I am a Registered User but not a Premier Member. I actively participate on my350z.com. I try very hard to provide useful information to other readers on my350z.com. I believe this is what makes a Forum valuable, and certainly member-participation is vital to any Forum’s success.

Since I reply to messages, I frequently receive PM’s from other members (I’m sure the Administrators can validate this statement). It’s very annoying when my mailbox is blocked because I’ve gone over the limit for the number of PM’s. The only way I see to solve this is becoming a Premier Member, but that is the only benefit (and it’s no benefit to me, so why would I do it?)

It would be a great feature if my mailbox would be dynamic (automatically deleting the oldest messages making room for new PM mail). That way I would not need to constantly do maintenance on my mailbox.

--Spike

 

Not a bad suggestion. I'll let one of the admins chime in on this, as I am not familiar with the dynamics behind the PM box...

 

Thanks for the quick reply and consideration.

Here is a metaphor describing my dilemma:

In the 1950’s there was a popular cartoon strip entitled “The Milk Toast.” My favorite strip was one where the Milk Toast was standing on a street corner… in heavy rain… he’s drenched in the rain… and he says: “Well, I will wait another half-hour, and if George doesn’t show-up by then, he can just borrow the money he wants from someone else.”

When you do a favor, you should not have interference.

--Spike

 

I agree. I personally like the idea. I too receive numerous PM's daily. It's a hassle to go and clean out the oldest PM's to make room for new ones...

 

The current version of vB doesn't have such features that I am aware of. Maybe the upgrade will bring in such a feature, but I doubt it. After all, having a larger message box is one of the perks of becoming a Premier Member. If there was an auto delete feature, what good would that larger PM box be?

 

^^ Notice in your reply that PM might be confused (Is PM "Private Message" or "Premier Member"?)

I don't want a larger Private Message box. In fact my Private Message box is larger than I want.

What I would like is a "last-in/first-out" feature, or at least an auto-clean-up to rid my box of old messages so that I can receive and respond to new messages. I don't care if they get deleted or archived, I only want my mail box to receive new messages without any interference. As is now, I won't be responding much because of the hassle of clearing old messages. And, I do not intend at this time becoming a PM (Premier Member).

This is not a big request, and I don't think it should require PM (Premier Member) status to actively participate on the Forum (and PM's are part of this because people who participate will get PMs).

I realize I am flirting a little with the economics here and might be "crossing the line," so this is my last comment on the issue. I only want you to be aware of the problem.

--Spike

 

I fixed my above post to be more clear.

The most important line in my above post is be the last sentence. If things were to get auto deleted, there's no use for having any message box larger than what is reasonable, as everytime you get a message after it is full, the older one will get deleted. The perk of having a larger storage for premier members is now pointless.

With that being said, however, there's also no way to implement that kind of feature anyway from my end and I highly doubt the newest version of vBulletin has such feature built into it. If no such feature exists, it cannot be implemented or integrated into our forum.

You are in no way "crossing the line," so rest assured that there's no harm in asking. Sorry I couldn't help.

 

I can see both sides of the argument, but 3hree5ive0ero brings out the one technicality that can not be overlooked. It is a Premier Member perk afterall. While having a dynamic PM box setup sounds good, there still must be incentive to purchase a Premier Membership....

 

Thanks guys... for the replies. I get it now. The Private Message feature is a nice add-on to this Forum. Obviously I use it or I would not be complaining.

I guess it’s time I look into becoming a Premier Member since the feature I am requesting exists in the Premier Member package. As they say, I should either “put-up or shut-up.”

--Spike