Precalculus Mathematics: Ask Your Questions Here!

[Saitama]

What's this?

Hi!
I started a thread in "Precalculus Mathematics" named https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=512680&goto=newpost". There's no reply yet but when i checked my gmail account, i found this:-

I don't see any reply in thread.

 

[Ivan92]

I saw the reply in the thread. The reply was there, but it seems that the user has deleted it.

 

[Saitama]

How you came to know that the user has deleted it? I don't see any reply there?

 

[Ivan92]

It is the only explanation. I saw the reply there, but he must have deleted it.

 

[Saitama]

It is the only explanation. I saw the reply there, but he must have deleted it.

Ok thanks!

 

[Newai]

Hmm. Then why have the option to delete posts?

 

[DaveC426913]

Hmm. Then why have the option to delete posts?

The user decided he didn't have anything to add. (You can see in the screen grab what the user did reply before deleting it.)


They have a window in which they can delete. But the notice of replies is sent out immediately. Which allows for the possibility that the notice goes stale.

 

[Pengwuino]

Hmm. Then why have the option to delete posts?

Sometimes people say something wrong or may not want to say what they said.

The subscription feature can be instant. People may regret their posting a few minutes or even hours later :P

 

[Evo]

I think the notification should not contain the text of the post.

This is especially true when it's in homework and someone has given a complete answer. Nothing like e-mailing the answer directly to the student. We need to fix this. Notification that there is a new post is enough.

 

[Mapes]

This is especially true when it's in homework and someone has given a complete answer. Nothing like e-mailing the answer directly to the student. We need to fix this. Notification that there is a new post is enough.

It is undesirable that verboten information goes through in this particular circumstance, but I'd argue that seeing the attached post is useful enough in the general case that it's worth it. I always read the email notification carefully to decide whether I'm going to return to the thread immediately or later.

 

[DaveC426913]

It is undesirable that verboten information goes through in this particular circumstance, but I'd argue that seeing the attached post is useful enough in the general case that it's worth it. I always read the email notification carefully to decide whether I'm going to return to the thread immediately or later.

This was what I was thinking.

I'd think the relative rarity with which verboten information snuck through would not be worth deliberately defeating an otherise well-designed, well-intentioned feature.

 

[Fredrik]

I think the notification should not contain the text of the post.

This is especially true when it's in homework and someone has given a complete answer. Nothing like e-mailing the answer directly to the student. We need to fix this. Notification that there is a new post is enough.

I agree with this. Mainly because I like to edit my posts after I've posted them. I would rather have the person open the thread and read the improved version than have them read the stuff I eventually decided wasn't good enough.

 

[jtbell]

I always read the email notification carefully to decide whether I'm going to return to the thread immediately or later.

If the notification were to include only the first few lines of the post, would that be enough to meet your requirements? It would probably block most "complete solutions" from going through.

(Personally, I disable e-mail notifications on all the forums that I use. My inbox gets more than enough traffic anyway. When i post something, I expect to monitor the forum for a decent interval afterwards. Five-year necroposts don't count.)

 

[Fredrik]

I always read the email notification carefully to decide whether I'm going to return to the thread immediately or later.

Is this to make sure that no one sees that you have gone online to read the replies, or to save two seconds of time? I don't see any other reasons to read the email text first. If you just click on the link, you can read the same text formatted in a much nicer way, and then decide if you want to stick around and write a reply.

 

[tiny-tim]

I think the notification should not contain the text of the post.

I often only read the email, especially in a discussion thread or in a homework thread in which more than one person is helping …

I don't want to wait for a webpage to load (which can take a long time, especially if there's a lot of latex) if I can see from the email that I won't want to answer it.

(and even if I do intend to reply, it saves time to start reading the post and thinking about it while the page is loading)

Please don't remove this facility. ​

 

[Redbelly98]

I'd think the relative rarity with which verboten information snuck through would not be worth deliberately defeating an otherise well-designed, well-intentioned feature.

IMHO, it's not that rare.

For non-homework it might be useful to know which member had replied though.