there is a workaround ?

    Please add email notifications, even with a default unchecked ‘notify me’ control, would be a huge improvement.

    As jeffr0 said, in bbPress’ trunk (forum software that powers this forum) option for e-mail introduction is introduced (you can see it in action at https://www.bbpress.org/forums ) so if bbPress here will be updated to that new version when it is released, there will be e-mail notification here too.

    Where he is not right is how this notification works. User needs to subscribe to topic by clicking on link on topic’s page. After that, he will receive e-mail for every new post in that topic, so there is no option for digests.

    I made a patch that would enable checkbox below post form for subscribing, but I’m not sure if it will get in new version.

    I have to actively subscribe to RSS of every topic I would like to be informed about…… and then I have to actively check RSS feeds….

    You don’t have to subscribe to RSS of every topic. Just add topic in your favorites (section “About this Topic” at right sidebar) and then subscribe to your favorites’ RSS feed (find it at your favorites’ page)

    I completely agree. E-mail notifications is a must. The feedback on www.ads-software.com would become much more efficient if I could get notified about a recent answer or follow up.

Viewing 11 replies - 16 through 26 (of 26 total)
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