XF 2.4 Direct message labels

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on our first Have you seen...? thread about the upcoming Add-on update notifications for XF 2.4. It's exciting for us to start this process so soon after the release of XenForo 2.3! And while we are not sticking to a specific schedule for this series of HYS threads, our next one is already here!

This time around we are adding Direct message labels as a way for people to be able to add a little more organisation to their inboxes. This is a long standing suggestion (or two) which, when coupled with direct message search which we added in XF 2.3, makes direct messages much more user friendly and intuitive for members and staff alike.

One of the best parts of this is that the functionality will be very familiar to you if you've ever tagged a thread or added a label to your bookmarks.

Here's what the Inbox looks like in XenForo 2.4:

To add or modify existing labels, you just click the tag/label icon to load the edit labels overlay:

You are able to add up to 10 labels to each direct message, with no limit to the number of different labels you can create.

You can filter the direct message list by a single label, either by clicking one of the existing labels in your list of direct messages, or via the filter bar:

You can also search for messages by multiple labels using direct message advanced search:

To help you better manage your direct messages, you can use the inline tools to add or remove labels from multiple messages at a time:

Prior to the release of XenForo 2.4, we will be exploring ways of exposing a list of all of your direct message labels to make filtering your messages even easier. If you have any feedback or suggestions as to what would work best for you in managing your direct messages labels, please do let us know.

And that's it for this time but all being well, the next entry into this Have you seen...? series for XenForo 2.4 won't be too far away and the subject of that one will likely be your first look at the brand new editor!

Stay tuned for that and thanks as ever for the ongoing support and continued feedback.

 

[frm]

I seem to recall @Paul B (or @Chris D) stating that Xenforo is always one version ahead.

Was that in reference to third point releases (in this case, 2.3.5)? I just wanted to see how the labels functioned and couldn't see them.

 

[stromb0li]

Show the X (10-20) most often used labels in Sidenav (including counters) + a link "Show all" (if there are more than X) that points to a page that shows a paginated list of all labels with counters and manage options.

If this gets added, I'd put it behind a toggle to enable/disable. It'd be really easy to abuse this and have some pretty interesting tags be recommended for people.

 

[Paul B]

If this gets added, I'd put it behind a toggle to enable/disable. It'd be really easy to abuse this and have some pretty interesting tags be recommended for people.

You only see your own labels.

Just how Gmail works.

 

[Forsaken]

These sound so much like tags that I’m wondering why you don’t just apply tags to DMs?
In your post, Chris, you reference tags. If the concept is the same then having a different name - labels - will be unnecessarily confusing. Unless they behave significantly differently to tags. And they appear to be the same.

I thought the same, but understand why label is used over tag for conversations.

@Chris D are labels only ever going to be user-made, or could admin-made ones be added that apply to specific conversations (eg warning, auto-responses, admin generated conversations)?

For example, there is a custom trading add-on made for one community where you initiate a trade with someone, and it creates a conversation that randomly includes a staff member who oversees the trade.

 

[Stuart Wright]

It's basically the same thing. Labels is more familiar language, however, in the context of messages, for example in the context of emails. Gmail and many others call them labels. We already have precedent for using the terminology of labels with Bookmarks.

As ever, if you disagree with the terminology, it's simple to change with the phrase system.

I use both gmail (because our email is managed by Google manager) and (because I’ve used it for decades) outlook locally.
I find using folders in outlook to group emails intuitive and logical because it emulates how files are organised in Windows.
However, I still haven’t got to grips with gmail labels which are unintuitive and confusing.

Just as an aside, I'd actually go as far as to say that while they are conceptually similar, "thread tags" serve a different purpose. Tags are public and used for site-wide discovery of threads. Labels (for bookmarks and direct messages) are for personal categorisation of your content.

I get the difference and understand why you chose the distinction.
I use @Xon ’s conversation essentials and I think the folder system there is more intuitive because of my experience with folders in computers going back 45 years. I guess I’m old fashioned.
More people will use gmail.
I wonder whether a poll would reveal how many use labels.

 

[Chris D]

For example, there is a custom trading add-on made for one community where you initiate a trade with someone, and it creates a conversation that randomly includes a staff member who oversees the trade.

As that is already a custom add-on, it should be trivial for said add-on to automatically create and use a label on that DM for those recipients. Though technically it would be creating one label for each of the recipients (where it doesn’t already exist). All labels are owned by the user that creates them and only useable by them. A small number of hoops to jump through I expect but not many to achieve what you want.

 

[frm]

Just as an aside, I'd actually go as far as to say that while they are conceptually similar, "thread tags" serve a different purpose. Tags are public and used for site-wide discovery of threads. Labels (for bookmarks and direct messages) are for personal categorisation of your content.

To distinguish the difference between tags and labels, a minor UI suggestion would be to change the FA icon to user-tag, folder (even though it's not a folder), or sign; or the closest next thing to what Google uses of sign-in/sign-in-alt (however, that might be confusing as it's used on custom styles for signing in) or arrow-alt-right, and also the tooltip (if it hasn't been changed) to "labels".

 

[James]

That sounds nice!

Will there be an option for site-wide tags or temporary(non-saved) tags, so I could create a button which spawns a new message template and include a predefined tag?
e.g.

https://forum.com/conversations/add?to=User&title=Test-Title&message=LoremIpsum&Label=test

This. Can we create a parameter to include label creation in URL?

 

[Chris D]

We don't actually support label creation while creating a DM. Which might not be an unreasonable suggestion. However, why should someone else be determining what label I put on my DMs? What's the use case here?

I understand the concept of pre-defining the title and message as a template of course, but why would you be forcing a specific label on someone? That's an individual thing. I might not use labels. Or I might have my own system for categorising messages with labels. It doesn't feel like something someone else should determine for me, even if it is a template.

 

[frm]

I understand the concept of pre-defining the title and message as a template of course, but why would you be forcing a specific label on someone?

It doesn't feel like something someone else should determine for me, even if it is a template.

I could see a use for it for the warning system, where a label that cannot be removed by the user is created, i.e. warning, so that they could filter messages by warnings to see past infractions.

Also for mass communication DMs to label things such as "announcement".

Add ons might also create DMs and that label is subject to the author, in a locked or unlocked state.

In essence, it'd be like Gmail's automatic placement into Promotions, Social, and Forums (categories?) based on them determining which inbox it goes to.

But, I think that'd go beyond the scope of labels as is — disallowing removal of labels, and should probably be an addition to @Xon Conversation Essentials, or other developers to create a "locked state" of a created label.

 

[RobinHood]

We don't actually support label creation while creating a DM. Which might not be an unreasonable suggestion. However, why should someone else be determining what label I put on my DMs? What's the use case here?

I understand the concept of pre-defining the title and message as a template of course, but why would you be forcing a specific label on someone? That's an individual thing. I might not use labels. Or I might have my own system for categorising messages with labels. It doesn't feel like something someone else should determine for me, even if it is a template.

I agree you shouldn't be able to force a label onto someone else. But now that you mention it, applying a label for personal reference might actually make sense at the DM creation stage.

Unlike emails, all messages appear in your DM list, even if it's only a single outgoing message. So it could potentially be handy to be able to label outgoing messages/conversations from the start, and not after the fact when back at your message list looking at your newly sent message.

eg. Classifieds enquiry, Support Request, Client Outreach etc.

 

[Chris D]

I could see a use for it for the warning system, where a label that cannot be removed by the user is created, i.e. warning, so that they could filter messages by warnings to see past infractions.

Also for mass communication DMs to label things such as "announcement".

Add ons might also create DMs and that label is subject to the author, in a locked or unlocked state.

In essence, it'd be like Gmail's automatic placement into Promotions, Social, and Forums (categories?) based on them determining which inbox it goes to.

But, I think that'd go beyond the scope of labels as is — disallowing removal of labels, and should probably be an addition to @Xon Conversation Essentials, or other developers to create a "locked state" of a created label.

Non-removable labels or enforced labels won't be a thing. Gmail's categorisation feature is separate to their labels feature, and similarly not a use case we're targeting for labels. Honestly, even for an add-on, it seems very niche.

I agree you shouldn't be able to force a label onto someone else. But now that you mention it, applying a label for personal reference might actually make sense at the DM creation stage.

Unlike emails, all messages appear in your DM list, even if it's only a single outgoing message. So it could potentially be handy to be able to label outgoing messages/conversations from the start, and not after the fact when back at your message list looking at your newly sent message.

eg. Classifieds enquiry, Support Request, Client Outreach etc.

I agree with this. We'll give it some consideration, at least.

 

[frm]

I agree you shouldn't be able to force a label onto someone else. But now that you mention it, applying a label for personal reference might actually make sense at the DM creation stage.

It only makes sense as you can create tags before posting a thread. Though, I see phrasing being an issue here, and in the main post. It could imply that labels are applied to all parties in a conversation.

When creating a conversation, rather than "Labels:", use something like "My labels:" or the like.

To add or modify existing labels, you just click the tag/label icon to load the edit labels overlay:

This could also be confusing -- at first -- as it also could imply both parties are seeing the same labels with "Edit labels" and should be something similar to "Edit my labels" since there's no reference in either/design that labels are private per party's DMs. Using the proper phrasing from the beginning would be helpful for communities introducing this feature so that not every single community has to explain that the labels set by you are yours and not seen by the other parties in the direct messages.

I know XF has an excellent phrasing system, so it's something that I would edit if it rolls out as is.

PS: Do labels have an auto-complete of past used labels, like tags do?

 

[Chris D]

PS: Do labels have an auto-complete of past used labels, like tags do?

Yep

 

[Digital Doctor]

So it could potentially be handy to be able to label outgoing messages/conversations from the start

it's also a way of educating members that you CAN label direct messages.

 

[Digital Doctor]

I'd like to see "stickied labels" where I can select my important common labels which can be selected with a press or mouse click.

it might be useful for those people who don't take the time to have stickied labels, they could have a list of their top 5 labels.

Is it possible to make the labels "actionable" where if I use a label called [Billing] ... a notice and email is sent to the Billing department ?

I take it the bookmark labelling dropdown will be repeated here ? what happens If I have 20 labels ? does the list always show every label ... with a scrollbar ?

or if a message is labelled "Kier" can he be auto-invited to the thread. (as an example of workflow associated with a label).

maybe moderators can be "assigned" labels to encourage them to use them ?

 

[expanserpb]

People still use the DM system on forums?

 

[Mr Lucky]

People still use the DM system on forums?

Yes, why wouldn’t they?

 

[expanserpb]

I've just found it used less and less over time.

Back in 2015 there would be hundreds of messages per day. These days I have an associated discord and the DM system is dead.

I was genuinely curious as to how many sites have a DM system so active it needs a labelling feature.

Certainly I couldn't see one being used in an enterprise setting much so just interested

 

[cdub]

People still use the DM system on forums?

Yes. Sometimes it's sadly more active than the public part of my site lol