The Sewing Place

Reception => Tech Know How => Topic started by: CarolC on April 20, 2018, 16:14:16 PM

Title: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC 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

(https://thesewingplace.org.uk/Users/Mittens/Dropbox/Screenshots/Screenshot 2018-04-20 15.57.35.png)
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Iminei on April 20, 2018, 16:19:11 PM
@Acorn @Francesca

Can you help Carol here

Thx
xxx
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn 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.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC 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.  :'(

Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn 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.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Samantha 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.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC 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
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Samantha 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
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC 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
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Francesca 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?
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC 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
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Francesca 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.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC 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.




 
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: fajita 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.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Bodgeitandscarper 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?
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on April 23, 2018, 08:57:25 AM
The problems I had with BT email addresses were on completely different forums, not SMF.  I know that the discussion on the support forums for that software are completely useless - everyone has a different idea, but the simple fact remains that I changed the email address I was using, and the notifications started coming through.  The same thing happened here when I changed from using a BT address.

It is not down to the software and they are not being put into spam folders.  They are being removed at some point after they have left the forum, and before they reach your account.  We have no control over that.  The most likely scenario is that a server somewhere en route is recognising them as automated emails and removing them.  They are automated emails, and if we did something to hide that fact (if indeed there is anything that could be done) we would get blacklisted all over the place.

The link you provided to the discussion on the SMF support forum says 'hotmail is hard to deliver to'.

New post notifications are not shown on the forum itself - Unread Topics should cover that need.

[Crossposted with Bodge - that might help if the messages were going into a spam folder, but not necessarily - it depends why they're being marked as spam.]
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Francesca on April 23, 2018, 09:35:28 AM
Could you try adding the admin@ email address to your preferred contacts @CarolC ? That might fix the problem or at least we can discount it as an option.

Do you have an alternative email address you could swap to just to see if those come through, then switch back? (I know you wouldn't want emails going to a different address - just as a test).

There are a number of email providers that block emails in different ways - it's a very difficult area to debug. I am sure it is not a problem with the forum software but simply the algorithm deciding what gets through to you doesn't like it for some reason. (As I said, I have the same issue with Quidco and Gmail for some reason - I never get them).
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC on April 23, 2018, 22:56:51 PM
Hi! I sent an email to admin@thesewingplace.org.uk from that account so it will be interesting to see if you get it, and as you say, if I get notified of any responses after doing that.

I've looked in all my junk folders again today several times, and again nothing. So weird. Maybe it's trying to tell me I should spend less time on ye interwebs and more time sewing!

 :snip: :vintage: :thread: :sew:
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Francesca on April 24, 2018, 09:40:53 AM
That's great. The Admin email goes to MrIminei so we will grab him to check when he's online :)

Is there a way you can add that email to your preferred senders list in Hotmail though? Or perhaps somewhere in your settings you have "Whitelist"?
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC on April 24, 2018, 11:25:58 AM
Is there a way you can add that email to your preferred senders list in Hotmail though? Or perhaps somewhere in your settings you have "Whitelist"?

In short, I think not - one can unblock senders whose emails have gone through to junk, but you cannot (as far as I can find in their help pages - see here (https://support.office.com/en-gb/article/Block-senders-or-unblock-senders-in-Outlook-com-afba1c94-77bb-4f50-8b85-057cf52f4d5e)), pre-unblock them.

I had already added you to my regular contacts list, and by emailing you in hotmail directly that automatically added you to my hotmail list, but I still didn't get a notification this morning.

It would be easy if stuff just went to junk, but it doesn't. It doesn't get anywhere near my account. The problem is earlier than that in the  system, between it leaving TSP and Outlook accepting it as a message for my hotmail account. What I read (as far as I understood it) in the Simple Machines forum material is that some possibilities are that it is deemed to be coming from a bad IP address or that the format of the message isn't recognised/accepted for some reason. I think it also suggested that it may be possible for you to get yourselves added to hotmail's acceptable sender list.

One thing to consider when seeing if others with hotmail can get notifications is do they have hotmail.com as I do, or hotmail.co.uk? Because we are mostly in the UK, most people here probably have the latter, so it could be specific to .com - maybe because you are in the UK, it thinks you are spam....?
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Francesca on April 24, 2018, 11:32:15 AM
One thing to consider when seeing if others with hotmail can get notifications is do they have hotmail.com as I do, or hotmail.co.uk? Because we are mostly in the UK, most people here probably have the latter, so it could be specific to .com - maybe because you are in the UK, it thinks you are spam....?

We've got a mixture of both so I don't think it's a case of specifically hotmail users. Just some users. It's not a blanket rule that hotmail is applying to all accounts. Did you hear back from Hotmail support about it at all and could you ask if they have any sort of whitelist for your account that you can add TSP emails to?
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on April 24, 2018, 12:02:39 PM
BTW I can reassure you that we do not have a bad IP address - I have checked on 3 different blacklist checkers and we came back squeaky clean from all of them.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC on April 24, 2018, 12:35:58 PM
Did you hear back from Hotmail support about it at all and could you ask if they have any sort of whitelist for your account that you can add TSP emails to?

In answer to the first part, no, I haven't (grr), but I think the request may be better coming from you.

For the second, I asked Mr google, and found a few things.  It is likely to be something, even a small thing, at your end that is causing hotmail.com to reject the messages. What do your logs say? Do they suggest messages are going out to me (I should have had a bunch this morning) or are you getting bounce back errors?

Some of these might provide a clue:

https://postmaster.live.com/pm/troubleshooting.aspx

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/getsupport?oaspworkflow=start_1.0.0.0&wfname=capsub&productkey=edfsmsbl3&locale=en-us&forceorigin=esmc&ccsid=636601656637469959

https://forums.cpanel.net/threads/cannot-send-emails-to-hotmail-accounts.619687/

https://www.serverintellect.com/support/email/sending-to-hotmail/


Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Francesca on April 24, 2018, 12:41:10 PM
For the second, I asked Mr google, and found a few things.  It is likely to be something, even a small thing, at your end that is causing hotmail.com to reject the messages. What do your logs say? Do they suggest messages are going out to me (I should have had a bunch this morning) or are you getting bounce back errors?

I can confirm this is not a problem with our emails not going out. We are not getting bounceback, and the emails are going out as they should according to our logs. I'm afraid this is not something at our end.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC on April 24, 2018, 13:07:57 PM
Did you read this thread that I linked to above? https://forums.cpanel.net/threads/cannot-send-emails-to-hotmail-accounts.619687/

It is talking about exactly this issue, which isn't unique to TSP, and suggests a bunch of possible fixes including settings to check and also suggests trying a new, clean IP address to see if that helps. You can contact hotmail/outlook yourself, too, and will have details of how you are sending things that I don't have.

Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC on April 24, 2018, 13:20:00 PM
Hi again - please see above re your settings.

I just got a response from hotmail, and I have now found the safe sender list and added you to it as well as to my contacts. The email says, among other things, that you should contact them and they will try to add you to their lists. This is what the posts I've been linking to also say, so I think it would be good if you could try that as the emails ought to go through automatically.

### Do not reply below this line ###   
Outlook.com Support   
April 24, 2018, 11:58 +0000   
Hi Carol,

Thank you for your detailed response, I appreciate it. These information really helps. I understand that you’re not receiving emails from this particular website for some reason, and I know how important it is to be able to receive all incoming emails at all times to prevent missing out on anything.

One of the most common reason why emails from their domain doesn’t come through the Outlook.com, is because their domain is restricted or black listed from the Outlook domain. Emails from a particular domain are being blocked, because they did not pass the Outlook.com email sending policy, which is influenced by a number of factors related to:
• IP address
• Domain
• Authentication
• List accuracy
• Complaint rate
• Content of the email

Let us try to add the admin@thesewingplace.org.uk domain/email address to your Safe Sender list. Here’s how (Please find attached screenshot for reference):
1. Log on to https://outlook.live.com/
2. On the upper-right part of the screen, click Cog/Gear icon > click “Options” > click “Mail” tab on the left side of the screen
3. Under “Junk email” tab, click “Safe senders”
4. Type the admin@thesewingplace.org.uk domain address, then click on the "+" sign to add it
5. Click “Save” to save changes
Note: Monitor your outlook.com account and see if you’ll be able to receive emails from admin@thesewingplace.org.uk

If the issue persists, we may need to request to remove the domain in question from the black list. We highly suggest to contact the support team for admin@thesewingplace.org.uk and have them fill-out the form to request the whitelisting of their email address/domain. They have the information to complete the form and must be submitted from their end.

You can forward the link below to them:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/getsupport?oaspworkflow=start_1.0.0.0&wfname=capsub&productkey=edfsmsbl3&locale=en-us&ccsid=636421898757860784

Once submitted, our Outlook.com Deliverability Support will communicate with the Support Representative of admin@thesewingplace.org.uk for updates and approval, please proceed on emailing them for queries and clarifications.

We appreciate your efforts and cooperation towards this matter. I hope everything goes well. Have a great day!


Warmest regards,
Liel J. – Outlook.com Support
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Francesca on April 24, 2018, 13:48:30 PM
Hopefully the addition of the email to your preferred senders list will be the trick. I can confirm as Acorn did that we are not blacklisted.

As we said many other hotmail users receive our mail fine, so the problems on your linked thread refer to all hotmail users. Our forum sends to most hotmail users just fine (yours is the only case we've had so far), and our IP is clean.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC on April 24, 2018, 14:25:50 PM
Hopefully the addition of the email to your preferred senders list will be the trick. I can confirm as Acorn did that we are not blacklisted.

As we said many other hotmail users receive our mail fine, so the problems on your linked thread refer to all hotmail users. Our forum sends to most hotmail users just fine (yours is the only case we've had so far), and our IP is clean.

Nada. Not in junk, not in my inbox. 

Please, please can you at least try some of the stuff I've suggested, not least contacting hotmail yourselves. As they say, I cannot do it for you.

There does seem to be an assumption here that this is only me, but as I said before, I am just the only person who spoke up and it has taken me 6 months of being irritated by it to actually bother to say anything, so there may well be others. You say the forum emails other hotmail users OK, but your records show you email me fine and that's not the case from where I sit.

I am not being a pain, this is a genuine problem and has caused me real problems in the last week. I wanted to buy the Bernina L220 coverstitch that was advertised for sale. I was the first person to ask for it, but because I didn't get a notification to the seller's reply, and didn't immediately look for one, she thought I didn't want it and gave first refusal to the next person to ask, who then bought it. I am not cross with the second person and wish them well with their new toy, but I am disappointed and frustrated.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Bodgeitandscarper on April 24, 2018, 15:50:56 PM
@CarolC  (although I suspect the notification for that won't reach you  :( ), would setting up another email account just for here be of any help to you?  Perhaps a gmail one? 
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC on April 24, 2018, 19:52:02 PM
CarolC, we have done the things you've suggested. We know how the forum works and we know our email is set up correctly.

OK, but have you also filled in the hotmail whitelist request form I sent you the link for? Please can you try it if you haven't. I can't do it for you. They are so strict, it could be just a really minor thing, and so easily sorted out by them.
(here it is again - https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/getsupport?oaspworkflow=start_1.0.0.0&wfname=capsub&productkey=edfsmsbl3&locale=en-us&ccsid=636421898757860784&forceorigin=esmc)

@Bodgeitandscarper - I could redo my settings with another email address, but on many levels I don't really think i should have to. This is really not me, I've made every setting change it's possible to make and they are all correct now and it still doesn't work. It appears that somehow TSP has gotten all or part of itself blacklisted by hotmail.com so that the messages never get near me (and probably other people too). If @Francesca or one of the other admins asks for it to be whitelisted by them and it still doesn't work, then I'll be happy to change, but in the meantime, I feel quite strongly that every effort should be made to get it fixed so it doesn't happen to other people. Someone might try to sign up, not get notified, and go away...

Re the coverstitch, it's really not a problem beyond making me more niggled than I might be with the no notifications thing! On the other hand, if that's the case, then it was a bit naughty of her to say to me that it was definitely still available when I asked for it.... It would have been better to say that you'd already asked and were thinking, I'll let you know, etc. It's fine, though, and I've decided to support my local economy and buy a Juki from a local shop instead, plus they can teach me how to use it. It's not that much more once I take shipping into account as I couldn't have collected. I'd been dithering about getting one, so it's spurred me to do it.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on April 24, 2018, 20:06:48 PM
@CarolC You need to recognise that Fran and I have a great deal of experience in running forums and websites and know what we are doing.  I have been doing this for over 13 years.  We know where to look for advice and support, and which advice is not worth reading.  We do not need lists and lists of links that you have come across by searching.  You are helping nobody by doing this.  We have taken all appropriate action.  In addition, Fran contacted Hotmail a while ago, and has so far had no response from them.

As we have said many times, we are not blacklisted either by IP address or domain name.  Please do not make statements such as that in your previous post.  By doing so you are breaking the rules of the forum which you agreed to when you signed up. 

In addition, please do not criticise other members as you have done in your previous post.  Once again you are breaking the rules of the forum by doing so.

10% of our users have hotmail addresses listed.  Nobody else has complained, but at least one other person has said that her notifications reach her account. 




Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: CarolC on April 24, 2018, 22:19:05 PM
@Acorn - OK, if you've done everything there is to do, that's fab. I wasn't clear you'd actually contacted hotmail, so that's my confusion. They were a bit slow to reply to me, too, so hopefully they'll get back you at some point.

In aid of trying to make my side better, I've tried to set up a wholly new account here (Sewingforfun) using an outlook.com account to see if it's something wrong with this particular account. I haven't had a confirmation yet that it's live, but will make sure the settings are all set to full throttle notify when I do. How long does that usually take? (No hurry just so I know when I might need to worry I haven't got it).

I've also asked my husband if I can "borrow" his email address to use as the notification account for this account in case it's something more specific to me and my email. He's not home tonight, but hopefully we can try this tomorrow or later in the week.

Oh, and do we know if Mr Immeni has been online and had a chance to just reply directly to the email I sent earlier to the admin account? I haven't had a reply but maybe he hasn't been around yet.

Carol x
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Francesca on April 24, 2018, 23:16:17 PM
I can confirm receipt of your email to admin@ and have replied. All new registrations are processed in the AM at some point.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: fajita on April 25, 2018, 17:02:34 PM
I've just checked my junk mail, and it seems the last notification I got was 6th April.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Francesca on April 25, 2018, 17:07:33 PM
Thanks for updating us Fajita. Hotmail have confirmed we are not blacklisted by them. I will see which other members are on Hotmail and ask them if they have received notifications.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Celia on April 25, 2018, 23:18:13 PM


@Bodgeitandscarper -

Re the coverstitch, it's really not a problem beyond making me more niggled than I might be with the no notifications thing! On the other hand, if that's the case, then it was a bit naughty of her to say to me that it was definitely still available when I asked for it.... It would have been better to say that you'd already asked and were thinking, I'll let you know, etc. It's fine, though, and I've decided to support my local economy and buy a Juki from a local shop instead, plus they can teach me how to use it. It's not that much more once I take shipping into account as I couldn't have collected. I'd been dithering about getting one, so it's spurred me to do it.


I am very sorry you feel like this, You both contacted me sepertly on the same day, one on line and one by personnel message, when you asked the machine was still available,  my message to you said there was someone else interested and I did also say I was not interested in posting it,  I did say this in my original add,  obviously you did not receive my message and therefore did not reply to me so I thought you were not interested if I would not post it,  I then accepted Francesca’s offer as she was willing to collect the machine.

I really am very sorry about any misunderstanding  but I hope you are very happy with your new punchase.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Sewingforfun on April 26, 2018, 14:58:42 PM
test
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Sewingforfun on May 16, 2018, 08:40:19 AM
Hi! Just wondering if you’d had any luck getting this issue sorted out with hotmail and outlook. I’m not getting notifications in this account either.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: UttaRetch on May 16, 2018, 08:59:40 AM
I also use outlook and the notification of PMs and @mentions is patchy to say the least - I logged in today to see a 'profile message' but have nothing from outlook.  The problem does not lie with this forum.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on May 16, 2018, 09:25:17 AM
I also use outlook and the notification of PMs and @mentions is patchy to say the least - I logged in today to see a 'profile message' but have nothing from outlook.  The problem does not lie with this forum.

No, it doesn't.  I recently had a reply from BT about other emails going missing or being returned as undeliverable (nothing to do with this forum).  They said "We are currently experiencing an extensive spam campaign in which many formats of spam message are being sent from a large global distribution of servers using a wide range of changing domains."

It seems that their response to this is to block anything and everything that could possibly be spam, and never mind the masses of innocent emails that are lost as collateral damage.  These emails don't even end up in a spam folder.  They just never arrive.  I am sure that other email providers are doing similar things.

I have a BT email account with subaccounts and I've also just discovered that I can no longer send emails from one subaccount to the other - which is something of a problem, as Mr Acorn's private email address is a subaccount.  I've asked BT how they can justify this, since it means that their email accounts are not fit for purpose, but unsurprisingly I've had no further response from them.

If you are having problems it is worth changing the email address in your account (if you have another one from a  different provider), but there are no guarantees...
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: UttaRetch on May 16, 2018, 14:50:43 PM
@Acorn: I have several accounts, one through my ISP and linked to my real name, the aforesaid outlook also linked to my real name, and a couple of gmail aliases.  The outlook is longstanding and is used for 'business purposes', so I am reluctant to mess with it. 
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Bogwoppit on May 16, 2018, 18:35:43 PM
I have a long standing hotmail.com account. Tried putting on notifications for several threads this morning. Nothing in Hotmail. Doesn't surprise me. I would say they get lost somewhere in Hotmail. I subscribed twice to a mailing list, once with Hotmail and once with Gmail. In the last couple of weeks I've only got the Gmail emails through, not both.

My husband recently stopped running a large volume time critical email alert service as emails were no longer guaranteed to be quick. He did a study of providers and found Yahoo the worst, BT apparently use the same stuff. Being told the conditions are right to see the northern lights two days late is pretty rubbish. All to do with how they handle possible junk/spam mail.

I don't myself need notification on the sewing forum, it's small enough for me to check with the unread posts feature.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on May 16, 2018, 19:29:58 PM
Oooh - is he involved in Aurorawatch @Bogwoppit ?  I subscribe to that... with my BT (Yahoo) email address... and I haven't had any notifications for a very, very long time.  I did get an email from them today asking me to fill in a survey though.

I think I'll change the email address I'm using with them.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Bogwoppit on May 16, 2018, 19:55:15 PM
@Acorn  You guessed right. He'd say not to rely on email for alerts at all. There's info on the website about other methods. He recently left the university to work in industry and so spends less time on it.

I certainly read less and less email these days, just scroll through and delete. But I don't have a desk job.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on May 16, 2018, 20:08:07 PM
Thanks @Bogwoppit - I've just unsubscribed my email address and resubscribed with another (I checked, and the last email came through last November!!!)  I do also follow them on Facebook, fortunately.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: BrendaP on May 17, 2018, 08:44:49 AM
I get email notifications ... sometimes.  I thought that they always came through but I've just seen that Imi mentioned me in "Today, 17th May" or whatever the exact title is, and it showed in the profile and my mentions at the top of the page but no email! 

It doesn't bother me, but there is something strange going on in the ether.  I'm with a small independent ISP who takes the opposite view from Yahoo, BT, AOL etc, he doesn't interfere too much by blocking more than he should.

It's much more imortant that PMs come through; they do, as email notification and from the menu bar at the top of the page.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Iminei on May 17, 2018, 08:51:25 AM
Give it a bit of time @BrendaP  !!! ;)
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on May 17, 2018, 09:25:44 AM
@BrendaP Unfortunately emails pass through a number of servers as they wing their way to you, so although your own ISP may be more rational than most, your emails may fall prey to one of the ones that don't care along the way.

I think (hope) that something has to be done soon.  My work emails to my boss have been blocked recently (BT to Gmail) even when I'm sending a reply to an email originally sent by her.  Whatever they need to do to thwart spam, it doesn't have to be this clumsy.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Sewingforfun on May 18, 2018, 18:31:36 PM
I've finally given in and changed my notification email to a gmail account on the grounds that the outlook/hotmail problem just isn't getting sorted out, and I do like to have notifications. I did get the "you've changed your email" email, so hopefully it will keep working.

And @Acorn - how irritating about your work emails! And how weird. You'd think you could reply to something sent directly to you by someone you'd corresponded with before.... Does it also happen if you log in from a totally different computer?
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: BrendaP on May 18, 2018, 18:37:22 PM
I never did get the notification from @Iminei  but I have just received two notifications, from you @Acorn and from @Tamnymore  so maybe it depends on the ISP who the originator is with.   

ETA - I've just looked at the thread which gave me the mentions and I see that there's also one from @Kwaaked (which was before the other two) but that hasn't come through to my emails.

Hmmm!  ?????
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on May 18, 2018, 19:05:29 PM
There seems to be no logic to it at all - you would expect emails going from the forum to a particular email address would consistently either arrive or not - but no.  Some are clearly always being weeded out, but others only sometimes.

It makes no difference which computer I use.  I forced a change in my IP address, and that made no difference either.  However, I have just changed the server that I use to send my BT emails and some - but not all - are now getting through.   -<
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Sewingforfun on May 18, 2018, 21:52:35 PM
There seems to be no logic to it at all - you would expect emails going from the forum to a particular email address would consistently either arrive or not - but no.  Some are clearly always being weeded out, but others only sometimes.

It makes no difference which computer I use.  I forced a change in my IP address, and that made no difference either.  However, I have just changed the server that I use to send my BT emails and some - but not all - are now getting through.   -<

 :( indeed! Have you tried a carrier pigeon?
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: fajita on May 20, 2018, 11:23:07 AM
I got a notification from the 'florals rule' section today.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Sewsuzie on May 24, 2018, 21:10:33 PM
Just got my 1st email notification of the year, to my Hotmail account. Wonder if it was a fluke, or maybe I'll get more now.  :) :)

Suzie  :vintage:
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on May 24, 2018, 21:19:45 PM
I have my fingers crossed that one of the providers just might be getting their act together!
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: fajita on May 24, 2018, 22:47:12 PM
I've had no more since that one on the 20th.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Sewsuzie on May 25, 2018, 15:48:34 PM
I think mine was a one-off too  :(. No more since.

Suzie  :vintage:
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: fajita on June 02, 2018, 09:19:52 AM
I got three more notifications this morning.  :flower:
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Sewsuzie on June 02, 2018, 09:33:06 AM
Ooh, another notification here too!  :)

Suzie  :vintage:
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Sewingforfun on December 19, 2018, 21:58:26 PM
The notifications have now died on my new account.... (I never did manage to recover CarolC after the original issues). There should have been some on my recent thread. And no, they aren't in my junk mail; yes, I was getting notifications at some point in the past; and this is gmail not hotmail. The frustrating thing is that, as ever, there is no way of knowing what you've missed unless you go looking for it. Aaarrrggghhhh....!
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Acorn on December 19, 2018, 22:07:56 PM
As before, there is nothing we can do about it.  The notifications are being sent, but if at some point your email provider weeds them out because they are automated emails, then they will not arrive.  It is happening all over the internet as ISPs try to stem the flood of spam by using a sledgehammer approach.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Sewingforfun on December 21, 2018, 19:05:48 PM
As before, there is nothing we can do about it.  The notifications are being sent, but if at some point your email provider weeds them out because they are automated emails, then they will not arrive.  It is happening all over the internet as ISPs try to stem the flood of spam by using a sledgehammer approach.

I know, it's just frustrating...!  :( They also have now turned up, but in a bunch, after I posted here and some time after the original replies were posted. Weird.
Title: Re: Missing Notifications and DMs
Post by: Marniesews on December 21, 2018, 23:26:52 PM
I'm on gmail but had no notifications at all for ages. I've been so busy recently and not popped in here for a few weeks or more so the lack of notifications hadn't really registered with me. Difficult to know if my lack of attendance is the reason I've had no notificaitons (because I've not posted). However, I did have a dm that was sent as an email with content rather than a notification with a link to the forum to reply.

Hoping to find more time in the New Year to visit more often.