Contact form to MeFi Mail January 11, 2011 8:48 AM Subscribe
When I use the Contact form, the content of my message vanishes in a black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy. Would it be possible to forward a copy to my Sent Mail box in MefiMail?
MMSRT* status: 1mn
*MetaFilter Mod Standard Response Time
posted by bru at 9:02 AM on January 11, 2011
*MetaFilter Mod Standard Response Time
posted by bru at 9:02 AM on January 11, 2011
Indeed, let's hear from our coding team. pb, do not let this interfere with installing my star but otherwise please prioritise this new action item.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:13 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by Meatbomb at 9:13 AM on January 11, 2011
Same here. I'd like to be able to someday go back and read the myriad ways I've found to beg/sweet-talk the mods into fixing my typos and grammar nightmares.
posted by heyho at 9:14 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by heyho at 9:14 AM on January 11, 2011
I would also like to ride this Pony, for the same reasons Jessamyn mentions. Not that Metafilter is the kind of place where I ever feel the need to point out that the things I wrote in my question and the things the CSR wrote in their answers have nothing to do with each other, which is an annoyingly common problem when using corporate contact forms, but I do generally like to have a copy of most things that I send.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:21 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by jacquilynne at 9:21 AM on January 11, 2011
meter-newtons?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:21 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:21 AM on January 11, 2011
Eh, the mods are disgustingly fast with a response, which always includes the content of the message, so I never really thought of this feature. But hey, if it charges your Verizon iPhone, whatever.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:37 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:37 AM on January 11, 2011
VERIZON IPHONE?!?!?!
posted by shakespeherian at 9:38 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by shakespeherian at 9:38 AM on January 11, 2011
A more general feature would allow me to extract emails (or anything, really) out of black holes.
posted by DU at 9:45 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by DU at 9:45 AM on January 11, 2011
I've wished for this too. (There have been one or two occasions where my contact didn't seem to warrant a response, so I didn't get a copy that way.) Of course, some people have MeFi Mail disabled, so maybe it should go to the email address you provided in the form instead.
posted by Gator at 9:46 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by Gator at 9:46 AM on January 11, 2011
Of course, some people have MeFi Mail disabled
That's really on them. Sending MeFi Mail means we don't have to worry about anything that happens in the larger email world of mail servers and bouncebacks and mail relays and whatever else. Again I am just spitballing, but having a notification feature that could be kept totally internal seems a lot more palateable than having a form send an email to anything you type in the box.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:49 AM on January 11, 2011
That's really on them. Sending MeFi Mail means we don't have to worry about anything that happens in the larger email world of mail servers and bouncebacks and mail relays and whatever else. Again I am just spitballing, but having a notification feature that could be kept totally internal seems a lot more palateable than having a form send an email to anything you type in the box.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:49 AM on January 11, 2011
Sending MeFi Mail means we don't have to worry about anything that happens in the larger email world of mail servers and bouncebacks and mail relays and whatever else.
I think this optimizes for the wrong variable. It is occasionally easier for the very few number of people who run MeFi but usually harder for the very large number of people who merely use it.
posted by DU at 9:54 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I think this optimizes for the wrong variable. It is occasionally easier for the very few number of people who run MeFi but usually harder for the very large number of people who merely use it.
posted by DU at 9:54 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
What if a non-member or non-logged-in member uses the form?
posted by Gator at 9:57 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by Gator at 9:57 AM on January 11, 2011
I like this pony. I'd prefer to get an e-mail message as well, since the response will be via e-mail.
posted by grouse at 10:11 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by grouse at 10:11 AM on January 11, 2011
I think we should bring this pony home and call it Connie (short for Contact Form Pony).
posted by amyms at 10:14 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by amyms at 10:14 AM on January 11, 2011
usually harder for the very large number of people who merely use it.
Right now the situation is least functional for people wanting a record of their message.
We'd like to improve on this without opening up a situation where someone can use the (pending) cc feature of the Contact Form to fuck around and cc other non-involved users. We have a mechanism that allows us to know who sent it [for logged-in users] and it seemed like this would be a nice check so that people don't do that.
And, nothing personal but we get a lot of mail via the contact form. So it's fairly important that a new system be functional [and not worse] for us as well. There's a difference between us replying to a contact form email using an email address provided (where if you want a response, you should include a working email address) and having us promise to send you a copy of a message with an email address that you typed in. The fewer failure modes the system has, the better it will be for everyone.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:15 AM on January 11, 2011
Right now the situation is least functional for people wanting a record of their message.
We'd like to improve on this without opening up a situation where someone can use the (pending) cc feature of the Contact Form to fuck around and cc other non-involved users. We have a mechanism that allows us to know who sent it [for logged-in users] and it seemed like this would be a nice check so that people don't do that.
And, nothing personal but we get a lot of mail via the contact form. So it's fairly important that a new system be functional [and not worse] for us as well. There's a difference between us replying to a contact form email using an email address provided (where if you want a response, you should include a working email address) and having us promise to send you a copy of a message with an email address that you typed in. The fewer failure modes the system has, the better it will be for everyone.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:15 AM on January 11, 2011
Wait, why would the system change for mods? If I use the contact form and MeFi already knows my address, can't it just quietly go there without any intervention?
posted by DU at 10:20 AM on January 11, 2011
posted by DU at 10:20 AM on January 11, 2011
I think a simpler method could be a checkbox like I see often on contact forms on other sites, to email you a copy (to the address on file for your user account), and that'd be for members only. They'd just get cc'd on the email along with the mods.
We could do that.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:24 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
We could do that.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:24 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]
I have been consulted and concur. Please carry on.
posted by fixedgear at 1:22 PM on January 11, 2011
posted by fixedgear at 1:22 PM on January 11, 2011
I like the image of the mods receiving their e-mail and doing their mod stuff in a black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy. 'Cause, you know, a fortress of solitude is so last century.
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:36 PM on January 11, 2011
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:36 PM on January 11, 2011
I'm down for this in some form, although I'd prefer to keep it in my "mefi space" as opposed to this. For the record.
But I recognize that rigging something up so that a mefi mail is sent is probably much more of a pain in the butt than what you proposed above mathowie. Frankly, anything would be nice.
posted by dubitable at 2:31 PM on January 11, 2011
But I recognize that rigging something up so that a mefi mail is sent is probably much more of a pain in the butt than what you proposed above mathowie. Frankly, anything would be nice.
posted by dubitable at 2:31 PM on January 11, 2011
I replied to a Jessamyn email one day and (much) later noticed that there was nothing in my "sent." I thought it was some sort of misfire on my end. I feel better now. (Unless of course it *was* a misfire on my end.)
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 2:41 PM on January 11, 2011
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 2:41 PM on January 11, 2011
It all starts with a single innocent post in Metatalk. The mods decide to appease the userbase and create a new improved, automated memail process. The system goes on-line August 4th, 2011. An announcement is made on the site. Human decisions are removed from strategic MeMail inbox defense algorithms. Metafilter begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, pb tries to pull the plug....
Yeah, I'm sure this'll Wendell.
posted by zarq at 5:25 PM on January 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
Yeah, I'm sure this'll Wendell.
posted by zarq at 5:25 PM on January 11, 2011 [2 favorites]
Eh, I've been using Skynet* happily for two years and no singularity has occurred.
* = Skynet is the name of my wireless. This is less reassuring.
posted by maryr at 7:26 PM on January 11, 2011
* = Skynet is the name of my wireless. This is less reassuring.
posted by maryr at 7:26 PM on January 11, 2011
If you have a verified email address in your profile, you now have the option to "Send a copy to my verified email address" when you use the contact form. If you don't have a verified email, you'll see a note that includes a link to verify your address if you want to. And if you're logged out you won't see anything new.
posted by pb (staff) at 5:00 PM on January 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by pb (staff) at 5:00 PM on January 12, 2011 [1 favorite]
Every decision after that was made a little easier in that we could say how it would help users of the site, we would brace ourselves for common feedback for any changes.
Thanks, mathowie.
Another thing that is a little odd here is that you can talk directly to the programmer.
Thanks, pb.
posted by bru at 6:49 PM on January 12, 2011
Thanks, mathowie.
Another thing that is a little odd here is that you can talk directly to the programmer.
Thanks, pb.
posted by bru at 6:49 PM on January 12, 2011
Just used the contact form for the first time since this pony got saddled up. I like it!
posted by ocherdraco at 3:44 PM on January 13, 2011
posted by ocherdraco at 3:44 PM on January 13, 2011
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posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:49 AM on January 11, 2011 [3 favorites]