Lack of interest 'conversations'

[dieketzer]

feedback from users makes a few issues clear to me:

1. users do not immediately draw the connection between 'conversations' and 'private messages'.
perhaps they could be called 'private conversations' on the inbox page or whatnot.

2. when viewing the inbox it is not readily apparent which conversation is which, particularly if you initiated the conversation and were the last to post to it.
perhaps the icons of all participants can be included in the 'threadlist'?

3. quite unlike the alert popup,
the inbox overlay/popup will feature your own avatar rather than the last person to reply. once you have a couple of conversations going this becomes unwieldy.
perhaps the icon of the first new post could be used instead, as it is done in the alert popup

yes, i am aware i can alter templates. yes, people here probably arent confused by the conversation system. but it seems that when it comes to the garden variety forum user, it isnt as obvious as we may believe.

 

[Paul B]

I think your last 2 suggestions have previously been posted here: http://xenforo.com/community/thread...ar-of-person-initiated-the-conversation.2727/

 

[dieketzer]

feedback from users makes a few issues clear to me:

1. users do not immediately draw the connection between 'conversations' and 'private messages'.
perhaps they could be called 'private conversations' on the inbox page or whatnot.

2. when viewing the inbox it is not readily apparent which conversation is which, particularly if you initiated the conversation and were the last to post to it.
perhaps the icons of all participants can be included in the 'threadlist'?

3. quite unlike the alert popup,
the inbox overlay/popup will feature your own avatar rather than the last person to reply. once you have a couple of conversations going this becomes unwieldy.
perhaps the icon of the first new post could be used instead, as it is done in the alert popup

yes, i am aware i can alter templates. yes, people here probably arent confused by the conversation system. but it seems that when it comes to the garden variety forum user, it isnt as obvious as we may believe.

now that the users are aware of what 'conversations' are, theyre now wondering if they are indeed private.
the train of logic behind the question seems to be, 'these are like invisible threads, but i know admins can see all threads, so can admins see my conversations?'
can these please be referred to as 'private conversations' on the inbox page? (yes i know i can edit)

is there anything upcoming that will address issues 2 and 3? i am actually getting conversations titled, 'dieketzer: blah blah'. i reckon people are doing this as its the only way for them to see the other participant of a conversation! this is incredibly broken and should really be addressed.

 

[dieketzer]

3. quite unlike the alert popup,
the inbox overlay/popup will feature your own avatar rather than the last person to reply. once you have a couple of conversations going this becomes unwieldy.
perhaps the icon of the first new post could be used instead, as it is done in the alert popup

now that our xf has been running for a few months, this is only becoming worse. the current system is fundamentally broken and really needs to be revised. many users have dozens of conversation that provide absolutely no indication of who the conversation was sent to or who is participating until the conversation is opened and read.
please rethink the current system.