Changes to Forums notifications
Posted , 9 users are following.
Hi,
We wanted to let you know about some changes to the way that Patient.info Forum updates are set to be delivered.
After looking at our data along with feedback from a number of users, we realised that some users were receiving a huge number of emails from us as a result of activity on the forums.
While we realise that some users welcome regular updates, for the majority it was a bit of an issue and it also meant that some email providers stopped important updates from reaching our users.
As a result, we're making the following changes in the coming weeks:
- Browser notifications for Private Messages and Replies
Instead of (or alongside, if you choose) receiving email updates, you will now be able to opt in to browser notifications. This will reduce the number of updates that you get to your inbox and allow you to instantly access new messages.
Simply click "Allow" on the prompts when you next visit Patient.info Forums or visit your settings notifications page to update your settings if you want to opt into these notifications.
- Changes to forum emails
•You will now only receive emails for forum replies and private messages.
•New discussions from your groups will not trigger an email.
•You will only receive reply emails for messages posted directly to you instead of all replies in a thread.
•You can still see all notifications (including new discussions and all replies) by visiting your notifications page.
These changes are designed to reduce the number of emails that our users receive and highlight the important messages that get through to you.
- Email frequency and format
As well as reducing the number of emails, we're also changing the format of a number of them.
Active users will still continue to receive all emails, however those that take some time away will see their emails grouped together if they have multiple notifications.
Generally, these will be grouped every 6 hours, 24 hours and 7 days, with a roundup including a highlighted comment and the total number of notifications.
Again, we're looking to reduce the number of emails clogging up your inbox and improving our communication with you to highlight the things that matter to our users.
We hope that you continue to enjoy the Patient Forums and if you wish to change any of your settings, you can edit all of your communications preferences here.
0 likes, 15 replies
richp21 Emis_Moderator
Posted
> New discussions from your groups will not trigger an email.
I'd rather that this change didn't happen. I rely on seeing the emails re: new discussions to see if there is any that I want to take part in.
Rich
Emis_Moderator richp21
Posted
Hi richp21,
The reason we stopped these particular emails is because we were sending 3.3 million emails a month of which less than 500 were being clicked.
As per the post above you can still see notifications for new discussions on your notifications page here or if you go to the group page, eg in this case prostate problems new discussions will appear at the top of the list until others receive replies. In all but the most active groups this means new discussions will be in the group page list for a few days at least.
Regards,
Alan
derek76 richp21
Posted
So do I and I'm a long time Forum user.
richp21 Emis_Moderator
Posted
Hi Alan,
Thanks for your reply.
I checked out how it works, and it's not ideal. I may be away for a week, and if I'm understanding you, I may miss new discussions. Also, the notification page does not list the subject, so we would have to click through every new discussion to see if it's of interest. Is it possible to have a check box on the communications preference page that would allow us to opt in for emails regarding new discussions?
Rich
Emis_Moderator richp21
Posted
Hi Rich/Derek,
I have posted this detailed reply in another discussion which should answer your queries. We will not be reinstating new discussion emails for reasons given above. As per my linked post I will try and get the notifications page improved to make it more useful then it is currently.
One thing I do if I have a lot of notifications in the list is use Ctrl/click on each link in Chrome browser. This opens each (in this case) new discussion in a new tab so I can quickly go through them. It saves a bit of time rather than clicking a link, checking then going back to /notifications page. Once done refresh (Ctrl/F5) the page and it will mark all the notifications you have clicked as read.
I hope this helps but let me know by reply of any concerns.
Regards,
Alan
nick67069 Emis_Moderator
Posted
Those emails were not clicked because they were prompt to go to notification page. My guess is that you have instituted changes for the wrong, miss-understood reason. Now I don't know if there was any new discussion or not. I am a long time user ( 4+ years)on this site and have seen so many changes to the site that over time have REDUCED the participation. I would suggest that maybe user should have input into your changes before they happened. In retrospect I wish that all changes can be rolled back for last 3 years or so.
Emis_Moderator nick67069
Posted
Hi nick,
I've replied to your other post here https://patient.info/forums/discuss/changes-to-forums-notifications-739369?page=0#3724030
Regards,
Alan
derek76 Emis_Moderator
Posted
A victim of your own success for being the best health Forum. It's success is partly because it attracts so many American users as they have nothing nearly as good.
Do the three million plus a month not generate income for you that will now be reduced ?
derek76 Emis_Moderator
Posted
When we go to notifications we see there is something from the group we follow but without it's subject title we don't know if it is of interest to us .
nick67069 derek76
Posted
just made the same suggestion in the other group I participate on this forum. Subject line is very important, so we can quickly decide if we are interested opening post or not.
uncklefester Emis_Moderator
Posted
Any chance we can show posts in chronological order instead of new post mixed in with old posts? Its extremely difficult to find new posts in multi page thread. Maybe I'm overlooking something, IDK
Emis_Moderator uncklefester
Posted
Hi uncklefester,
This is the nature of the forums and having nested threads. In a discussion the ordering is all direct replies are sorted by reverse date order, ie oldest first. If there are no nested replies such as this one it is is straightforward. However, is a user replies to a post on eg page 5 of a 10 page discussion then that reply and subsequent ones in that thread will always be in the middle of the discussion.
If you are following the discussion then you will get a notification on https://patient.info/forums/me/notifications for all posts. Clicking the link will take you directly to the comment. If you are not following a discussion then yes it can be hard especially in long discussions. There will be changes to the forums in future but I don't know when. It may be there can be a "See latest posts in discussion" feature, I'll certainly pass this on as you aren't the only person who has commented about this.
Regards,
Alan
tom86211 Emis_Moderator
Posted
This is NOT an improvement. I WANT to see the new topics and posts. I have my gmail put all Patient emails in a separate category box. They do not go in my normal email inbox. Simple. Since you made this change I have received nothing. Prior to this I looked forward to new posts every day. This Patient prostate forum changed my life, but now, poof.....
andrewcalgary tom86211
Edited
same with me, I get nothing now since you moderator made changes
andrewcalgary Emis_Moderator
Posted
Simply click "Allow" on the prompts when you next visit Patient.info Forums or visit your settings notifications page to update your settings if you want to opt into these notifications.
there is no "Allow" in my settings notifications page