IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT REGARDING PMs!

Mindi · #1 July 15th, 2008, 03:54 PM

Quote:

calmon said:
I've ~300 outgoing and another ~300 ingoing pm's mainly diplomacy messages from mp games.

I never thought about the fact this cram a database. With a hint/warning i would have deleted most of the stuff immediately.

However i'll do it now.

We've always been pretty lax on letting people upload just about anything under the sun and not setting limits on PMs and other things that take up a lot of space because we want to have a strong community, but when the PM part of the import takes more than all the rest of the import put together, we decided it was time to put some limits up.

Sombre · #2 July 15th, 2008, 04:05 PM

100 or so pms deleted, that's all I had.

I guess I could get people to send me more and delete them too if that would help.

Mindi · #3 July 15th, 2008, 04:32 PM

I'm mostly concerned about the 190 people or so that have a total of 69,000 PMs.....if we can get those people down to the limit then we will cut our PM databse to less than 1/2 what it currently is...so don't feel you need to delete stuff that you need. But by all means, if you have less than 100 and feel you have stuff you don't need anymore, go ahead and purge them.

Darkstone · #4 July 15th, 2008, 04:41 PM

Out of curiosity, when is the upgrade going to occur?

Mindi · #5 July 15th, 2008, 05:04 PM

That date is not set in stone yet, so it's hard to say, but it's been delayed the last several weeks because of problems with the import process into our test board. We've nailed down many of the problems and now the reason the import is taking so long (and failed this last time) is because of the PM database. So we can't move forward until some of this is taken care of, so the faster people clean up their PMs the quicker this will all be done.

JimMorrison · #6 July 15th, 2008, 05:04 PM

My total is ~160 or so.

I knew these things can become clogging to a database, but didn't realize my part was already a problem. >.>

I'll clear some stuff up. But maybe, if I could be so bold as to beg and plead in a very unmanly fashion - maybe that limit need not be quite so restrictive in the future? Obviously reducing the slack right now would be of great help and I surely will do it, but keeping it under 100 will require a fairly high level of micro-management for people who are in more than a couple MP games. As it is now, I can wait until I know they're obsolete, and delete in chunks. At a limit of 100, I will have to selectively comb through them, on an ongoing basis.

So please, if it's not too much of a bother, let us have more than 100 after the conversion.

I don't want 3000+.

Just, enough room that it remains highly convenient ro manage. I can offer footrubs - this is a special gift that is yours to keep, if you post a reply within the next 24 hours.

Mindi · #7 July 15th, 2008, 05:21 PM

I think Richard would object to anyone else giving me footrubs, lol

.

In all seriousness, we'll see how things shake out on the new forum before I say things won't change at all. But please keep in mind that unless you plan to reply to the PM, the new software will allow you to download the PMs as a file to save on your hard drive, so that should help some. We came up with the number based on experience I have with forums who have this software (one of the forums has only a 70 total limit because of the number of users they have, others have more because they have less users), and the analysis of the current database.

But as I said, there will probably be a settling in period into the new forum, so some things including limits may get tweaked.

DonCorazon · #8 July 15th, 2008, 05:40 PM

Just deleted ~ 400. There goes my proof if anyone tries to weasel out of a NAP!

JimMorrison · #9 July 15th, 2008, 08:42 PM

Quote:

Mindi said:
But please keep in mind that unless you plan to reply to the PM, the new software will allow you to download the PMs as a file to save on your hard drive, so that should help some.

Well yes and no. I am in 8 games currently, and short term volume can be enough that I'll need to keep my box somewhat empty. The problem is, long discussions of strategy get mixed with isolated diplomatic exchanges, some of more relevance than others. As it currently stands, if I have no special need of any of that info in the short term, then late it can be indiscriminately deleted. With a limit of 100 in+out, those posts will have to systematically evaluated based on potential need-to-know.

Yeah I can keep everything in a .txt file for Dominions, it's just more accessible as part of the site (I currently keep a tab open for my Inbox, as well as a tab for the forums, at all times.

).

I just wondered if it actually was an issue of any concern apart from the forum transitions - as if not, then perhaps it could be less tight. Also, I've found it very nice when PMs are time based, so after 6 months or something will expire, that gives you plenty of time to keep it around for awhile if it contains info that may be needed later, and plenty of time to archive it elsewhere if it serves such long term need. Even 3 months I think would suit those needs quite well - the vast majority of users here will not get 100 PMs in 3 months, and the few who do might appreciate the lack of hindrance.

<3

For a limited time only I can offer an exchange to a Soul Rub which is just as soothing as a traditional foot rub, without all of that annoying and envious skin-skin contact!

calmon · #10 August 6th, 2008, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Mindi said:
But please keep in mind that unless you plan to reply to the PM, the new software will allow you to download the PMs as a file to save on your hard drive, so that should help some.

When do we get this feature? I'm not sure we already have this new software.