New PM system

@Zhenlijiang

thanks,  yahoo just hasnt worked for me

so I guess If I want to use the PM system I will have to get a gmail address, my experience with yahoo so far is it just wont work with their PM, and they are not giving us other options if we choose to use  Cpod's PM.. I am going to get a gmail acct but I hate being forced into something to please someone else

lovelygreentea--I was about to PM you when I realized that wouldn't work!  I can tell you my email isn't yahoo.

Zhenlijiang

what email system are you using? I have yahoo and it doesnt seem to work with this new way and I dont want to change email addresses since I have already established my yahoo account for sometime now.

I guess in a perfect world we would have both options, the old way and using the new "improved PM system"

lovelygreentea, I'm not using gmail but it works fine for me (but like I've said before, I would prefer not to have to go to external e-mail for CPod PMs).

I really hope that Chinese Pod will listen & go back to the old system, after reading some of the posts it seems alot of poddies prefer the old way, also it appears to me that Gmail is the only email that works I really hate changing my email address just to satisfy someone else rather illogical plan

RJ,

Top idea.I like it.[Sorry,I thought you had meant some central community all encompassing contact list].That sounds very feasible and practical.

baba

it would be a list that you build yourself over time. However you find the person the first time is as we do it now, but you could save them to your own list for future reference.

RJ,

We must have been posting at the same time as I suddenly realised that that may have been what you meant and went back and posted it while you were typing [see above].I would find that useful.I can't see them posting a list of umpteen thousand usernames though.Supposedly it's covered by using the search function,but I've found this a little hit and miss.I suppose the number of people that actually post is somewhat smaller,but I have no idea what that would be.I have on occasion gone to the rankings tab if it's been a regular poster [the only use I've found for that tab...as bodawei commented earlier,there is no prize as far as I'm aware..and I agree with zhenlijiang..esp after recent complaints,it tends to be for me more of an embarassment].Mind you,if they are such regular posters as to be on that list then they're usually not so hard to find.Perhaps extending such a list to the top thousand or something and letting the search function take care of the rest.Dunno.What did you have in mind?

baba

contacts within cpod would simply be by username. Currently this is what is used to send initial messages correct? Same thing. Am I overlooking something? I dont see a problem.

RJ,

How do you envisage such a contacts list working without potentially letting the whole world know your email? [Or do you just mean a list of usernames in one place so you don't have to go searching?.I think that would be good.Trouble with that though is that aren't there hundreds of thousands of users?]

I agree with point 2.

I have been convinced to create a gmail account at least as an experiment. A couple things that would make this system more palatable would be:

1. a "contacts" list within cpod

2. notification (within cod) that there is new mail. It could be user-resetable and doesnt need to be a number, just and indication that there is a message or are messages that have arrived since the last time you cleared the notifier.

observations:

work email (based on outlook) does not work at all - probably due to the format used in the "sender" field which triggers high level spam filters?  

I have experimented with Yahoo mail and seems to work about 50% of the time with no obvious correlation to anything. Strange. Obviously there is a push toward gmail  here, intentional or not.

Oh boy, Obama is like Spock? If he's like the Spock of the new movie, (fistfights with fellow officers during a crisis, cuddles with Uhura in the turbolift, illogical vindictiveness) we should all be worried. If he's like the Spock of the earlier movies okie-doke, but just like him in "Voyage Home", he'll be dining on ashes one day. (Hmm... always loved that phrase.)

Anyway I'd bet any money that these days Obama would be too busy with his blackberry to take much notice of any movie. And it seems to me that many people are seeing what they want to see in that movie, not what's really there, but hey.

LDS? Illogical captain!  >:-I

\V/

Hi orangina,

The other person can't see your email address. Rest easy.

Hi raygo

Did you do a little too much "LDS" in the 1960s? ;-)

I stand by my comment that the new movie was actually not bad at all. No "Voyage Home" or "Wrath of Khan," I grant you. But a respectable piece of work.

And I thought this was an interesting comment from the reliably alert Hendrik Hertzberg.

So Romulans are more important than Klingons now? I'ts sad to see this kind of prejudice being displayed on Chinesepod. Next you'll be telling me that zombies don't matter, (that'll break John's heart), and that the new Star Trek film was really quite good, or something terrible like that.

Anyway I won't be happy with the new PM system until it comes with its own cloaking device and AI built in, so I get flagged automatically if someone who sends me a message is a zombie, or prejudiced against Klingons, or something like that.

So, just to be clear: The new PM system other people don't actually have your email address, correct? It is a little alarming to see a message in my personal email from someone I don't know... have never even seen their username... offering to study chinese. Or, as it came across "study chinese". Not that I am incapable of defending my own cyberspace.

Also, I believe paulinurus meant z-word the same way Craig Ferguson did... refering to the original definition of the unutterable "zombie" and expanding its definition by applying it to another term not to be taken in vain. But sheesh! It isn't like Romulans were being spoken of abusively!

So now Klingons are zombies. Klingon zombies! This is getting scary! We need 僵尸道长！And he'd better bring his batleth !

Henning,

Yeah,I saw that in your first post mate.I just didn't think that was what he was referring to,but you may well be right.I suppose we'll just have to wait for paulinurus to clarify.I was just trying to help;sorry if I've just added to the confusion.

Actually,maybe that 2nd definition in your link is what he meant.Dunno now.

Here is the relevant entry in the urban dictionary for enlignenment.

I could be wrong,but I thought paulinurus simply was using the letter "z" for the word "the"...Sometimes English speakers will do this if they are pretending to speak German.So I thought he was carefully avoiding the word "Klingon" by "euphemistically" referring to it as "the [or z] word".

You do? I remember that feeling. Maybe.

Well I've looked and looked and I can't find a z in the word Klingon!

And henning's a German one, not a living-in-China one!

Ah, thanks! Now I understand!

Henning,

z=the

z word i.e. Klingon 哈哈！

Well, I give up. No more PM. I refuse to open yet another email account just to monitor pm's which wont function at work (during lunch of course) (private chat and mail remain blocked), and where I still lose real time notification. Time to get more studying done. More chit less chat. ;-)

It seems to work. Just got my first spam mail via the new Cpod message service (-;

paulinurus: What is the Z-word?

Henning,

You lucky folks (note I didn't use the Z word) in China needing just one integrated email system to deal with everything and finding it convenient to also incorporate poddies messages in your email.

Us here we at least have two... office email and personal email, and never the two should meet.

In my personal email which I only open once or twice a week ....

cable company soliciting me to subscribe to more channels,

junk mail that got through the Mozilla junk filter

on line bills asking me to cough up the monthly offerings

friends sending me jokes or photos of their latest adventures/family news

politicians telling me how hard they're working on my behalf

travel agencies and airlines promoting their specials

company news on how my stocks are doing

clubs and associations reminding me upcoming meeting or dues due 

etc.etc.

and NOW thrown in the mix, are the Cpod messages. Grant you not many Cpod messages (only 18 in the last 5 months) but still why? why? why? throw them in the mix when there was that perfectly functional and simple Cpod messaging system.

Maybe a survey prior to this conversion would have shown 1) not many poddies message each other 2) most poddies (except Z ones) don't find it convenient integrating poddies messages in their email system 3) the old system was more than adequate. 

Maybe John should just have said "no" when people requested for more functions in that perfectly functional old system.   

John,

Now I'm thinking it's really inconvenient that there is no message count indicated here. It seems the boards might get extra traffic i.e., more posts prompting other poddies to go check for a PM sent?  Actually I'm not a big fan of having to go to my external e-mail to get CPod PMs, but if it is so much more convenient for others that is something I can live with.

I agree it's best if it could be left up to each user to update his/her own message count. As I think we would, because it is in our own interest to do so.

Thanks for listening!

That sounds reasonable.

@paulinurus: BTW: This is not about sorting 3 messages a month back and forth. It is about having everything relevant at one place. And that is my email-system with a strong Google search option on top of it. Unified messaging forever. And please, do not use the word "Klingon" in vain. :-P

Good idea Paulinurus

John

Is it doable?

Hi John,

Sounds good in theory, but then how would the CPod message count know whether you had gotten/read the message or not?  You can't rely on the recipient replying, so there's no good way to update the message count. Then it just becomes an ever-increasing number

How about the user clicking on the envelope to make the number disappear. After all, the envelope is now only for informing users that the old pm system no longer works. Someday you'll have to remove the envelope unless it has some other function.

Hi John

Then it just becomes an ever-increasing number.

It's much better than nothing. Actually the number has been very helpful for me, who see the number every day, in checking if there are new messages.

paulinurus,

John, I think there should be an indicator to show that a poddy has sent you a mail and its waiting in the external email account. Not everyone looks at their email daily.

Sounds good in theory, but then how would the CPod message count know whether you had gotten/read the message or not?  You can't rely on the recipient replying, so there's no good way to update the message count. Then it just becomes an ever-increasing number.

Hi paulinurus

I absolutely agree with you. Are we asking for the moon? I don't think so.

there should be an indicator to show that a poddy has sent you a mail and its waiting in the external email account. Not everyone looks at their email daily.

why can't we have the best of both worlds?

@RJ,

hmm... I wonder if this system works only on certain type of mail providers. Maybe it doesn't work well if you're on not gmail. Could you send me a message... I'm on gmail, and we can see if it works.

@babbardwan..Not good if there is no number indicator. Not everyone check their email daily. I've got friends who are very busy working who do not use emails regularly. 

@John

 John, I think there should be an indicator to show that a poddy has sent you a mail and its waiting in the external email account. Not everyone looks at their email daily. 

But, why can't we have the best of both worlds? Allow poddies who simply want to send messages to other poddies continue to use the old system. I suspect most poddies would not need to sort/find/store/categorize their emails to each other. Those that do who are like the klingons at Cpod using gmail extensively can opt to use this new system. Personally I don't see poddies wanting to find/store/categorize email messages from one another... fgs, we're just learning Chinese. 

RJ,

"I am still unable to recieve any messages"

...so you didn't receive my PM 21 hours ago then?

Paulinurus

I am still unable to recieve any messages. ?However,  I think we are on the verge of inventing "e-mail".

Paulinurus,

"Question: Where a poddy sends you a message from Cpod, is there a number indicator on the envelope to inform you that there is poddy mail waiting for you in your email account?"

Good question.I wondered the same thing.Unfortunately it appears you no longer get a number.

rj,

i just sent you a message and cc me. I note the following 

a) Cpod message appeared saying mail was sent

b) I did receive the cc in my gmail account

c) The message remained on Cpod (the message screen did not disappear) with the "send" button reading "resend".

RJ Did you receive the message?

Question: Where a poddy sends you a message from Cpod, is there a number indicator on the envelope to inform you that there is poddy mail waiting for you in your email account?

Raygo I couldn't tell which of your two replies was from your gmail--they looked identical except for the time (a minute apart) sent. Anyway I got both fine. 

(As for the "successfully sent" I probably only missed seeing it.)

raygo - actually it says "no reply to praxis" in the header if you just hit the email reply button. It was explained, you just missed it, or should have had your coffee first. I have yet to recieve one successful message yet.

My bad!

But surely if you reply to it like a regular email, the system should still send it to the intended person, right? Anyway if not CPod will need to make it totally clear that it will not work like a regular email.

raygo - your not helping :-)  No wonder I didnt get anything from you.

OK zhenlijiang I got it! Maybe this thing is working now. I'll reply to your message from my gmail as well as here right now. If you don't get a response direct from the gmail, let me know.

PS. Just realized that to reply to a message when you get the email, maybe you MUST click the 'reply to this message' button and thereby return to CPod's send message screen. If you just reply to it as if it was a regular email, it will send it back to CPod, but maybe not to the user you intend it for!

Raygo did you get mine (around 6 AM your time)? The cc to myself I received. There wasn't any "successfully sent" indication.

raygo

in theory, it works fine doesnt it?

I'll send another, using the CPod send a message link. (It really should be possible to answer a message using the email one recieves though shouldn't it?)

Nope, sorry Raygo, didnt get that one either :-(

Hey rj of course I replied! About 7 hours ago now, you didn't get it?!  I sent it directly from my gmail. I just checked the sent folder and it's there, marked to Chinesepod.

user deleted

John,

I did not get your relpy. Raygo got my message but I never got the CC. If he replied I never got that either, so it seems to be "working" very sporadically.  When I sent the first message to you, I did get the CC. 

If this situation constitutes "working properly", then you set the bar pretty low :-). Did you get both of my messages? I sent one from within the CC in my email. It took me to the cpod PM screen, and that seemed to work. (again, one time). A messaging system that sends only when it feels like it, and gives you no way to tell if the messages were recieved, can be very dangerous. All of my attempts were followed by a green "sucessfully sent" sign btw.

I dont see yahoo as the biggest threat - all you have to do is to look in the spam folder. This can be corrected by changing your yahoo email settings for recognizing spam. Situations such as mine, where it works only part of the time, is the biggest problem.

RJ

I've received RJ's messages and replied. Seems to be working properly. I CC'd myself on the replies and received them within seconds.

Yahoo mail is actually the biggest potential problem; it frequently marks CPod emails is spam. We're working on a solution. In the meantime, check your Yahoo Mail spam folder.

Let me answer a few questions from RJ's PM:

1. when you say download current mail or have them sent to your email, are you talking about just the pm inbox, the inbox and archived messages or the inbox, archives, and pm from the deleted file?

All of them together, separated by type.

2. is this supposed to be instant or will there be a significant time delay?

It should be delivered within seconds.

I got RJ's message, perhaps some messages have gone astray during the switchover, but it seems to be working now.

John,

I just sent messages to baba and Raygo. Raygo is gmail. I did not get the CC of either this time. I dont know if they recieved but nothing back yet.

Going to bed now. Nothing yet. I will be back at 4pm China time. Good luck.

RJ

John,

I got the CC this time and I sent you another from within the CC. Worked fine (If you got both messages). Please send me one.

RJ

I just sent another message to a poddie that uses yahoo mail and she did not get it. I did not get the CC this time either. She sent one to me and I did not recieve that one  and her CC did not work.

John

I just sent you a test message.

RJ

Hey guys,

We're definitely listening to your feedback on this change. We discussed on it on the blog previously, and the response was quite positive.  We've been testing it almost ever since, with very good results, but clearly, if mails are not getting through, this is a big problem.

RJ could you try messaging me? What email service are you using?

Anyone else not receiving messages, please let us know which email service you're using.  (It works like a dream on Gmail, threading conversations and everything. Our goal is for it to work as well on all email services.)

Raygo, 

 No message on this end. Not yet anyway. :-(

I don't think it's working. RJ I sent you a message about 12 hours ago, but I'm pretty sure now you didn't get it.

I did get an email yesterday evening from one of the CPod staff, but I'm not sure it was just an email or actually a PM done by email.

哎呀，乱七八糟！

I can see the new email approach as more of a benefit to the CPod staff than to the users. CPod staff likely deals with large volumes of PMs regarding payment, bugs, questions, etc, for which the current PM system is not a great tool. However from a user perspective, I think a self-contained system as previously existed worked fine - users didn't have to leave the website to receive messages from other users.

I tried sending myself a message to test it out but it said that wasn't allowed.A cc worked though.

Henning - its not working. I recieved no message and I tested it earlier with the same result.

Has anybody gotten this to work? 

For me this is much, much, much, much, much more convient - as long as the messages reach their intended destination (I sent a test message to RJ but am not sure it found its way...).

Exchange + Outlook + Google Desktop are definately more powerful than any handmade message system integrated into a web site. Besides issues of organization (folders, searchability, rule-based forewarding, integration with a calendar etc.),  the chances to overlook a new message are much smaller now. And I have a sent-folder.

:)

I'll have a chat with John tomorrow as he is our tech and linguistics mastermind. Nothing to do with majority etc, more about usability. Hang tight, we hope to have you some info tomorrow (John is working like mad getting AMS2 happening).

Hi rjberki

Yeah, it's too late. I still don't understand why ChinesePod abandoned such a convenient/helpful/quick message system. Is this also based on so-called "majority opinion"? I'm a lazy guy, so I just don't want to take the trouble to check/access a mailbox only for mails from Chinesepod poddies, since there are only several messages I receive a month anyway.

I agree changye, but its a done deal. I tried it this morning twice, and it didnt work for me. It said "message successfully sent" but the recipient did not get the message, nor did I get a copy in my email. ????  Maybe it only works in firefox? My next experiment.

To be honest, if this is the way it will be, I will just use email directly from now on. Why bother with the cpod end of it at all?

With the new PM system, can we only communicate via email? If so .......... wow, how inconvenient it is!

Ok,so the posting system is better as you can post content like you do here on the boards.Also,I see you can reply quite easily with the link provided.

Also tried directly downloading them.I wouldn't recommend doing this in notebook,as when I did this it was a complete mishmash.

I'd rather have them in my email system though then just downloaded.

Will one be able to respond to one's recent PM's from the email account? Is one's email address visible [I gather not ,but just thought I'd check] ?

What about notification of new PM's on the site? Will the envelope and number still be there?

Sorry,I know this was discussed  some time ago,but thought I'd verify the current situation.