The Sewing Place

Missing Notifications and DMs

CarolC

Missing Notifications and DMs
« on: April 20, 2018, 16:14:16 PM »
Hi - I am having notification issues, in that I never seem to get them. This has happened both with threads I've started and threads I've replied to, and I also haven't been notified of DMs.

I have the Notify Me box ticked as it says "Unnotify" at the top (see attached photo), and I can't find anything in my account settings that might be blocking them. I've also looked in my junk email folder and nothing.

The system also seems to eaten have a DM I was supposed to have received last night.

I got a different DM from someone else this morning that's in my inbox here but even that didn't come to my email inbox.

Any thoughts anyone?

Carol x


Iminei

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2018, 16:19:11 PM »
@Acorn @Francesca

Can you help Carol here

Thx
xxx
The Imperfect Perfectionist sews again

Acorn

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2018, 19:32:16 PM »
When I first joined TSP I didn't receive any notifications for anything.  I'd found the same thing on some other forums, including one that I ran myself, but not another one that I ran that was precisely the same, with completely identical settings.

The only difference between the two was the email address I was using.  I changed the email address for this forum, and for the one of mine that wasn't sending notifications, and suddenly all my notifications started arriving.

My experience was that my BT email addresses weren't receiving notifications - presumably BT were filtering them out because they were automated emails.  They weren't even reaching my spam folder, and there was absolutely nothing I could do either at the forum end, or at my email inbox end - other than use a different email address.

One thing that might help with PMs is changing your account settings so that when you come onto the forum you get a pop-up notification if you have received a PM.  To do this, click on 'Profile' from the very top of the page, then choose 'Account Settings'.  Then find 'Personal Messaging' in the list on the left hand side, and the option should be in the middle of the page.
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

CarolC

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2018, 22:31:21 PM »
Hmmm, I suppose it might be my email address, but equally there is a part of me that thinks if it’s a valid email, it ought just to work and that the website ought to do it’s thing. I use that email (hotmail.com which is pretty standard, and mine for 20 years now) for most things and don’t have problems. The worst that ever happens is things going to junk, but I looked there and there is nothing. I also looked back in my email and i did get a few notifications a long time ago, so it can work or worked sometimes.  :'(


Acorn

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2018, 22:53:35 PM »
My email addresses are valid.  I have been using one of them for 15 years - and BT is fairly unquestionable in terms of acceptability.  There is nothing wrong with the email addresses.  The forum is sending out emails - if it wasn't, nobody would be getting them, and I wouldn't have immediately started getting them as soon as I used a completely different email address.  The website can do nothing about what happens to your email after it has left its servers.  All the forum can do is address it and send it out on its way. 

There is no judgement being made about your email being hotmail, or mine being BT.  Emails pass through many servers on their way to their destination, and at some point on their journey to you, or me, they are being identified as automated emails, and incorrectly judged to be spam.

I wish there was something we could do, but email providers, ISPs, servers, etc, do what they can to prevent spam - and they do prevent a lot of it from even getting as far as your spam folder - but sometimes (too often IMO) they get it wrong.
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Samantha

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2018, 11:46:45 AM »
I used to get notifications into my inbox but now they automatically go into the junk mail, I've just added 'send to contacts' to see if that helps.

CarolC

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2018, 13:02:00 PM »
Mine don't even go to junk, they just vanish into thin air. I've tried adding the sender email from the two I did get to my contacts to see if that helps. I've also set up a query with hotmail to see if they have an explanation. Could someone please reply to this so I can see what happens. Thanks. Cx

Samantha

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #7 on: April 21, 2018, 14:35:31 PM »
Well I got your reply in my inbox and not junk so it seems to have worked for me  <3

CarolC

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2018, 12:06:24 PM »
Hi - me again. Still not working. I had a DM and Samantha's post with no notification yesterday, nor anything lurking in junk despite adding to contacts. Sorry to keep bothering, but could you please reply again and see it arrives this time?

I've unticked and reticked all the "notify me" boxes, and I want to see if that helped.

Looking back at the two notifications I have received (off of 60+ posts plus some DMs), it does seem odd that one was last November, the other one in early April this year. It did occur to me that I updated my operating system recently to  and I wondered if somehow that had an effect?

I've also written to hotmail about it, and have had a preliminary reply asking for more details so will see what they say. 

Carol xx

Francesca

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2018, 13:50:40 PM »
Do you also not get them in the Messages section of the forum? Or are they just not coming through to your email?

As Acorn says, unfortunately there is not a lot we can do when an email is sent out but not received, as this is a problem with the journey from the forum to your email inbox, and often things can happen along the way such as your provider blocking emails.

Could you try adding admin@thesewingplace.org.uk to your preferred contacts list?

CarolC

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2018, 21:19:49 PM »
@Francesca, no, there is nothing at all in my regular inbox - not for forum posts (either started by me like this one or simply replied to), nor for DMs (again either sent to me initially or replies to ones I sent originally). I have added the admin email to contacts. I've gone repeatedly  into my spam/junk folders both in my mail programme and in hotmail online, and nothing is there either.

If I am on the forum itself, I see notifications of DMs in the messages tab at the top, but nothing to say that a post I've subscribed to has been updated.

I have gone into my settings here and checked they were correctly set to notify me (when TSP first started, I didn't realise I had to say I wanted notifications, unlike TSF). Just recently as part of this process, I unticked and reticked the "notify me when..." boxes, and I have also checked that individual posts are set to notify me.

None of this has had any effect - see above where I said I'd try these things and asked for another reply to test it. 

This clearly isn't just an issue with me or with hotmail addresses - above Acorn says this happened to her with a BT account.

It seems to me that it is something wrong with either TSP or with the (Simple Machines?) programme behind the site. One possibility is that it isn't recognising that some users have asked to be notified. For instance, does it matter that I use a Mac? Another is that it is sending out notifications in such as scary form that some email servers are eating them and not even letting them get through to junk mail. Either way, it shouldn't be happening as particularly with DMs, there is no way of knowing that you should even look for them if you didn't initiate the conversation.

I currently have a case open with hotmail to see if they have an answer, and can find the lost notification emails in their system. I will let you know if they say anything useful.

Also it might be worth contacting the company that makes the system behind the forum to see if they have an answer. I'm not at all being grumpy with the admins here (though I am a tad disappointed about missing that Bernina coverstitch machine because I didn't get notified of a DM and so the seller thought I wasn't interested when I didn't reply), but the system ought to do what's been asked to if a user's settings are correct and everything else is set up right.

Carol xx

Francesca

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #11 on: April 22, 2018, 21:40:04 PM »
It seems to me that it is something wrong with either TSP or with the (Simple Machines?) programme behind the site. One possibility is that it isn't recognising that some users have asked to be notified. For instance, does it matter that I use a Mac? Another is that it is sending out notifications in such as scary form that some email servers are eating them and not even letting them get through to junk mail. Either way, it shouldn't be happening as particularly with DMs, there is no way of knowing that you should even look for them if you didn't initiate the conversation.

I'm afraid to say I disagree. Email is often swallowed by spam filters before it even reaches the destination, and SMF is reliable and sends out emails to many people with different accounts. There is no difference whether you are on a Mac or a different operating system - the email is being sent from TSP to your inbox regardless. It's just a case of whether it gets there or not.

See if you can add the email to your preferred senders list or ask Hotmail to make sure mail is delivered from that address. I will see if I can check our logs to confirm the message is going out correctly.

It happens sometimes. My gmail for example seems to never ever get emails from Quidco so I always have to ask them over live chat to provide things. I just never get it, but it's obviously fine with lots of other Gmail users.

We have lots of hotmail users on the forums who haven't reported any issue. It's not always specific to an ESP.

I'll see if I can confirm it our end.

CarolC

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2018, 23:50:03 PM »
I've been having a browse on the Simple Machine community forum, and it is clear that there can be coding issues that keep emails from being delivered. I don't  understand what all the technical terms mean, but this thread might be of use.  https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=551539.msg3910232#msg3910232

There's also some stuff here that might be helpful https://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=549474.msg3897169#msg3897169

Not being funny, but in terms of other hotmail.com users not having any problems, are you completely sure it really is just me? I can log on fine, comment fine, and DM fine, so on that level, I can continue to participate without problems, it's just the notifications that aren't working.

I didn't know I wasn't getting notified until I wondered if anyone else had commented on something and went back to look. Ditto I had no idea that I was supposed to have a DM because the system didn't tell me about it, so I assumed no one had sent anything and didn't log on to look. Sometimes I come here a lot, other times not for weeks on end, so it's easy to miss things if the system doesn't ask me to look. I might not be the only one, just the only one who has mentioned it.




 

fajita

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #13 on: April 23, 2018, 07:32:53 AM »
I am a hotmail user. My messages go to my junk mail account.
I computer on an iPad.

Bodgeitandscarper

Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
« Reply #14 on: April 23, 2018, 08:53:25 AM »
On a similar but different note, I sent a couple of messages to a hotmail address via Freecycle and the recipient didn't get them, not even in her junk mail.  Maybe hotmail is trying too hard to stop spam?
Just as a thought, as well as adding the email address to your contacts, is it worth trying to send an email to it, so hotmail "learns" it's an ok address??  Does it even work like that anyway?