"Latest Profile Posts"

[Chevrolet]

I am confused. What should be shown/diplayed on the Home screen under that heading? Looking at it now, it appears to show/include one to one messages between club members. For example, the message "Stingray" has sent to "Largelunchbox" about the number plate bracket he has for sale. I thought those were PMs (private messages) only visible to sender and receiver (and website admin/moderators?)? Thanks.

 

[Forrest Gump]

Good point, and if you click on the profile posts header it brings up miles of “private“ conversations. Surely this can’t be right????

 

[Pitre]

Please bear with us - investigating.

 

[Ben]

Hi Chevrolet. The 'profile posts' mechanism allows users to send public messages to each other, similar to posting on someone's social media profile. It's not a private message system. If you visit someone's profile and click 'profile posts' you can see these messages from all users to that person.

To start a private conversation with someone, visit their profile and click the 'Start conversation' button. I've just tested this with Pitre and it looks like these conversations are private to only the participants. They're not shown on the homepage, for example.

 

[Forrest Gump]

If I click on a profile on here it only gives the option for “start conversation”, I can’t see a “profile posts” option.
I suppose the question is do the people writing messages in this way realise these conversations can be publicly viewed, and why do we actually need to see them on the homepage anyway?

 

[Chevrolet]

Good point, and if you click on the profile posts header it brings up miles of “private“ conversations. Surely this can’t be right????

Hi/Thanks Ben/Forrest G. I see that the home page only displays the "Latest Profile Posts" if you have logged in. When done, If you click on the 3 "dots" next to the conversation, it displays an "Interact" option. Click on it and it displays the messages between the two members and invites you to message both of them. Yes, I would try and start a private conversation with another member using the "Start conversation" button. I've never done/dont fully understand the "profile posts" mechanism at mo without experimenting further. In the "Stingray/Largelunch" profile post, Stingray asks LLB for his bank details so he can pay for the item. LLB responds by saying that he wont do that as is "uneasy" about putting his bank details "on here." So Im not sure why/how Stingray decided to contact LLB via a Profile Post, including asking him for his bank account details? Do we need a bit of "user education" here and/or FGs suggestion above?

 

[Ben]

Thanks both. I'm not sure whether the profile posting mechanism is that useful, and agree that it's not at all clear that messages will be visible to other users. I think it's the forum software makers trying to provide a service that's similar to many social media channels in the hope that the forum is more useful to users.

I've managed to work out how to put a note in the message box making it clear that profile posts aren't private, which will hopefully help.

I can apparently disable the profile posts mechanism altogether, but presumably this will destroy the conversations that people are already having through it.

 

[Chevrolet]

Just looking, I still cant see how I can do a Profile Post (not that I want to)? If I click on my profile, only Profile Post in there is one "Stingray" sent me/did a while ago.

 

[Forrest Gump]

Ah right, I’ve got it…..you click on the users profile, that opens up to where you have the “start conversation“ option. If you then click on the profile picture again it opens up more options including “profile post”. I can see Ben’s added comment about being public - good additional note!
Looking, (without being nosey) at peoples previous profile posts, I’m tending to doubt if they are realising these are publicly visible though, judging by the nature of the conversations. It could certainly be a little embarrassing.

 

[Chevrolet]

Looking, (without being nosey) at peoples previous profile posts, I’m tending to doubt if they are realising these are publicly visible though, judging by the nature of the conversations. It could certainly be a little embarrassing.

Thanks, now I know how to do a Profile Post. Agree that some people have not realised that they are "public" if you have an account and have logged in? Off hand, I cant think of scenarios where you would want to do a Profile Post to everyone anyway? If you want to tell everyone, you would start a thread on here, or in Members Only if you just wanted club members to see it? (Yes/No?) Bens new note in the message box, making it clear that Profile Posts aren't private presumably is enough?/Thanks Ben. Also with a Private Message, you can "allow anyone in conversation to invite others" anyway. Leave it to Ben and "Powers that be" to decide whether to disable the Profile Posts feature if my logic "holds water"?