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BuckeyePlanet How-2.0: Personal Conversations

jlb1705

hipster doofus
Bookie
Personal Conversations
Personal Conversations (PCs) have replaced Private Messages (PMs) in the new version of BuckeyePlanet. Where PMs behaved more like email, Private Conversations behave more like invitation-only private threads. That's right, those kind of privileges aren't just for elitist pr_icks anymore! There are several ways you can easily start a Private Conversation

How to start one...
In the navbar, in the upper right-hand corner of the page there is an Inbox link next to your username. Hover your cursor over it and it will give you a quick heads-up view of your active, unread PCs. Following the "Show All..." link in the heads-up display or clicking on the Inbox link that you hovered your cursor over will take you to the list of all of your Conversations.

Inbox hover.png

This list will look and behave like your own private sub-forum, with the Private Conversation threads appearing in a similar manner to threads in the open forum. There are buttons here to start a new private conversation similar to how you would start a new thread. Click on one, and you will be taken to the page to write the first post in your PC thread.

Conversations.png

How it works...
The only difference at this point between starting a thread and starting a Private Conversation is that in addition to filling in a thread title and the contents of your post, you will also need to indicate the users that you want to invite to the Private Conversation. Once you begin typing usernames in the Participants field it will suggest existing users whose names match what you've started to type - very handy for differentiating users with similar handles, or to make sure that you don't miss the crucial space, underscore, or number in a user's name that would mean the difference between the other user being able to see your message or not.

You have the ability to add additional members to an existing PC. While viewing a PC thread, there is a list of conversation participants on the right-hand side of the page. At the bottom of that list there is a link to invite additional participants. It will bring up a prompt that will allow you to enter usernames just like you did when you started a PC.

Invite more.png

There are other settings that you can adjust in existing conversations. You have the ability to leave a PC. You can star/unstar conversations. If you are the person who started the PC, you will also have the option to edit the conversation. You can manage and/or edit a conversation while viewing it thru the links above the first post in the thread. You can also manage (but not edit) in batchs by checking the box in front of the title of one or more conversations in the list view. When you check a box, a heads-up display will appear automatically with your options.

PC options.png

Batch Conversations.png

Leaving a conversation allows you to end your participation in the discussion without killing it off entirely. This can be handy if a conversation includes a small group of people who want to continue the discussion after you are finished.

More info on Private Conversations
These are just the main ways to access and start Private Conversations. There are other ways, like starting a conversation with another user directly while viewing their profile, or from your control panel menu. Please also be aware that a Private Conversation is only as private as its participants make it. Please be sure to check the list of participants before firing off a message that is sensitive or meant for just one person.

Any questions? Explanations unclear? Reply in this thread and we can help each other out.
 
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Question: They say no question is a stupid one so here is my question:rolleyes:
If you want to forward a PC to someone do you just add that persons username to the right of the PC that you received and will that be seen by other users. I guess I am confused about forwarding and the privacy of the people involved already in the PC.:oops:
 
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Question: They say no question is a stupid one so here is my question:rolleyes:
If you want to forward a PC to someone do you just add that persons username to the right of the PC that you received and will that be seen by other users. I guess I am confused about forwarding and the privacy of the people involved already in the PC.:oops:

Let's find out. I'm going to invite you to an existing PC. Let me know what you see once you're in.
 
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Question: They say no question is a stupid one so here is my question:rolleyes:
If you want to forward a PC to someone do you just add that persons username to the right of the PC that you received and will that be seen by other users. I guess I am confused about forwarding and the privacy of the people involved already in the PC.:oops:

Not a stupid question at all. I wasn't quite sure myself and had to look it up.

Invited members can see everything that has been posted to the conversation. It even tells you this in the prompt to add a person to a PC.

This is where the analogy I used comes in handy. It's more like a private thread than an email.

If you want to include somebody but also make a private comment to them about the discussion, then you would need to start a separate two-person PC with them. Also, as the PC starter you can change the settings of your PC to not allow other people in the discussion to invite people, to insure that nobody else is included in the discussion that you don't want to read it.
 
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Not a stupid question at all. I wasn't quite sure myself and had to look it up.

Invited members can see everything that has been posted to the conversation. It even tells you this in the prompt to add a person to a PC.

This is where the analogy I used comes in handy. It's more like a private thread than an email.

If you want to include somebody but also make a private comment to them about the discussion, then you would need to start a separate two-person PC with them. Also, as the PC starter you can change the settings of your PC to not allow other people in the discussion to invite people, to insure that nobody else is included in the discussion that you don't want to read it.
I am sorry I was off-line when you started the PC so that is the reason you did not get a response after you started your PC. I guess another option might be to just cut the information from a PC with numerous people and start another PC with the one individual and paste the information into that PC. I know that is crude and not using all the bells and whistles that are offered but it is an option… I think.
 
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I am sorry I was off-line when you started the PC so that is the reason you did not get a response after you started your PC. I guess another option might be to just cut the information from a PC with numerous people and start another PC with the one individual and paste the information into that PC. I know that is crude and not using all the bells and whistles that are offered but it is an option… I think.

That would work too it seems.
 
Upvote 0
Question: They say no question is a stupid one so here is my question:rolleyes:
If you want to forward a PC to someone do you just add that persons username to the right of the PC that you received and will that be seen by other users. I guess I am confused about forwarding and the privacy of the people involved already in the PC.:oops:

Let's say you and I have a PC between the two of us, and there are five total messages when we decide to add Deety to the conversation. When/if she joins, she sees the WHOLE conversation history that came before it. She's now privy to and properly part of the whole conversation. Let's say another five messages pass between the three of us, and we add jlb and bkb. They too see the whole conversation history. If I dropped out at that point, I would not continue to see any further conversation between the group of you four.

So, add people to an existing conversation for them to have the whole history, OR,
create a new conversation with just the new person (or the new person and the old people) if you want a clean start with no history.
 
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