Allow Searching PMs

[Pony99CA]

phpBB 3.1 changed from showing New PMs in the notification area to showing Unread PMs. I wasn't aware of that and opened a bug against phpbb.com because I thought that I was being shown a "new" PM when I didn't have any. It turns out that I had one unread PM.

Unfortunately, finding unread PMs isn't easy. Unread PMs have a red ring around them instead of a blue ring, but that can be hard to see and a pain to find if you have several pages of PMs. For that reason, and the obvious ability to find PMs containing specific text, I suggest adding a search feature for PMs, including the ability to find unread PMs. Perhaps the "simple" search box on the PM pages would search PMs instead of forum posts, and the Advanced Search page could have tabs to select Posts or PMs.

If a full search facility is too difficult to develop, at least add the ability to display Unread Messages (below All Messages) in the Display filters at the bottom of the PM page.

Steve

[Kailey]

Mockup of possible solution for the new/unread portion.

pm.png (5.92 KiB) Viewed 20809 times

[Mess]

It has been suggested in phpBB Ideas (which is down currently) to revamp the entire Pm page, which I like better that just adding another "fix".

[DavidIQ]

Mockup of possible solution for the new/unread portion.

pm.png

I'm not in favor of this at all. It's now different and many people would argue that it's now correct showing the unread count instead of "new" (whatever that means). Those that are confused about it just need to get used to the new nomenclature just as people will need to get used to the fact that the subscribe and bookmark options are now under a menu at the bottom of the topic as well as other changes to where things are on the page. When you view your email inbox you're shown your unread messages, not new messages so this is in line with what people should be used to already.

I think PM search would be a good idea or, at the very least, some form of filtering for unread messages.

[Dragosvr92]

@Yuryi opened a ticket about adding a option to list unread messages and mark all messages as read here.

As i was looking at the Extensions in development, i found that there is an extension that allows us to search trough PMs.

[Danielx64]

My vote goes for having a link that will show all unread PMs, I don't like the idea of having a mark all PM read links as it would mean that you could miss an inportant PM.

[Pony99CA]

My vote goes for having a link that will show all unread PMs, I don't like the idea of having a mark all PM read links as it would mean that you could miss an inportant PM.

I don't know if we need a link -- an Unread Messages item in the Display drop-down list is just as good, I think.

I do agree that Mark All Read can be dangerous. I might actually want to read the unread PM, not just sweep it under the rug.

Steve

[Kailey]

I'm not in favor of this at all.

I'm personally not either, but it was the only thing that popped in my head a the time.

[Danielx64]

My vote goes for having a link that will show all unread PMs, I don't like the idea of having a mark all PM read links as it would mean that you could miss an inportant PM.

I don't know if we need a link -- an Unread Messages item in the Display drop-down list is just as good, I think.

I do agree that Mark All Read can be dangerous. I might actually want to read the unread PM, not just sweep it under the rug.

Steve

Yeah having an Unread Messages item in the Display drop-down list would work for me