All email addresses are now hidden :(
 

A change was made recently that kind of annoys me...when you click "send email" to a particular person, it's now a web interface that comes up and you enter your email into a little box and send it through s2ki.

Why?!

Now, and I hate doing it like this, I have no record of the email and I don't have an email address that I can use again in the future even though the member has made his/her email public. I say that if a member prefers not to have his email address public, then so be it, just shoot them a PM. But if they choose to have it public, presumably to allow people to use it and send them email, then make it public! I hate having to use s2ki for sending email, it's unecessary and a big fat nuisance!

Change it back to how it was before!

:mad:

Thanks for reminding me of this Greg. I know we talked about it last week and it completely slipped off my radar.

I'd like to ring in w/ my disapproval as well. As I see it, the current email functionality has a lot of drawbacks.

• Can't lean the email address of someone who has given their express permission to expose and advertise it
  
• Cannot verify delivery status. Was the message actually sent? Was it received? Is the address listed correct? Once the submit button is hit there is no way for the sender to track the message
  
• Inability to archive message

It has been my experience w/ thread update notifications that your mail server attempts delivery of said message just once and if no MX server responds then the message is not queued up for additional delivery attempts. Are these emails handled in the same manner?

I ask that you remove (or supplement) the current functionality and return to advertising addresses. There are a number of valid uses for PM's, but there are also numerous times when I would like to have member's email addresses in my contact lists.

I'd like to ring in in support of public email addresses for those who want them. I'd like for people to be able to use mine.

The reason the system was changed was to stop spamming

There was an instance where folks were receiving emails after they replied to threads in the Group Buys forum. They would post a comment about a product, show some interest, and then were contacted via email about the products afterwards.

The people contacting were semi commercial. The people were advised of our commercial policy and given details in how to sponsor.

These emails were a backdoor route in trying to make a few bucks.

Having the system as it is now makes life harder :) As you guys so noted above.

We were more concerned with the crap that was going on.

I will switch it back and see how that goes.

Merci beaucoups...

:)


[QUOTE]Originally posted by Honda Gal
[B]The reason the system was changed was to stop spamming

There was an instance where folks were receiving emails after they replied to threads in the Group Buys forum.

Spam is a concern for many people. I would recommend getting a hotmail account if you're worried about spam.

Non-sponsors should not be allowed to use this board as a vehicle for soliciting members.

May I suggest an alternative, not buying from vendors who approach you this way and forwarding the email to an S2000 spam address for automatic response from the board. I'd suggest stinkyspam@s2000online.com.

The automatic response could be something like:
"Your email solicitation was forwarded to us because it violates the commercial rules of S2000online. The buyer, in forwarding your message to us, has indicated that he or she has no intention of responding to your solicitation.

To reach our customer base, we provide a variety of sponsorship opportunities (cthree says "blah, blah, blah...")

Please refrain from seeking a back door to our customers in the future. We, like you, depend on revenue generation to operate our business. We look forward, though, to having you as a corporate partner."

Then, if this doesn't work, out them on the board and we'll have a group spamming ourselves!

The problem with SPAM is that you get put on "lists" which are bought and sold. Once on these lists you are pretty much assured that your E-mail address will never again be free from SPAM and the volume will continue to grow. The only solution is to keep your E-mail address private from the get go. I appreciate the fact that this board has recognized this problem and made it possible for us to supply our E-mail address to other members without incurring the risks associated with publicizing an E-mail address.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Strike
[B]The problem with SPAM is that you get put on "lists" which are bought and sold.

I'm glad it's being returned to the previous behavior. I completely understand the desire to limit spam, but this is really something that anyone on the board can control for themselves. For example, I do not have my email address visible -- but I have on more than one occasion PM'd a member to give them my email address when that was necessary and appropriate. I've got moderately good filters on my email domain, but it doesn't get it all. I think having your email address visible is a matter of individual choice, and hiding it completely via the web interface really takes the decision out of the individual members hands.