[tomcfstories]

I realize this is a combination of a limitation and people not cleaning out their PM Inbox, but I have to say something here.  In general, this is one of the more sophisticated forums I've been on (not the members, I mean the tools....yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm kidding about the people).    But a 5 post limit on Inbox messages, c'mon!!!  I assume that is the limit because for every inbox message I receive I lose 20% of the available capacity.  Funny, I have umteen messages in my outbox and no warnings so far, so why the huge difference between the boxes?  And to prove the point, I send PMs to some members here (and nooooo, I'm not spamming; they are either surgically directed towards a met chatter or from another type request) and about 50% of the time the PM can't be sent due to "full inbox."  Yes, everything has limitations but 5 is amazingly small, right?  I would say minimum 10 would be expected, maybe even 12 or 15.

I've only been here a short time and like the forum and the people here, but if you want to know a huge, huge weakness...it is the Personal Message Inbox Capacity.  I waste so much time getting my messages rejected, I probably will just go with email where given (except for the few very diligent who continuously clean their inboxes out) but if the email is not given in profiles, then I have to remember to ask the chat personal what their email is before we end the PC.  Anyway, just my 2 cents...okay, maybe with past inflation, it is up to a nickel. 

[tomcfstories]

Yeah, having the rerouting option to the email address when the PM Inbox fills is certainly one solution.  I'm still curious why I'm up to 15 outbox messages when the inbox can only hold 5.  FYI, these are exactly the same messages...exactly the same so it can't be a size issue with the post in any way.  When I send personal messages, I make sure I save a copy in my own outbox so that I can send the email manually (if possible, that is, they have provided an email address).  Of course, I don't know how up to date email addresses are.  When members change email accounts, do they update it in the profile?  I doubt it happens much.  In Yahoo groups, good luck on email addresses staying valid for more than several months on a lot of occasions.  But your idea if feasible is still better than a 5 inbox limit.  Quite frankly, only the most diligent member keeps the inbox relevant with such a low capacity storage of incoming messages.

Thanks for the good response.

[Jolly Sailor]

Ok

Help me out here, I am struggling.

The box where the messages come in seems to be unlimited.  I dont seem to need to delete anything and every message goes.

What box are you talking about, but more to the point what is this boxs' function?

I dont seem to be having any problems

Jolly

[tomcfstories]

Hey Jolly, across the top of most screens is Home   Help   Search   Profile   My Messages   Chat   Members   Logout

Click on My Messages and it brings up another screen with Messages as a tab with Inbox and Outbox as links below it.  I am talking about the Inbox.  This is the inbox for personal messages as opposed to email messages which go to your email address.  Every time I get a personal message, it chews up 20% of the space.  I know that because it has a bar that tells you how much you have used.  1 message = 20%, 2 messages = 40%, so I assume 5 messages = 100%.  Thus, the capacity of your personal message inbox is a grand total of 5 messages.  If a 6th message tries to come in with you having 5 already residing in the inbox, guess what, you don't get that message apparently, and the sender knows about it because it says "inbox full" and does not deliver the message.  The outbox on the other hand, I am up to 15 messages there already and no problems yet.  That is what we are talking about.

[vanessa-25]

Ummm, I don't know why, but my inbox doesn't have this problem.  I've had as many as 8 messages (not including the notifications) and it's worked fine.  Also, it doesn't give me a bar to tell me how full my box is... any explanations?

[tomcfstories]

Hey Vanessa, I definitely take your word on your inbox, but there is some more evidence about the issue.  The way I found this to begin with was I would try to follow up with info after a Private Chat session by sending a post to someone's Personal Message area.  Didn't work and the message would say "inbox full".  That has happened several times with different members but not every time.  So, that tells me that either there is a malfunction in many PM inboxes or there is a pretty small limit of total messages.  And once again, if I have two messages in my PM inbox, it says I have 40% of my inbox capacity used...2 small messages do that.  Like I said, my outbox doesn't have that problem, only the inbox.

[Jolly Sailor]

No Wonder I am confused, I too seem to be able to have an unlimited amount of inbox messages. Ive not deleted any of them and they still come in.

Jolly

[tomcfstories]

What can I tell you?  Most of the time my messages bounce back and I'm not being banned or ignored or anything because they are requesting me send them the post to begin with.  Sometimes the message does go through but not much.  And my box definitely has a limit of 5 messages.  Is there a setting I should change?  I will look around there, but I haven't touched anything.  I went with the defaults and personal messaging is essentially worthless to me.  

P.S. I have a math degree not some liberal arts one, too.  JUST KIDDING!!  In fact, I can hear the liberal arts guys/gals saying, "Hmmm, well at least WE are bright enough to figure out how to get personal messaging to work!"

[tomcfstories]

Brit, don't know but remember there are 2 major problems that seem unrelated.
1) Why am I only able to keep 5 messages in my inbox...no big deal because I can delete them.
2) Why do 80% of my personal messages sent bounce back to me with "their inbox is full".  I'm not being ignored or banned by them so either that message is a malfunction or they have a limit on their inbox also.  I'm not worried about 1 but 2 is driving me crazy.  Some members don't want to give out their email even to me after they have requested the contact and yet I tell them, "I don't know if this PM is going to make it to you."  Bad problem!

[Croissant1]

Its random

Some have unlimited, some are limited............. guess its down to its not what you know but who you know............ Joking ........... it really is random tho. This account I can only have five, whilst other accounts i have are unlimited.

Croissant

[tomcfstories]

Its random   Some have unlimited, some are limited............. guess its down to its not what you know but who you know............ Joking ........... it really is random tho. This account I can only have five, whilst other accounts i have are unlimited.

Croissant

Here are some twists of fate.  I forgot to ever mention this and maybe it is in the rules somewhere.  In the beginning to even send a message I had to type in letters to verify I wasn't a spammer.  After about 3 deals of that, the letters no longer appear.  Huh???   Second, now all of a sudden my inbox has more than 5 messages in it AND I don't get that capacity usage bar anymore that shows 20%, 40% capacity, etc.  But the MAIN problem is still around!  I can send personal messages to some people 5 out of 5 times.  To others, the first time, I try to send one, "their inbox is full".  Once again, it can't be a blocking deal because they are asking me to send the message.  I have read other posters saying the same thing that they get "their inbox is full".  The bottom line...this forum has very sophisticated tools in general.  The personal messaging system is a flat out disaster.  I only attempt to use it on certain individuals where it works every time or when the email is not given.  But if I can them in the chat room, that is 100 times better than PM that is iffy at best.