Email Address Question
Jim Ewald
Posts: 733
Hi all,
We're finishing up the first phase of the email subscription system this week. Before we put a bow on it, we need to decide what address to use in the 'From:' field in the email message. Right now, we are using a generic address, TestForum@parallax.com. I think there are at least three options available.
1) Continue to use a generic email address, such as forums@parallax.com.
2) Use the poster's screen name and email address.
3) Use the poster's screen name and email address unless their profile says not to show their email address. In that case, we would use the generic email address.
What's your opinion?
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Jim
Parallax IT Dept.
We're finishing up the first phase of the email subscription system this week. Before we put a bow on it, we need to decide what address to use in the 'From:' field in the email message. Right now, we are using a generic address, TestForum@parallax.com. I think there are at least three options available.
1) Continue to use a generic email address, such as forums@parallax.com.
2) Use the poster's screen name and email address.
3) Use the poster's screen name and email address unless their profile says not to show their email address. In that case, we would use the generic email address.
What's your opinion?
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Jim
Parallax IT Dept.
Comments
Jim, your poll thinks I already voted. What gives? I actually want the option which is that of 3. Obviously there is something wrong. But what?
Gregg C Levine hansolofalcon@att.net
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Jim
Parallax IT Dept.
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Chris Savage
Knight Designs
324 West Main Street
P.O. Box 97
Montour Falls, NY 14865
(607) 535-6777
Business Page:·· http://www.knightdesigns.com
Personal Page:··· http://www.lightlink.com/dream/chris
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There are other mail headers I hope you will consider using as well, in addition to the From:. I will write a separate topic about those.
I assume that option three means using the profile name and either the registered address or the generic address, depending on the setting.
Daniel
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Jim
Parallax IT Dept.
A 'public' identity is required to register and participate, right? There is no 'privacy' of the screen name is there?
The reasonable assumption a member would make (or at least I would make) when give the choice of selecting whether their email-address 'private' or not is that it is indeed private when such is the choice. If not, why bother about any illusion of privacy?
Elsewhen, someone has clearly articulated one reason for tagging responses to people. Personally, I'd probably ignore any postings from someone who was unwilling to have their statements attributed to themselves. However, consistent use of a screen name does give me that sense of ownership.
For example, you now have at least four different persona. I first knew of you as 'IT Guy (Parallax)' which associated you with your company and implied a stature within that organization. In that character, it was understood that you spoke with some authority on the subjects at hand.
Second, I noticed that you are 'Jim'. Knowing that you are probably male has nothing to do with your role or voice-of-authority. But us is nice to know that you have a name, even though it may not actaually be 'Jim'.
Third, your avatar constantly reminds me that you were out riding on the nice days, instead of being in the office fixing the forum software <grin>. Again, it exposes a bit of personality that has nothing to do with your role or why I should pay attention to what you might say on the forum.
Fourth, your arrl.com address you used duing some of the testing gave a whole new perspective on why I would want to pay attention to your pronouncements.
I'm not meaning to pick on you in particular, but I tend to have built up an image, no matter how likely it is to be right, about many of the regular, and even occasional, contributers. Some I'll read regardless of the subject, others I'll ignore no matter the subject. In all cases, I'm using the public screen name (on this forum) or the name associated with the Yahoo messages, to make that selection.
For me, a generic only address will probably destine the message into the 'ignore' category.
Note, however, I'm not making that determination based on the presence or absence of an email address. Instead it is made on having no discernable way of assessing the importance of a message's content without having to read the whole thing. Yes, a book is sometimes judged by its cover.
Best Regards,
Daniel
It does appear that there is a mandate to protect the poster's email address if that is requested. I can get started on that change today.
I get your point about withholding the screen name. I was simply saying that I had not considered it when I assembled the options for the poll. I see no harm with including the screen name with a poster's email address.
The concern I have is that, when the poster has requested that their email address remain hidden, we assemble a from address that contains the poster's screen name and the generic email address. Anyone who doesn't take the time to understand that is likely to start sending email to the generic address, believing that they are communicating with the poster directly. If I'm the only one that see that as a concern, I'll gladly stand down and implement it.
As an aside, your detective work is quite good. I am employed by Parallax in the IT department, hold a general class amatuer radio license and ride my Harley every chance I get. Remind me to look you up if I ever need to track someone down out there on the Internet )
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Jim
Parallax IT Dept.
OTOH, If two-way email linkage becomes a reality, then the issue might be moot.
Daniel
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Jim
Parallax IT Dept.
How does one participate in the poll? There is nothing in the help area regarding "voting".
It appears as though one should press the "buttons" on the actual poll display at the top of this web page, but there is no active response from doing that. This is not progress the way I define it <sigh>.
Had I known how to participate, I would have opted for option #3.
Bruce Bates