Author

Topic: Making new messages more obvious (SMF patch) (Read 551 times)

legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 16328
Fully fledged Merit Cycler - Golden Feather 22-23
I think this is a pretty good idea, even if I am so a costumed missing new PM that now I check the bar whenever I refresh a page.
I usually post from mobile and with many tabs open, so I have the same problem that @LoyceV noticed: I keep being notified on “old” tabs of PM I already read.
hero member
Activity: 510
Merit: 4005
Gloves, how's it goin? Been awhile I walked into you...
Hehe, hey there Sandra. Always makes me chuckle when you call me that. If I ever get a cat, I think I'll name her/him "Gloves". (Have to make sure to get one with dark fur and white paws, though.) Smiley

It's cool to catch anyone's attention quickly, but not also too shouty.
Yep, that's why I prefer something on the passive side of things, like a simple white dot. Something too loud, like a blinking red dot, is kind of unnecessary, I think; if you really don't want to miss new messages then you can always turn on popups, like Lucius suggested, but if you're like me and just want something a little more noticeable, then this is a nice tweak, IMHO. Also, it's a good opportunity to bundle in the CSS hook that ibminer suggested.
hero member
Activity: 1834
Merit: 879
Rollbit.com ⚔️Crypto Futures
If you are using a handheld device such as a smartphone or accessing the forum from a PC with less than a 14.1" screen things do get cluttered and its easy to miss such a  notification and next best thing we have is using the pop up feature for new messages as @Lucius pointed out, but i think the pop up message allows you to attend to these messages with some agency but if you ignore your mail box  thats were I feel PowerGloves suggestion comes in handy to act as a reminder, if it was an animated dot or something like @Husires suggested that would catch an eye for sure.

hero member
Activity: 798
Merit: 1045
Goodnight, ohh Leo!!! 🦅
Gloves, how's it goin? Been awhile I walked into you...
listen, however you wanna go about your SMF patch, just make sure it's not looking too clumsy then becomes a bug at the end of the day...no one wants to get bothered unnecessarily.
I've not Really had a glimpse as to what the white dot would look like but I think I'm okay with the green-colored massage popup. It's cool to catch anyone's attention quickly, but not also too shouty. These whole idea ofcourse would change the basic color concepts - adding in something that looks like a solo-used color - ofcourse it's not gonna be used anywhere else, atleast for now...so if there are no proper modifications as to the colored patch, then I'll prefer having it unchanged.

Sandra 🧑‍🦰
sr. member
Activity: 1078
Merit: 342
Sinbad Mixer: Mix Your BTC Quickly
I think of two better colors: Red and Orange.
Actually, the color scheme depends on the theme colors. Like the background is blue and red and orange no doubt are vivid colors but are less noticeable than white color. So I think it's ok to have at least a color notification on the messages.
To be honest, I would prefer it to remain blue and white. It's easy to notice the [1] next to the message when it pops up, but if they increase the font size slightly, it would be better because the current size is quite small. I'm referring to the entire bar that includes "home," "help," "search," etc. I know we can zoom in for people who prefer a larger font size, but in my opinion, increasing the default size would be better

This patch is useful for those who ignore messages (they do not open them,) and therefore the white point appears to them that there is a new message, and it disappears as soon as the page is refreshed.

Doesn't the [1] only disappear once you open the message? I don't think there's a need for the white dot to be present since it doesn't provide any additional information, especially since the small [1] above the message already serves the same purpose.
hero member
Activity: 1414
Merit: 513
Payment Gateway Allows Recurring Payments
I think of two better colors: Red and Orange.
Actually, the color scheme depends on the theme colors. Like the background is blue and red and orange no doubt are vivid colors but are less noticeable than white color. So I think it's ok to have at least a color notification on the messages.

And for the op, I really like the idea and I hope this will be implemented. Why? I know it's not that good but things will only be upgraded once they are implemented first. So implementation is necessary to get better things. Overall, an updation of everything is necessary to keep pace in the market.

Because i also do not notice the messages bar and failed to check the received messages which I receive Occasionally (hehe) but still that's a good step.
legendary
Activity: 1789
Merit: 2535
Goonies never say die.
I like ibminer's thinking about giving this area of the HTML a CSS hook, but as I alluded to in the OP, this area of the HTML is pretty easy to mess up and there's not a whole lot you can do (except make the text bold, or italic, etc.) that won't shift things vertically and end up looking messy. @ibminer: Would adding a class="new_message" to the element be enough for you? Should I also add an id="new_message_dot" to the image so that you can turn it off when styling that area yourself?

I'd prefer it on the , can always select the
under if needed.

As a basic example.. I didn't play with the colors or gradients that could be done here and there would be ways to work around the use of 'filter' (or not use it at all and keep an underline look), but this was quicker for this example:

Code:

Code:
table tr td.new_message {
   filter: hue-rotate(294deg);
   background-color: #f00;
}



edit: corrected typo on the CSS (I used a - instead of _).. doh!
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
I hate popups!
Most websites have popups nowadays, only way to stop them is with some adblocker like uBlockOrigin, and even that is not 100% effective unless you add some custom settings.
And let's not go into things faceb00k and instagram are doing that forces you to register and login just to see what someone posted  Roll Eyes
hero member
Activity: 1120
Merit: 554
🇵🇭
I also check if I have a new personal message when I log in, and after that I rely on the option "Show a popup when you receive new messages?" which, when turned on, notifies you every time you receive a new personal message in a way that is difficult (or impossible) to ignore.

It's not that your option wouldn't be an additional improvement, but it's not a problem for me personally as it is now.

I’m using this feature and it’s indeed very hard to missed a new message because a popup message notification will appear on the center of the screen. It will continue to display like that whenever I login or refresh the homepage after login until I finally open the pending message.



A colored red dot for example is more noticeable than the dot that has same color pallet. Actually making the number counter on the message colored is already enough to make it noticeable because the default forum theme is more on white theme palette.
hero member
Activity: 510
Merit: 4005
Thanks everyone for sharing their thoughts! I should have mentioned in the OP that I'd appreciate feedback, but that omission doesn't seem to have made much of an impression. Wink

I'm aware of (but have both never used, and completely forgot about until Lucius' reminder) the option for getting a popup when you receive a new message. Like Loyce, I seriously dislike popups, so I can't imagine turning that on myself. If most people have that on (I don't think they do, but who knows) then this patch is more than a little redundant, I agree.

I like ibminer's thinking about giving this area of the HTML a CSS hook, but as I alluded to in the OP, this area of the HTML is pretty easy to mess up and there's not a whole lot you can do (except make the text bold, or italic, etc.) that won't shift things vertically and end up looking messy. @ibminer: Would adding a class="new_message" to the element be enough for you? Should I also add an id="new_message_dot" to the image so that you can turn it off when styling that area yourself?

I don't know about some of the suggestions to make the dot more visible. I'll work up some examples with different colors and maybe experiment with making the dot blink, but my (unsubstantiated) guess is that theymos won't like anything that stands out too much. Maybe making the dot slightly yellow/orange (strong contrast with the blue behind it) could work?

Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts. When evaluating this patch, please try to think of it in terms of whether this will make things better (even by a little), worse, or have precisely no impact. I think patches where the community is mostly split between "no impact" and "tiny improvement" (like this one) still have value, but that's just me. If every patch is disregarded because it doesn't (on its own) seem like a worthwhile enough improvement, then there's no way to get to that place where lots of little seemingly inconsequential things have added up to a more pleasant whole.
legendary
Activity: 2702
Merit: 4002
I don't know, but recently I've been receiving a few messages, so it's easy to notice a new message.
This patch is useful for those who ignore messages (they do not open them,) and therefore the white point appears to them that there is a new message, and it disappears as soon as the page is refreshed.

I also check if I have a new personal message when I log in, and after that I rely on the option "Show a popup when you receive new messages?" which, when turned on, notifies you every time you receive a new personal message in a way that is difficult (or impossible) to ignore.

It's not that your option wouldn't be an additional improvement, but it's not a problem for me personally as it is now.
It is said (a picture is worth a thousand words), so the picture he displayed was closer to attracting people's attention than your writing, especially since everyone expects that the responses are thanks to @PowerGlove or adding a new suggestion to him and not confirming an existing feature.

I also think that some accounts modify the way the responses appear so that the last responses appear first.

legendary
Activity: 1789
Merit: 2535
Goonies never say die.
I am already aware of this setting, didn't look at your post at all. Maybe you didn't took efforts to post a screenshot as people are lazy these days and have hard time to find the settings?
You didn't even read the 2nd post? SMH

I didn't mention it because it was already mentioned, and I assumed he didn't want to use a popup. I've used the popup myself, so I'm obviously aware of it, but even so you seem upset about someone not knowing a basic setting of the forum. He's contributed several patches and a fun April's fool game and obviously spent considerable time doing these things and you feel the need to call someone lazy for (potentially) not seeing a setting?

It has been like that for years and literally no one ever felt the same way as you.
I literally said in my prior post that I was trying to adjust it myself to make it more visible.  Roll Eyes

To be really honest, the [1] on the message tab is much more visible as compared to the little dot on the left.
His example includes both the [1] and a dot, so I don't understand how the addition of a dot makes it less visible.
The dot actually takes up a bit too much space for me, which is why I mentioned just adding a class and letting users style it themselves.

~
But I appreciate your efforts to go through the HTML with the inspect element and doing a bit of creativity instead of asking what could be a better option. Smiley
The code in the OP is PHP. Smiley
hero member
Activity: 2240
Merit: 537
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Unbelievable that I mentioned this option in the second post of this topic, and then someone wonders if this option exists at all or discovers it again after 20+ posts Huh

Do you all have me on ignore or does nobody read anything except the OP and the title anymore?

You're not alone. Even I myself has experienced it numerous times when the OP skimmed over my post for the more recent one. Both were of the same content :p
legendary
Activity: 3234
Merit: 5637
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My bad, I really missed your post, I just randomly ignored Cheesy Sorry mate, I was mostly recognizing you via chipmixer campaign and was reading your posts, you are a good member Smiley

And then they say that such things have nothing to do with how people experience you on the forum - obviously each member is worth as much as he earns per week in the sig campaign Wink

Btw can you show us an image of how does PM popup look like? May you turn on an option and I'll send you a PM or may I turn on that option and you send me a pm? I have already marked that option.

No problem, I'll send you a PM so you can see for yourself how it looks.
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 792
Watch Bitcoin Documentary - https://t.ly/v0Nim
Maybe I didn't explain that well but it's what I mean:

2 is the number of messages, sometimes that (2) gets changed with text: New notification, then comes (2) again.
Isn't that just the title of the page? So in this case it would be "[1] Making new messages more obvious (SMF patch)"?

Quote
My eyes always catch them.
That's actually one of the reasons I got rid of Facebook. It's never an important message, but always something designed to keep you longer on their website.
Yes, that's the title but I thought it would be confusing. So, when you receive a PM, the title on New Tab or on Speed Dial should change with scrolling text: (1) New Notification - Bitcoin Forum - Index
Tbh Facebook and almost every popular social media platforms are a waste of time, that's why I rarely use them.

Unbelievable that I mentioned this option in the second post of this topic, and then someone wonders if this option exists at all or discovers it again after 20+ posts Huh

Do you all have me on ignore or does nobody read anything except the OP and the title anymore?
My bad, I really missed your post, I just randomly ignored Cheesy Sorry mate, I was mostly recognizing you via chipmixer campaign and was reading your posts, you are a good member Smiley
Btw can you show us an image of how does PM popup look like? May you turn on an option and I'll send you a PM or may I turn on that option and you send me a pm? I have already marked that option.

copper member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1619
Bitcoin Bottom was at $15.4k
Unbelievable that I mentioned this option in the second post of this topic, and then someone wonders if this option exists at all or discovers it again after 20+ posts Huh
I am already aware of this setting, didn't look at your post at all. Maybe you didn't took efforts to post a screenshot as people are lazy these days and have hard time to find the settings?
legendary
Activity: 3234
Merit: 5637
Blackjack.fun-Free Raffle-Join&Win $50🎲
I also check if I have a new personal message when I log in, and after that I rely on the option "Show a popup when you receive new messages?" which, when turned on, notifies you every time you receive a new personal message in a way that is difficult (or impossible) to ignore.

It's not that your option wouldn't be an additional improvement, but it's not a problem for me personally as it is now.


By the way, what do you guys think about one-time popup? No one can miss a popup.

There is also a setting in the SMF Forums that provides an alert box in the popup dialog box when you receive a personal message. Just go and use that if you really want an alert whenever you receive a message.

Unbelievable that I mentioned this option in the second post of this topic, and then someone wonders if this option exists at all or discovers it again after 20+ posts Huh

Do you all have me on ignore or does nobody read anything except the OP and the title anymore?
copper member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 1619
Bitcoin Bottom was at $15.4k
Seems more like a personal problem rather than a UI issue. It has been like that for years and literally no one ever felt the same way as you.
To be really honest, the [1] on the message tab is much more visible as compared to the little dot on the left.

There is also a setting in the SMF Forums that provides an alert box in the popup dialog box when you receive a personal message. Just go and use that if you really want an alert whenever you receive a message.


We don't need any implications added to the UI when there are features already available that you failed to find.

In conclusion, just use the features provided by the SMF forum already which I mentioned above rather than making any change that is as silly as an avocado.
But I appreciate your efforts to go through the HTML with the inspect element and doing a bit of creativity instead of asking what could be a better option. Smiley
legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
Maybe I didn't explain that well but it's what I mean:

2 is the number of messages, sometimes that (2) gets changed with text: New notification, then comes (2) again.
Isn't that just the title of the page? So in this case it would be "[1] Making new messages more obvious (SMF patch)"?

Quote
My eyes always catch them.
That's actually one of the reasons I got rid of Facebook. It's never an important message, but always something designed to keep you longer on their website.
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 792
Watch Bitcoin Documentary - https://t.ly/v0Nim
what do you guys think about one-time popup?
I hate popups!

Quote
No one can miss a popup.
That's what makes it so annoying. And that's what makes everyone click them away without reading.

Quote
Or, another great solution may be to receive text notification above the address bar, like, when you receive text notification in place of New Tab (Chrome) text when you receive a message on Facebook.
I haven't seen this. Can you show an example?
Popups annoy me too but we can make it comfortable, like a small popup that doesn't cover the whole page in shadows, just a small popup text that says that you received a message that disappears in 5-10 seconds on its own or you'll be able to click on X icon to close it too.

Maybe I didn't explain that well but it's what I mean:

2 is the number of messages, sometimes that (2) gets changed with text: New notification, then comes (2) again. My eyes always catch them.
legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
what do you guys think about one-time popup?
I hate popups!

Quote
No one can miss a popup.
That's what makes it so annoying. And that's what makes everyone click them away without reading.

Quote
Or, another great solution may be to receive text notification above the address bar, like, when you receive text notification in place of New Tab (Chrome) text when you receive a message on Facebook.
I haven't seen this. Can you show an example?
sr. member
Activity: 588
Merit: 351
The older patch won't let you see immediately if you have newly received message. Your suggestion will help lots of members here to see easily the messages. One more thing I have problems regarding this message thing, if possible, I would also like if the messages you received would be sorted out by date and time since I have problems looking to almost all the messages and scrolling everything just to look for that new message like when I messaged @Joeperry regarding the raffle coz it takes some time to see it, also sometimes it is not automatically sorted out, and if possible there should be spam or junk folders for those message and notifications for example when a post or thread got deleted.
hero member
Activity: 770
Merit: 538
Leading Crypto Sports Betting & Casino Platform
PG there are many things to add in the forum standard tool bar which includes, showing the total post, activities and the Merits at the right side on profile Avatar then merit and reply notification on the tool bar

I don't have a better understanding of all that, but based on the reply and merit notification you talked about, the Bitcointalk superNotifire  bot designed by TryNinja is really a good help in reply notification and new merit received. Also, from your profile, active is already showing and the total post count is just showing, which is not really so necessary. You can just go to your profile and see your post count.



I think this is a good development, but the color being white is not too eye-catching; I think yellow or green would be a better fit (just a suggestion), and also @Powerglove, the dot should blink, just as Husires have suggested.
legendary
Activity: 2212
Merit: 7064
Here we go... PowerGlove strikes again with one more patch of hope  Cool
I have to be honest and say that at first I didn't notice big white dot, and that reminded me on those magazine puzzles that are asking people to notice and mark all differences between images ;
It's true that new messages can be seen harder, but there is popup option available, and I think you need to think up something better than white dot.
Just a quick suggestions, maybe number (of messages) can be bold and larger instead of adding new element.
legendary
Activity: 2114
Merit: 2248
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I do not send or receive messages frequently, but I happen to miss a few due to this reason of the [1] not being too visible. This is a feature that would make messages a little bit easier to not miss and really help those that frequently private message other users on the forum.

I think of two better colors: Red and Orange.
Those colours would not fit with the blue and white layout of the forum landing page.
legendary
Activity: 1050
Merit: 1100
I've noticed that I check my PMs right after logging in, but then only haphazardly after that. The message counter in square brackets is pretty easy to miss (unless you remember to cast your eyes up there once in a while), so I sometimes leave messages sitting around for longer than I'd like.

I also have the same problem of not identifying when I have a message. I though it was because of maybe bad eyesight or ignorance, but I am elated that some members also experience the same issue. Your innovation @powerGlove will be helpful indeed and I support that this change be implemented.

Sounds like a nice addition, is there to make that "white dot" Blinking like this?


In the sense that the color changes from white to red and white, and this will be easier to attract the attention of the eye.

This would have been my perfect choice because you can't miss any message with this light blinking. Nevertheless, the ball is in the court of the administrator to decide how far this idea will go.
hero member
Activity: 700
Merit: 577
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The correct message sign seeing when message entered the inbox is okay, I am not saying you should not changed it but there are lot to do. PG there are many things to add in the forum standard tool bar which includes, showing the total post, activities and the Merits at the right side on profile Avatar then merit and reply notification on the tool bar instead instead of recreating the already existing ones, create the news things to have more beautification on the forum software.

Though things like this everyone will have their own opinion to the subject matter because here we are talking about the development of the forum and not making the forum to be stagnant. This is a very good progressive development but what is necessary right which I know is to create the new ones to the already existing ones.
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 792
Watch Bitcoin Documentary - https://t.ly/v0Nim
While I have only received some PMs, I would say that [1] is a very visible for me to notice. By the way, what do you guys think about one-time popup? No one can miss a popup. Or, another great solution may be to receive text notification above the address bar, like, when you receive text notification in place of New Tab (Chrome) text when you receive a message on Facebook.
Since don't bring me problems, bring me solutions is a more appreciate way to behave, if anyone likes a popup idea, I will work to design and release that solution.
legendary
Activity: 3290
Merit: 16489
Thick-Skinned Gang Leader and Golden Feather 2021
I've noticed that I check my PMs right after logging in, but then only haphazardly after that.
I'm always logged in, and the [1] is quite noticeable whenever I get to the top of the page (usually to click my Watchlist). There's also an email so I really can't miss it. Nevertheless: great effort!

If there are going to be improvements for PMs, I'd like it to be much faster. With 200 pages, it takes about 7 seconds to show when I click MY MESSAGES. And I think it always links to the last page, which means if you have many new PMs, it's easy to overlook the ones on the second last page.



What really grinds my gears, is that the [1] doesn't update (it neither appears not disappears) when I have a tab in Preview. I often keep those open for days, and the [1] stays the way it was when I opened it. But I'm nitpicking here Tongue
sr. member
Activity: 1820
Merit: 436
Sounds like a nice addition, is there to make that "white dot" Blinking like this?


In the sense that the color changes from white to red and white, and this will be easier to attract the attention of the eye.


The update was great I think, it was simple and fit the theme of the forum, but it doesn't do a lot if you want to notice messages. So far messages weren't really an issue, the [1] wasn't that bad.

This red one for sure will be a lot more noticeable compared to the new one, but maybe red is a bit too much on the forum's theme, the blinking will be perfect if added. I guess a blinking white dot is great.



legendary
Activity: 1789
Merit: 2535
Goonies never say die.
I tried styling this area once in the CSS I did a while back to accent new messages, but I couldn't select it because the only change seemed to happen within the content of the element. I'd prefer the patch to just add a simple class="new_message" (or something) to be added to the section when a new message comes in, then the styling or adding of icons could be handled through custom CSS options by users themselves.

Even if the styling ends up acceptable as a change to the forum overall, I'd still add a class tag to the code so it can be adjusted through CSS.
legendary
Activity: 1064
Merit: 1228
Playgram - The Telegram Casino
I played around with a few ways to make it more obvious that your inbox needs attending. It's quite easy to mess up that area of the HTML, so what ended up working best was a carefully-rasterized image of a little white dot:



I think it catches the eye nicely without being too opinionated (stylistically), so it fits in with the rest of the SMF aesthetic.
Although so far I haven't had much trouble with the display of inbox, but I think your idea is very good. Usually any user will be aware of an inbox because they'll get a notification to the email, but personalizing the look or a bit of style to the inbox is fine too.

OP, I like your idea - hope it can be implemented.

Why did you decide to choose the White color for a Notification dot?
Neutral white for everyone - IMO, it's also great for those with dark theme.
legendary
Activity: 2310
Merit: 4085
Farewell o_e_l_e_o
Sounds like a nice addition, is there to make that "white dot" Blinking like this?

It won't be deployed because theymos is a classic man who don't like animated.

AFAIK, animated avatars were disabled years ago by theymos since 2019. Your proposed animated icon is less annoying than animated avatars, I understand, but chance to see its deployment is slim.
legendary
Activity: 1596
Merit: 1288
Sounds like a nice addition, is there to make that "white dot" Blinking like this?


In the sense that the color changes from white to red and white, and this will be easier to attract the attention of the eye.



off-topic question? Is it possible to send private messages using third-party applications without the need to do it manually by accessing the forum?
I know you can post with Python code, but does it apply to messages?
legendary
Activity: 1666
Merit: 1037
While I agree with Lucius and KingsDen in that I personally don't miss PM's due to lack of ability to see them with the current layout...I will say that the goal to make the title more noticeable is definitely achieve with this simple addition. It doesn't clutter, it make the title stand out and it makes sense (the notification "dot" or "badge" is globally used this way, so it feels right). I support the addition!
legendary
Activity: 2716
Merit: 1225
Once a man, twice a child!
Why did you decide to choose the White color for a Notification dot?

I think of two better colors: Red and Orange.
Yeah, I think so too but I would rather choose red than orange. For me, it stands out and flashes the eyes better. It isn't for nothing that it's used to indicate "danger"

About new messages, I do believe that it's better to have the forum alert users by default through notification whenever they log in telling them they have new messages and if they would like to open it then or later. With that no one misses any message.

However, I want to admit that those who don't have the habit of reading messages will still not read. So, it's not even about choosing to boldface or sparkle the notification with bright colour that should matter.
hero member
Activity: 2240
Merit: 537
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Looks nice, although I have no issues seeing the current bracketed number if there happens to be a PM.
sr. member
Activity: 854
Merit: 424
I stand with Ukraine!
I played around with a few ways to make it more obvious that your inbox needs attending. It's quite easy to mess up that area of the HTML, so what ended up working best was a carefully-rasterized image of a little white dot:


Why did you decide to choose the White color for a Notification dot?

I think of two better colors: Red and Orange.

Red is eye-catching and good for notification.
Orange is cool and more eye-catching than Red because orange is more related to a color for Bitcoin logo.

Example is the Forum Help: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=help. Red color is great!

Is it possible to customize your code and give us three color options?
legendary
Activity: 1288
Merit: 1081
Goodnight, o_e_l_e_o 🌹

It's not that your option wouldn't be an additional improvement, but it's not a problem for me personally as it is now.

Neither is it also a problem to me. Maybe this could be of a help to campaign managers and those offering services who might be receiving an average of 5messages everyday.
I hardly recieve messages and I rarely send. Still his option can be an additional improvement which is much more needed in post notification rather than messages.
legendary
Activity: 3234
Merit: 5637
Blackjack.fun-Free Raffle-Join&Win $50🎲
I also check if I have a new personal message when I log in, and after that I rely on the option "Show a popup when you receive new messages?" which, when turned on, notifies you every time you receive a new personal message in a way that is difficult (or impossible) to ignore.

It's not that your option wouldn't be an additional improvement, but it's not a problem for me personally as it is now.
hero member
Activity: 510
Merit: 4005
I've noticed that I check my PMs right after logging in, but then only haphazardly after that. The message counter in square brackets is pretty easy to miss (unless you remember to cast your eyes up there once in a while), so I sometimes leave messages sitting around for longer than I'd like.



I played around with a few ways to make it more obvious that your inbox needs attending. It's quite easy to mess up that area of the HTML, so what ended up working best was a carefully-rasterized image of a little white dot:



I think it catches the eye nicely without being too opinionated (stylistically), so it fits in with the rest of the SMF aesthetic.

Here's the patch for @theymos, if he approves of this change:

Code:
--- /var/www/baseline/Themes/default/index.template.php	2008-04-30 18:30:34.000000000 +0000
+++ /var/www/modified/Themes/default/index.template.php 2023-04-10 14:59:46.000000000 +0000
@@ -545,25 +545,26 @@
 
  // Edit Profile... [profile]
  if ($context['allow_edit_profile'])
  echo ($current_action == 'profile' || $context['browser']['is_ie4']) ? ' ' : '' , '
 
  ' , $txt[79] , '
  ' , $current_action == 'profile' ? ' ' : '';
 
  // Go to PM center... [pm]
  if ($context['user']['is_logged'] && $context['allow_pm'])
  echo ($current_action == 'pm' || $context['browser']['is_ie4']) ? ' ' : '' , '
 
- ' , $txt['pm_short'] , ' ', $context['user']['unread_messages'] > 0 ? '['. $context['user']['unread_messages'] . ']' : '' , '
+ ' , $context['user']['unread_messages'] > 0 ? ' ' : '' ,
+ '' , $txt['pm_short'] , ' ', $context['user']['unread_messages'] > 0 ? '['. $context['user']['unread_messages'] . ']' : '' , '
  ' , $current_action == 'pm' ? ' ' : '';
 
  // The [calendar]!
  if ($context['allow_calendar'])
  echo ($current_action == 'calendar' || $context['browser']['is_ie4']) ? ' ' : '' , '
 
  ' , $txt['calendar24'] , '
  ' , $current_action == 'calendar' ? ' ' : '';
 
  // the [member] list button
  if ($context['allow_memberlist'])
  echo ($current_action == 'mlist' || $context['browser']['is_ie4']) ? ' ' : '' , '
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