The fact there is no indication for a moderator or admin (as far as I know) as to who uploaded what where in what conversation is a saving grace, but I honestly just think it's a useless feature that only someone paranoid of what their users actually upload "in private" would find useful to look at. It's a way of managing files, I get it, but;
monitoring uploads
The xenforo limitations on file types and sizes and my own server security means I shouldn't need to worry about malicious files, large files and the like in user messages. I keep tabs on the bottom line via other methods, bottom line being
dev/vzfs 145GB available
as a moderation tool
The fact you can hotlink in images or whatever in a personal/private whatever it's called conversations and I can't see that, means I don't need this feature. Why should I be looking at one but not the other? If used "in the wrong hands", it's just a easier way of spying then messing with the database I suppose.
And I'm not being paranoid here with its use in the above examples, some dude a page ago said he'd do it. I didnt even know there was a .ussr
I know with my members I will tell them that anything they upload in conversations will be classed as just another attachment that can be viewed easily from the admin area.... it's nothing new as I have database access to begin with, but, because my members (all my 'private messages are private' thinking types, from vbulletin actually) are going to ask, well if you have that access what else do you have? I can then tell them that's all the access I have but I'll point to the first page in this thread so they can understand what these new fangled "conversations" are in laymans terms
I'm wondering if people will announce this on their forums, it's nothing new for a forum admin to know everything, what with having the database, but when you start talking about peoples conversations and admin interfaces, it raises a few eyebrows. Even more so when 90% of my members are vbulletin 'private message' users for the last 8 years.