post counts

[Brandon]

I see 'Messages' in every user profile but nothing about 'post count'. The two numbers don't seem to correspond so I'm guessing post counts are not used in this bb?

 

[Onimua]

I think they are post counts, just a different phrase. Some forums might not add to the "post count," so that might also be why it doesn't go up every time you might expect.

 

[Brandon]

I've seen members with 0 posts and 4 messages. so it must add profile comments, posts, etc. together to get that number. I'm just wondering if the final product will have the option to display forum post counts or not.

 

[JulianD]

I think the new post count is an aggregation of all the posts you can do on the forums. Like forum posts, wall posts, status posts and so on...

 

[Mike]

Yeah, message count is applicable to all messages. It may not be particular inherent at this point, but with a different system (say a blog or article system with comments), it will aggregate across them.

We do want to get profile messages into the search so they they'll show up in that postings tab.

 

[Kier]

We do want to get profile messages into the search so they they'll show up in that postings tab.

... which will be remarkably straight-forward with the XenForo search framework

 

[Digital Doctor]

Yeah, message count is applicable to all messages. It may not be particular inherent at this point, but with a different system (say a blog or article system with comments), it will aggregate across them.

We do want to get profile messages into the search so they they'll show up in that postings tab.

Message Count: (as listed in your member card) - should be analogous to "Posts" in other forum software. "Message Count" should definitely be called "Post Count". Message is definitely a confusing word for this context.

To illustrate that message count on the member card is a misnomer ... if you click on someone's profile, ie. mine, it says "Postings", not Messages. Time to tidy up the language here.

Messages, is easily confused with "Private Messages", and this is not what xenforo is trying to convey here.

You post entries to a forum thread.
You post a comment to a blog
You post a new article.

You don't message an entry to a forum thread.
You don't message to a blog.
You don't message a new article.

 

[dutchbb]

I don't follow your logic Digital Doctor, both 'post' and 'message' are perfectly ok as noun, has nothing to do with the verb 'post'.

 

[Digital Doctor]

I don't follow your logic Digital Doctor, both 'post' and 'message' are perfectly ok as noun, has nothing to do with the verb 'post'.

Really, have you ever heard this expression: I messaged a new article. ?
That's not proper English.
It's just plain confusing. I am sure we could look up the definitions of Message and Post and debate which is more appropriate.

I am sure some modifications will be made that displays in everyone's posts ... their post count. Currently it says stuff like "Well-Known Member".
People will complain if it says Messages: 456. Everyone will ask .... can you change Messages to Posts ?

Google search:
I messaged a new article - No results found for "I messaged a new article".
I posted a new article. About 189,000 results for "I posted a new article".

I'd say Google says Post / Posting is the appropriate term here.

 

[dutchbb]

I can post a message

 

[Digital Doctor]

I can post a message

And you can't message a post !

I am glad you agree Post is the way to go.

 

[dutchbb]

I can post a message. I now have a message count of 1. What's wrong with this?

Why do you keep using message as a verb?

Could be me but I do not understand what you're trying to say here

 

[Digital Doctor]

This will be the deciding factor .... in Message vs Post ....

I am sure some modifications will be made that displays in everyone's posts ... their post count. Currently it says stuff like "Well-Known Member". People will complain if it says Messages: 456. Everyone will ask .... can you change Messages to Posts ?

If people like the word Message, there will be no problems.

When Kier uses the words "I messaged the forum", I'll admit Message is the best word.

 

[kingston]

Can we recount posts and messages to fix our counters? did two importants and now im doubled!

 

[Kier]

I see no conflict with 'I posted a message'. I can also post a notice, post a letter, post an update... Where is the confusion here?

 

[Mike]

Can we recount posts and messages to fix our counters? did two importants and now im doubled!

No, not at this time. As the concept of the message count is actually content unaware, this is more complex than you might think. (Though by default, only messages in the forums count, this isn't necessarily the long term goal.)

 

[kingston]

No, not at this time. As the concept of the message count is actually content unaware, this is more complex than you might think. (Though by default, only messages in the forums count, this isn't necessarily the long term goal.)

ok, i know it shouldnt matter, but my board members have always considered their post count as a badge of honor. now i guess it is a matter of collecting likes. just a small culture shift.

 

[Mike]

Well, if you just did an import twice, then all of your users should have exactly double the number of posts/messages than they should, so you could resolve it by halving all the message counts--provided the forum isn't live yet.

That said, all of the threads themselves would've been imported twice, so all the counts on the forums would be off. Thus, simply reinstalling and reimporting might be the easiest option.

 

[Elizabeth]

Actually message/d is a perfectly acceptable verb. http://www.thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=message

 

[Digital Doctor]

I see no conflict with 'I posted a message'. I can also post a notice, post a letter, post an update... Where is the confusion here?

Then generically they should be called posts.


= Posts =
- you post to a forum
- you post something on a bulletin board / BBS.

= Messages =
- associated with a communication between two people (not one to many).
- one person messages another. Instant Message. Text Message.

I understand why the member card says "messages" ... because you wanted to use a different word than posts, because it was forward thinking design .... as this count was going to include posts to non-forum things like blogs ... so you didnt want to use the word Post. However, Messages doesn't quite fit.

If you think messsages does work, then you'd better keep it consistent and change it on the member's profile.



The original poster was unclear what messages in the member card meant.
I think it is confusing to use the word messages, for the reasons I outlined.
I don't really care, I bet that word it editable anyway !