PMs – Can Recipient ALWAYS Reply to a PM?

[pdco]

....
Upon clicking on “User Control Panel”, a menu, labeled “Options”, appears on the left side of the screen.

........under “Options”, the item “Board Preferences” appears; and

........ under "Board Preferences", the item “Edit global settings” appears; and

........ under "Edit global settings", the 3rd option is:

................ “Allow users to send you private messages.” ........“Yes”........“No”

................ “Note that administrators and moderators will always be able to send you messages.”

Regarding this 3rd option, (under "Edit global settings"), I have specified:....“No”.


I have observed, concerning posted messages (i.e., messages appearing in any given thread), that:

……..if I click on on the pm-button (at the bottom of the screen), I obtain a "quote post" screen; and

……..if (in this "quote post" screen) I then type a message and click on the “Submit” button (at the bottom of the screen),

this places, in my "Outbox", a reference to my just-typed message (which is labeled with the subject-line of my just-typed message, and which subject-line-label is formatted as a link, so that, when I click on this link, the screen displays the message I have just “sent”.

This displayed-message contains, at the bottom of the screen, a “Reply”-button.

QUESTION: Does the presence of this “Reply”-button mean that any recipient (of this type of PM from me) can
...............ALWAYS send me a reply, by clicking on this “Reply”-button in the PM I have sent (even though I have
....................specified, in myGlobal Settings, that users not be allowed to send me private messages)?

[LarryB]

Richard will have to answer this but it seems logical that if you PM someone they can PM you in return, while you can prevent anyone that you do not contact from PMing you.

[OldNTired]

Richard will have to answer this but it seems logical that if you PM someone they can PM you in return, while you can prevent anyone that you do not contact from PMing you.

That would be logical, but that is not the case. I recently received a PM but was not able to respond. After clicking REPLY, the TO field said “none” and a red message said: “Some users couldn’t be added as they have disabled private message receipt.”

[dave the rave]

That's bizarre. I don't think people should be permitted to send PMs if they choose not to receive them. Personal messaging should never be one-way only!

[Dorothy Saunders]

My thoughts exactly!

[Bob Ross]

That's bizarre. I don't think people should be permitted to send PMs if they choose not to receive them. Personal messaging should never be one-way only!

As a long time user of phpBB boards, this is an oddity of the software; usually people who opt out of PMs forget that they have done so when they decide to send a PM.

Google: "Some users couldn’t be added as they have disabled private message receipt" and you'll get a couple thousand discussions of the point.

This oddity is not unique to the WSA forum. I vaguely remember a discussion some time ago that PM would be reprogrammed so that a user who opted out of receiving PMs could not send PMs. Unless a more recent version has done so, it's a long standing "bug" that remains to be "fixed" someday.

Bob

[OldNTired]

That's bizarre. I don't think people should be permitted to send PMs if they choose not to receive them. Personal messaging should never be one-way only!

If someone sent me a “one-way” PM that I felt compelled to answer (a challenging or otherwise negative remark), I would publicly – without naming – ask the person to permit me to reply privately. If I was refused and I still felt compelled to respond, then I would do so publicly.

The only thing regrettable about the very supportive PM I got was that I couldn’t thank the sender.

My thought after the PM was that the sender presumed that I could reply. After all, my participation in this topic was to make a correction after others made that very presumption, right?

[LarryB]

If such a situation were to occur please notify a MODERATOR or ADMINISTRATOR rather than a public airing. We will handle it ASAP.

[dave the rave]

Still, how about this idea:

If a person does not wish to receive PMs, they should not be permitted to send them. Isn't this reasonable?

[OldNTired]

If such a situation were to occur please notify a MODERATOR or ADMINISTRATOR rather than a public airing. We will handle it ASAP.

So you're wanting me to be...? What...? Civil?