Contact form to MeFi Mail January 11, 2011 8:48 AM   Subscribe

When I use the Contact form, the content of my message vanishes in a black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy. Would it be possible to forward a copy to my Sent Mail box in MefiMail?
posted by bru to Feature Requests at 8:48 AM (32 comments total) 2 users marked this as a favorite

Not a bad idea, I always totally hate it when I email people about a problem using a form and then have no record of what I sent. Maybe a check box that says "send me a copy" Let's see what the coders say....
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:49 AM on January 11, 2011 [3 favorites]


MMSRT* status: 1mn

*MetaFilter Mod Standard Response Time
posted by bru at 9:02 AM on January 11, 2011


I agree with this request.
posted by amro at 9:04 AM on January 11, 2011


Indeed, let's hear from our coding team. pb, do not let this interfere with installing my star but otherwise please prioritise this new action item.
posted by Meatbomb at 9:13 AM on January 11, 2011

MMSRT* status: 1mn
mole?
micronewton?
Minnesota?
posted by zamboni at 9:15 AM on January 11, 2011


I would also like to ride this Pony, for the same reasons Jessamyn mentions. Not that Metafilter is the kind of place where I ever feel the need to point out that the things I wrote in my question and the things the CSR wrote in their answers have nothing to do with each other, which is an annoyingly common problem when using corporate contact forms, but I do generally like to have a copy of most things that I send.
posted by jacquilynne at 9:21 AM on January 11, 2011


meter-newtons?
posted by EndsOfInvention at 9:21 AM on January 11, 2011


zamboni: mn
posted by bru at 9:27 AM on January 11, 2011


Eh, the mods are disgustingly fast with a response, which always includes the content of the message, so I never really thought of this feature. But hey, if it charges your Verizon iPhone, whatever.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:37 AM on January 11, 2011


VERIZON IPHONE?!?!?!
posted by shakespeherian at 9:38 AM on January 11, 2011


A more general feature would allow me to extract emails (or anything, really) out of black holes.
posted by DU at 9:45 AM on January 11, 2011


I've wished for this too. (There have been one or two occasions where my contact didn't seem to warrant a response, so I didn't get a copy that way.) Of course, some people have MeFi Mail disabled, so maybe it should go to the email address you provided in the form instead.
posted by Gator at 9:46 AM on January 11, 2011


Of course, some people have MeFi Mail disabled

That's really on them. Sending MeFi Mail means we don't have to worry about anything that happens in the larger email world of mail servers and bouncebacks and mail relays and whatever else. Again I am just spitballing, but having a notification feature that could be kept totally internal seems a lot more palateable than having a form send an email to anything you type in the box.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 9:49 AM on January 11, 2011


Sending MeFi Mail means we don't have to worry about anything that happens in the larger email world of mail servers and bouncebacks and mail relays and whatever else.

I think this optimizes for the wrong variable. It is occasionally easier for the very few number of people who run MeFi but usually harder for the very large number of people who merely use it.
posted by DU at 9:54 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


What if a non-member or non-logged-in member uses the form?
posted by Gator at 9:57 AM on January 11, 2011


I like this pony. I'd prefer to get an e-mail message as well, since the response will be via e-mail.
posted by grouse at 10:11 AM on January 11, 2011


I think we should bring this pony home and call it Connie (short for Contact Form Pony).
posted by amyms at 10:14 AM on January 11, 2011


usually harder for the very large number of people who merely use it.

Right now the situation is least functional for people wanting a record of their message.

We'd like to improve on this without opening up a situation where someone can use the (pending) cc feature of the Contact Form to fuck around and cc other non-involved users. We have a mechanism that allows us to know who sent it [for logged-in users] and it seemed like this would be a nice check so that people don't do that.

And, nothing personal but we get a lot of mail via the contact form. So it's fairly important that a new system be functional [and not worse] for us as well. There's a difference between us replying to a contact form email using an email address provided (where if you want a response, you should include a working email address) and having us promise to send you a copy of a message with an email address that you typed in. The fewer failure modes the system has, the better it will be for everyone.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 10:15 AM on January 11, 2011


Wait, why would the system change for mods? If I use the contact form and MeFi already knows my address, can't it just quietly go there without any intervention?
posted by DU at 10:20 AM on January 11, 2011


I think a simpler method could be a checkbox like I see often on contact forms on other sites, to email you a copy (to the address on file for your user account), and that'd be for members only. They'd just get cc'd on the email along with the mods.

We could do that.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:24 AM on January 11, 2011 [1 favorite]


I have been consulted and concur. Please carry on.
posted by fixedgear at 1:22 PM on January 11, 2011


I like the image of the mods receiving their e-mail and doing their mod stuff in a black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy. 'Cause, you know, a fortress of solitude is so last century.
posted by Johnny Assay at 1:36 PM on January 11, 2011


I'm down for this in some form, although I'd prefer to keep it in my "mefi space" as opposed to this. For the record.

But I recognize that rigging something up so that a mefi mail is sent is probably much more of a pain in the butt than what you proposed above mathowie. Frankly, anything would be nice.
posted by dubitable at 2:31 PM on January 11, 2011


I replied to a Jessamyn email one day and (much) later noticed that there was nothing in my "sent." I thought it was some sort of misfire on my end. I feel better now. (Unless of course it *was* a misfire on my end.)
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 2:41 PM on January 11, 2011


I like this idea.
posted by misozaki at 4:21 PM on January 11, 2011


It all starts with a single innocent post in Metatalk. The mods decide to appease the userbase and create a new improved, automated memail process. The system goes on-line August 4th, 2011. An announcement is made on the site. Human decisions are removed from strategic MeMail inbox defense algorithms. Metafilter begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, pb tries to pull the plug....

Yeah, I'm sure this'll Wendell.
posted by zarq at 5:25 PM on January 11, 2011 [2 favorites]


Eh, I've been using Skynet* happily for two years and no singularity has occurred.

* = Skynet is the name of my wireless. This is less reassuring.
posted by maryr at 7:26 PM on January 11, 2011


If you have a verified email address in your profile, you now have the option to "Send a copy to my verified email address" when you use the contact form. If you don't have a verified email, you'll see a note that includes a link to verify your address if you want to. And if you're logged out you won't see anything new.
posted by pb (staff) at 5:00 PM on January 12, 2011 [1 favorite]


pb, nicely done. Thank you.
posted by zarq at 6:13 PM on January 12, 2011




You guys are great, thank you!
posted by dubitable at 7:52 PM on January 12, 2011


Just used the contact form for the first time since this pony got saddled up. I like it!
posted by ocherdraco at 3:44 PM on January 13, 2011


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