Unable to send messages to other members

[DanGoodman]

Hi,

10 months ago I was able to send messages to people I had not previously messaged, but when I tried that this week I received an error from the forum telling me I was only allowed to send 0 messages each day. I can still send messages to people I have previously messaged, so this appears to only effect me sending messages to new people. I am assuming this is an anti spam measure that has somehow been incorrectly set for me, and wondered how to get it corrected.

 

Many thanks

 

Daniel

[mrsmelly]

I dont think you have done enough posts. Just post some crap on some threads ( most stuff we all put is crap anyway ) and up your post count and it will probably work.

[doratheexplorer]

You need to have 5 or more posts on the forum. 

 

If you thank me for this, you'll be up to 3.  Only 2 more to go.

[DanGoodman]

Thanks, seems a little aggressive on the anti spam measures.

And another pointless post to reach my 5 a day.

Ok, apparently that doesn't count.

@doratheexplorer could you post to this again, so my next post will be treated as a new one? This would seem better than spamming the forum elsewhere.

Edited February 10, 2022 by DanGoodman

[doratheexplorer]

Do I have to?

[DanGoodman]

@doratheexplorer could you post to this again, so my next post will be treated as a new one? This would seem better than spamming the forum elsewhere.

 

Thanks

Ok, I now have 5 posts, but I still cannot send messages to people. Any other ideas?

[haggis]

8 minutes ago, DanGoodman said:

@doratheexplorer could you post to this again, so my next post will be treated as a new one? This would seem better than spamming the forum elsewhere.

 

Thanks

Ok, I now have 5 posts, but I still cannot send messages to people. Any other ideas?

Silly question, but are you  logged in?

[DanGoodman]

yes

[PCSB]

Not sure how this software works but previous forums I've admin'd the software ran a timer task to update counters and such. If the minimum limit is 5, then maybe its just a case of being patient, i.e. give it an hour and hopefully if it is a timer then it will have run and you can message.

[DanGoodman]

Ok, I'll wait and see what it does tomorrow. Interestingly though I note that I am marked as a "New Member" where as almost everyone else is marked as a "Member", so I'll probably be able to tell when I escape this trap. As a wider point, I think the introduction of this restriction over the last year is a bit too strong, and I'd make the same comment about the enforced time between searches as it is annoying to search for something, realise you didn't find it and then have to wait 30 seconds before you can search again. Lifting the limits a little on both of these would still stop robots causing problems, without restricting genuine users.

[doratheexplorer]

34 minutes ago, DanGoodman said:

Ok, I'll wait and see what it does tomorrow. Interestingly though I note that I am marked as a "New Member" where as almost everyone else is marked as a "Member", so I'll probably be able to tell when I escape this trap. As a wider point, I think the introduction of this restriction over the last year is a bit too strong, and I'd make the same comment about the enforced time between searches as it is annoying to search for something, realise you didn't find it and then have to wait 30 seconds before you can search again. Lifting the limits a little on both of these would still stop robots causing problems, without restricting genuine users.

AFAIK the 5 posts thing isn't new.  It's been there for years.  You being able to message people previously is the oddity.  I happen to think it's a good idea as it encourages participation in the forum, which is the whole point of this site.  It also stops people joining with the sole intention of spamming/harrassing members.  There are plenty of online forums who moderate every new thread, with moderators needing to approve every topic before it gets posted.  That doesn't happen here, but it does mean that spam posts appear from time to time, which the moderators have to deal with.

[Tony Brooks]

If the OP is marked as a new member then presumably something caused his original membership to disappear and that explains why he had to redo his post count. As far as I know the five posts thing has been in place as long as I have been a member and that is probably about 20 years.

 

I wonder if anything is stored in a cookie on our computers so a new computer could delete your membership, but I have seen no sign of anything like that.

[DanGoodman]

I'm pretty sure it is server side as the behaviour is the same on all the machines I have, and none of them are newer that 3 years. Also my profile knows that I joined in December 2020, and it remembers my post from then. When I was messaging in April last year my post count was 1 and this was not a problem, so something has changed.

[PCSB]

2 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

If the OP is marked as a new member then presumably something caused his original membership to disappear and that explains why he had to redo his post count. As far as I know the five posts thing has been in place as long as I have been a member and that is probably about 20 years.

 

I wonder if anything is stored in a cookie on our computers so a new computer could delete your membership, but I have seen no sign of anything like that.

His user id and password etc will be stored in a database on the server. I don't know what the criteria on this site is for changing from a New Member to Member is - possibly post count and/or time. The only thing likely to be stored in a cookie is whether or not he wants to be auto logged in and few tracking details, the rest will be in the Db. tbh, and this is not a dig at CWDF management, Invision is terrible software there are far better forum software out there. Invision is the only company that makde vBullettin look good

1 minute ago, DanGoodman said:

I'm pretty sure it is server side as the behaviour is the same on all the machines I have, and none of them are newer that 3 years. Also my profile knows that I joined in December 2020, and it remembers my post from then. When I was messaging in April last year my post count was 1 and this was not a problem, so something has changed.

Dan, just sent you a pm, see if you can reply to it ...

[David Mack]

51 minutes ago, DanGoodman said:

I'd make the same comment about the enforced time between searches as it is annoying to search for something, realise you didn't find it and then have to wait 30 seconds before you can search again.

That's a new one on me. I've never had problems doing back to back searches. 

Try contacting @RichM to see if there is some problem with your membership settings.

[DanGoodman]

Would love to send him a message, but the problem is I cannot send messages to new people :-).

[David Mack]

2 minutes ago, DanGoodman said:

Would love to send him a message, but the problem is I cannot send messages to new people :-).

I tagged him into my post, so he should see it.

[Guest]

59 minutes ago, DanGoodman said:

 and I'd make the same comment about the enforced time between searches as it is annoying to search for something, realise you didn't find it and then have to wait 30 seconds before you can search again. Lifting the limits a little on both of these would still stop robots causing problems, without restricting genuine users.

 

This only normally happens if you search when you are not logged in.

 

Once you log in there is no limit on when you can search again.

 

This would suggest there is something peculiar about your profile/login in info.

[BEngo]

Right at the bottom, in the centre of the coloured bit under the farcebook symbol is a 'Contact Us' link for account queries and their ilk

 Paste your problem on there and I am sure RichM will be able to help.

 

N

[Alan de Enfield]

7 minutes ago, BEngo said:

Right at the bottom, in the centre of the coloured bit under the farcebook symbol is a 'Contact Us'

 

It might be on a phone but is isn't on a laptop (it right over on the left hand side)

[DHutch]

I'll let @RichM know, as I can't think of anything myself currently. 

 

Thanks

[DanGoodman]

 

21 minutes ago, BEngo said:

Right at the bottom, in the centre of the coloured bit under the farcebook symbol is a 'Contact Us' link for account queries and their ilk

 Paste your problem on there and I am sure RichM will be able to help.

 

N

I sent a message about this to the contact us form 2 days ago, and have had no response. Given the number of other things that seem to be incorrect about the forums behaviour for me I would not be surprised to discover the messages did not get through.

 

D

[tree monkey]

44 minutes ago, DanGoodman said:

 

I sent a message about this to the contact us form 2 days ago, and have had no response. Given the number of other things that seem to be incorrect about the forums behaviour for me I would not be surprised to discover the messages did not get through.

 

D

Dhutch above is the big boss and he is now obviously aware

[Slim]

What I don't understand is that the original post shows that 11 previous ones had been made. to my addled brain that's more than 5

[RichM]

To send a direct message to another user, you currently need 10 posts or more.

 

In the past, we encountered a spam attack. As part of a wider & continual effort to maintain and keep the site secure, the above requirement is currently in place. We will review this again soon and if there's any changes we will let you know. 

 

In the meantime I have changed the error message so that it is clear although in this case you should no longer see this error given you now have more than 10 posts.

 

Apologies for any inconvenience.