Reply and Reply Notification not working? No longer being notified of Replies. OP not noti

Reply and Reply Notification not working? No longer being notified of Replies. OP not notified of further responses.

Hi,
. I have just seen coincidentally replies from the OPs to me in at least 2 Threads that I answered yesterday.
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...ike-a-b-c.html
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...r-sheet-2.html

. I was definitely not notified of these responses. I was permanently on line throughout the time of the responses.
. 1 ) I checked and I am still subscribed. So that is not the problem
. 2) I had also revisited the Forum and the Thread many times in the meantime. So the “You will not receive further notifications until you re visit the Board” is also not the problem.

Forthermore:
. . I have often been surprised in the past that some of my quite thorough answers are not acknowledged. In particular I have a strong suspicion now that the last few responses to a thread are for some reason not notified further to the participants.
.. I often notice that an additional alternative solution that comes just after the OP has responded to an earlier response ( that may have not quite satisfied his requirements as well as the latest one just received ) are often never acknowledged.
. I am continually surprised when I lurk through Posts of many Regulars who give many very good responses to see their efforts often not aknowledged, in particular for a last Solution..
.
. My suspicions were that the Notification system was not always working properly. I now have concrete proofs that that is the case. ( At least Today by me )

. I have sometimes PM’ ed an OP to inform him or her of a response. I have up until now always had some response from them to the PM and then the Thread response. . Occasionally they have commented that they were not informed or missed of my response. It is impractical for others who are extremely active in the Board. to PM Ops to remend them to check the Thread

. I expect it would be of great interest to many people, possibly sometimes put off by the lack of response to their efforts, to have this investigated.

Alan.

EDIT: I have a new reply to me here:
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...ml#post4167648
. As the OP also PM’d me I saw the response. I have received No Email notification up until now of that response!!!! I was here, online the whole time writing this and responding to Threads as the OP replied.
. - so now 3 defintite occurances of Not getting Notified

Edit Edit.. I should have been notified of this..
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-prog...rt-a-file.html
.. I was not.
..... so 4 occurrances at latest count, and I have not checked through all my latest posts yet..

I don't use subscribe, so I cant really comment on getting notifications of not (I post 15-20 times a day, the list would be horrendous lol)

regarding this...

I am continually surprised when I lurk through Posts of many Regulars who give many very good responses to see their efforts often not aknowledged, in particular for a last Solution..

We have all - at 1 time or another - commented/complained/lamented about this, but it goes with the territory...some members are excellent at saying thanks, others not so good. There have been a small few who we (seniors) have mentioned by name as consistently never even coming back to say a suggestion worked - many of us don't even bother offering help, and some have even put them on ignore. If you find that the same member/s continually don't even reply at all to a suggestion, perhaps take the same approach?

Originally Posted by FDibbins

I don't use subscribe, so I cant really comment on getting notifications of not (I post 15-20 times a day, the list would be horrendous lol)....

. Thanks for the Reply..... I was not notified of it
. I appreciate you work very hard and answer many Threads, amazing..!

. ( I expect possibly you are already subscribed by default to the Threads you have answered ( unless you have somehow changed the default settings. I have double checked and I am subscribed to the Threads to which I am recently getting no notification of Replies..... ? ) )
.

Anyways…my problem..
. I do not ask many questions, so I do not have too many to check there.
. But As I am not so good yet, but like to try and contribute back, I often take questions that are not so technically challenging but take a while. Often they need several goes at getting clarity. So my participation is very dependent on me getting the notifications.
. Without them it is very difficult.
Alan

Originally Posted by FDibbins

I don't use subscribe, so I cant really comment on getting notifications of not (I post 15-20 times a day, the list would be horrendous lol)

I'v subscribed too all the posts ever since I joined.. I guess I should stop it..

. The system seems to have been “flushed out” again and I , (and as at least a few others have told me, ) have received a large back log of emails this morning.
. I will report back and re mark the Thread as solved again later if I find the Notification system functioning normally
Alan

P.s.
@ Pete_UK ( I did not eventually PM you as your box was full )

Just a tip, use this link as your HomePage link in the EF:

http://www.excelforum.com/usercp.php

This is the UserCP link you see above in the menu bar. It will cause all your recently replied threads to appear at the top of your landing page, I use this almost exclusively now. And the VIEW ALL SUBSCRIBED THREADS button right there on the right is handy too, because, unfortunately, I've gotten used to not always getting the emails. They usually work fine, but not always, I'm just used to it. Hopefully the UserCP will minimize the frustration of that.

Your user profile looks normal, so no issues there.

Hi
Thanks for the reply ( I was not notified!!

Originally Posted by JBeaucaire

Just a tip, use this link as your HomePage link in the EF:
Thanks for the Reply ( I was not notified of it ! )
http://www.excelforum.com/usercp.php.......

Thanks , that looks like it could be a temporary solution, but a difficult thing to use if I am "active" , "live" as it were in a Thread, as I would have to keep clicking on it.... ( But at least I saw for the first time that I have some Reps, FWIW.. )

.. it is very strange that up until yesterday I was almost always notified of replies. But today I am not getting a single one. Clearly something has happened.
. Are there any Tech Guys or whatever whoever that could somehow check what has happened, or why no notifications are coming my way?. As I noted for my sort of participation it is very handy to have Email Notifications.

. But thanks anyway for the Tip. It may get me by, I will try that and see if it enables me to catch Replies I get
..........................................
. Anyone else experienced this problem since yesterday? I appreciate guys like you so busy would probably never notice as you unsubscribe to prevent being bombarded. But any junior members like me waiting for a response might like to check that Link in case they have the same problem like me but may not have noticed it yet

Thanks again for your time
. Appreciate it
Alan

Alan, I have deselected subscription notifications (under Settings). Don't you have to refresh for notif's to be updated?

Hi,

.. Thanks for the reply ( ... and I was not notif..... you guessed it )

Originally Posted by FDibbins

Alan, I have deselected subscription notifications (under Settings). Don't you have to refresh for notif's to be updated?

... Not quite sure what you mean by refresh in this context??
.... i have "Instantly, using Email" in my
>> Settings
>> General Stettings
>> Default Thread Subscription Mode:

....It always was and still is and i have never changed it. ....

... For fun I will change it, save that change.. Then put it back to "Instantly, using Email" save that again and see if that coerces it into " refreshing"

Alan

Originally Posted by Pete_UK

Don't forget as well that there may be several replies after your post, but you will only get notification of the first one, unless you visit the thread again (even if you are on-line continuously)…….

Thanks for replying Pete, appreciate the effort..
.. .but I addressed that point in Post #1 . So that is not the problem.
But thanks anyways..
( I can confirm that I have not received notification if your reply.. And I frequently visited the Forum and this Thread in the meantime, as I am having to do at the moment with all my interested Threads to see if I have any response… ( or checking the Link JBeaucaire mentioned )
Cheers
Alan

....suddenlly it seems to be working. again
EmailNotification.JPG.

I have my general settings as Do Not Subscribe, but I still get the E-mails. I have had to set my E-mail client to delete them automatically!

Originally Posted by Pete_UK

Yes, I've just replied to your other thread. They seem to have stopped for me on Saturday. I didn't even get a notification that you tried to send me a PM and my inbox is full, which I usually get.....

Thanks Pete, getting worse maybe.. like a lot of things recently

Originally Posted by Pete_UK

....I seem to have stopped getting notifications recently (since about 11:00pm on Saturday)....

_ ...Sounds about the same as me
_....

Originally Posted by AliGW

I have my general settings as Do Not Subscribe, but I still get the E-mails. I have had to set my E-mail client to delete them automatically!

Thanks Ali,
_ ...Another Weird variation. I am a bit reluctant to experiment too much with settings, ( in case it makes it worse ) - currently i do have a way that gets most replies**

_ ..............................
All a bit frustrating, I have a feeling many OP’s are not getting to hear of replies, and effort is going to waste.
But just like the other problems,
http://www.excelforum.com/the-water-...ml#post4229467
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...xcelforum.html

etc. etc...
seems a bit of a hit and miss.
Can make forum participation difficult.
****For me hitting settings
http://www.excelforum.com/usercp.php
( sometimes called HomePage or UserCP ( User Control Panel ) )
Usually catches many of the recent replies, but not always. And sometimes it only shows for a short time, so again replies can be missed.
The main worry again from me is the effort wasted on replies if the OP does not get notified. But maybe as previously, the system will get “flushed out” , and all the reply notifications come at once!!

Alan

P.s. I did not get notification of your replies!!! ( Also not of Pete’s in that other Thread ) So it is definitely not working for me. At least 10 just recently

If anyone has gone to the trouble of asking a question in the forum, I would expect they would be interested enough to monitor the thread, albeit occasionally, to see if there is an answer. I don't really see why anyone wants/needs an email to tell them there is an update waiting for them.

If they can't be bothered looking, I'm guessing it's not that important to them.

I sometimes trawl through the threads that I have answered, where there has been no response from the OP, to ask if the issue has been resolved. In many cases, it doesn't get marked solved, there's no feedback and there's no thanks or rep. But, hey, I probably learnt something from the exercise so all is not lost.

Originally Posted by TMS

But, hey, I probably learnt something from the exercise so all is not lost.

I believe Trevor has hit the proverbial nail on the head.

Originally Posted by jeffreybrown

I believe Trevor has hit the proverbial nail on the head.

I agree but all TMS’s points also, BUT -, an OP could be interested in his reply, but is innocently unaware that Email Notifications are not working, and also innocently unaware of the User Control panel option.
_ maybe another suggestion for Tech Team , EF Management or whoever to ignore could be
An Email on members informing of both the Email notification Problems and the User Control Panel Option alternative ( Assuming that may work sometimes!!)
Alan

Sorry, I don't agree. If I ask a question on this forum, or any other forum, it is because I want to know the answer. Consequently, I constantly monitor MY thread until I get an answer, if I get an answer. If people don't log in and look, it can't be very important to them.

That said, when I DO ask a question on most other forums and help desks, if there is an option to get email updates, I tick it. But, it's belt and braces. I still check.

Being realistic, it is my perception that the Tech Team have little or no idea how the Bulletin Board software works, when it works, and are in no position to fix it when it doesn't. And the Management Team (IMO) probably know less.

While it is interesting to have these discussions, it needs to be accepted (again, IMO) that nothing will be done and you are wasting your time and effort.

If you can, and want to, answer the threads, fine, do it. But there really isn't much point in worrying about whether or not anyone gets notified. Like I said, if they're interested in getting an answer to their thread, they'll look; if you're interested in whether or not they're interested, you can look too. User CP generally works well for me ... at least, I don't seem to miss many prompts for threads I have answered.

AJMO

Hi TMS,
thanks for the reply..

Originally Posted by TMS

Sorry, I don't agree. ......
AJMO

Originally Posted by Glenn Kennedy

........ hey - we're all different.

Originally Posted by xladept

Vive la difference!

Hi Alan, that's got to be the shortest post I've ever seen from you ...

Well looks like the problem is solved Again.
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...ml#post4253225
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...ml#post4255215
But this time the system was not flushed out so the “missing” notifications appear lost.
As the problem may come up again., I will leave the Thread as Unsolve. That way if it comes up again suddenly, someone might hit on this Thread and catch the notes currently in my signature::

here again in case i change back my signature to something which is more appropriate for a signature in the Event the problem seems solved.

„……NOTE: Email Notifications of Replies to your Thread often do not work at ExcelForum .
SO:, check out your Threads frequently:
Visit the site and check your User Control Panel (UCP) to see recent replies to Threads that you are subscribed to. – To do that click on Settings, User CP, or use this link
http://www.excelforum.com/usercp.php
OR:
Store the URL Link from your Browser Address Window of the Thread to your Favourite list……“

Alan

P.s. Just while I am here, a quick summary of the situation since about middle August. May not be complete or fully accurate as I was often away for weeks on end, and a short time occurrence of the problem may have gone unnoticed

Wonking Email Notification Dates at ExcelForum

Startdate Not working	Date Working again	Flushed out Date	Approx Duration of not Working ( Duration of Wonky Email Notification System )
20th August	28th August	28th August	8
29thAugust	31st August	31st August	2
9th September	11th September	11th September	3
2nd November	5thNovember	5thNovember	3
28th November	4th December	Didn't Yet!!	7

http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...ml#post4253225
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...ml#post4256228

Hi

It appears to me that Email Notifications have stopped again, at least I missed getting a few since a few hours ago.
Anyone care to Reply here and also send me a quick PM so that I can confirm that.

Thanks
Alan

Hi

It appears that most Notifications are now getting through again, not all. And there appears to be a delay of a about an hour..., ( I do and have always had my settings set to instant Notification )
Alan

Hi Pete,
Thanks for the Reply.
I have very occasionally had the sporadic multi Notification thing, not often. When it did occur I think it was somewhere around 27, I seem to remember posting about it. Cannot remember where. The Number of Threads reporting problems are so many just recently I cannot keep track.
What you said about not getting any Notifications was interesting. I was not posting many relies to Threads in that period, so I missed any possible re occurrence of the Email Notification problem this time around. I was a bit surprised not to get a few responses to my efforts, but that is not always so unusual. There are so many problems just now, this time around it maybe went completely unnoticed, but was just another thing that contributed to some people giving up with the Forum
It is difficult to be precise about the time delay I saw. The given times given by the Forum are also sometimes a bit difficult to follow- I see different times in different parts of the Forum for the same event.. The times i did note were where I saw the reply come in, either in the Forum or in my UserCP.. Started timing then and then saw when I got the Email Notification of the reply about an hour later. But it was inconsistent. An hour was average.
There have been so many great contributors leaving, starting right back a year ago with people like Rory ( Romperstomper ) due to access problems, and coming to a peak just recently with atrocious problems and invaluable people leaving..... It almost feels like an insult to them to keep posting here..

Alan

_........................................................................................................

P.s. Only recently lurked through an Old Thread, and found the problem has been going way way before my time

http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...ml#post2704574
http://www.excelforum.com/the-water-...ml#post2696661
http://www.excelforum.com/the-water-...ml#post2699602











_.................................................................................

Email Notification Problem Dates at ExcelForum

Startdate Not working	Date Working again	Flushed out Date	Approx Duration of not Working ( Duration of Wonky Email Notification System )
20th August	28th August	28th August	8
29thAugust	31st August	31st August	2
9th September	11th September	11th September	3
2nd November	5thNovember	5thNovember	3
28th November	4th December	Didn't Yet!!
Approx 3rd Feb 2016	Sporadic and maybe	some Notifications were not got ***	Approx 10

*** So many other problems over about 2 weeks from end of January, that this problem went unnoticed or those that did have gone anyway!!
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...g-threats.html
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...le-chrome.html
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...g-trojans.html
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...-img-link.html
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...e-changes.html
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...d-attempt.html
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...rly-again.html
http://www.excelforum.com/the-water-...e-warning.html
http://www.excelforum.com/the-water-...y-loading.html
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...ml#post4314257
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...ml#post4312246
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...orum-down.html
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...ss-denied.html

Notifications ( For those who opt to have them ) are not working Today. ( amoungst everything else )

Email Notifications do not appear to be working currently, since approximately the move to the new server, possibly a bit before

They have not been working since approximately Friday afternoon, 10th February 2017

Probably a last update in this Thread, fingers crossed...
Seems something more drastic was done this time : Chimp ChAMP WonkDUWollyWollyFpf-TangP-TanggOLEBiscuitBarrelVerySillyLongURLLink:
http://www.excelforum.com/the-water-...ml#post4581916
http://www.excelforum.com/the-water-...ml#post4581940

Startdate Not working	Date Working again	Flushed out Date	Approx Duration of not Working ( Duration of Wonky Email Notification System )
20th August	28th August	28th August	8
29thAugust	31st August	31st August	2
9th September	11th September	11th September	3
2nd November	5thNovember	5thNovember	3
28th November	4th December	Didn't Yet!!
Approx 3rd Feb 2016	Sporadic and maybe	some Notifications were not got ***	Approx 10
Approx Okt 4th 2016	Okt 6th 2016	Didn't Yet!!	Approx 1.5
Friday 10th Feb 2017 afternoon	Monday 13th Feb 2017	Unlikely to be: "Lost in Dark Web"	3

EDIT 28th Feb 2017: Just repositing a quirk noticed by Pete:

Originally Posted by Pete_UK

http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...ml#post4593195
.... .few instances where I have received a notification of a later response (after I have visited the thread again) BEFORE an earlier response.
_ .. notification of Post #7 at time it was posted, . on the board at 21:48 on 22/02/2017)
_ .. notification fo Post #4 at 00:16 on 23/02/2017 (on the board at 19:37 on 22/02/2017)
_ .. ------ and for Post #3 at 03:51 on 23/02/2017 .(on the board at 18:52 on 22/02/2017)...

Friday 22nd Sept 2017
Hi
I noticed that Email notifications were not working yesterday, Thusday 21 Sept 2017. I am not sure how long they were broken as I have not been too active of late.
They appear to be working currently. But the system has not been “flushed out”, (that is to say, I have not received the missing notifications), so I expect many people will have missed notifications from the time the Email Notifications were broken.

If you rely on Email Notifications to keep up on Threads of interest, then it may be a good idea to check out your User Control Panel , hit the View all Subscribed Threads Button, and scroll down your Subscribed Threads in case you missed anything when Email Notifications were broken. ( You may also see recent replies listed at the top – they should be , but that sometimes does not work either )
Have a spiffing day, maties and mate-esses
Alan

_........

User Control Panel info:
https://www.excelforum.com/suggestio...ml#post4168100
https://www.excelforum.com/usercp.php
http://imgur.com/dQnVdHv
http://www.excelforum.com/excel-gene...ml#post4560129


P.S.
( I changed this thread back to not being marked as SOLVED and posted this reply just to bring it, that is to say to make aware this recent occurance of broken Email Notifications. - If the Email Notifications continue to work I will re mark it again as SOLVED again in a few days )

EDIT Update: Saturday 23 Sept 2017
I definitely missed a Notification yesterday afternoon , Friday 22 Sept 2017 ,( English time ) , but mostly Notifications are seemingly working, so someone is probably having a Fiddle.

We probably need a Banner, like:

Hi Members. We are F ing about a bit with the Forum Software just now. As usual it usually screws something up. This time it may cause the odd Email Notification to go astray. Some OPs will miss an answer given, so occasionally helpers efforts will go to waste. But don’t worry about it – OPs are getting less and less responsive anyway, so just answer to keep your Excel lent Brain active, so that you can help people like Alan when he needs it :-)

Check your User Control Panel , https://www.excelforum.com/usercp.php , regularly

REF:
Email Notification Problems at ExcelForum:
http://www.excelforum.com/suggestion...ml#post2704574
http://www.excelforum.com/the-water-...ml#post2696661
http://www.excelforum.com/the-water-...ml#post2699602
Banners Bollox :
https://www.excelforum.com/developme...ml#post4533692

Update Sunday 22October.
Just for info: I definitely missed an Email notification of a response ( from Friday 20thOktober ) in a Thread that I am subscribed to, ( .. and I checked all the setting to make sure that I theoretically should have received that notification… ) . But mostly Email notifications are apparently working..
I am not active just now in the Forum so I do not expect many notifications. So I cannot be sure what the situation is currently regarding Email notifications. But my guess would be that they are mostly working, but there continue to be sporadic times when they are not working…_... ( .. and.. ( the system is not being "flushed out" when they restart to work, so it is possible that you will miss the odd notification from time to time... ) ) _..
So check out ya User Control Panel Info ( https://www.excelforum.com/suggestio...ml#post4747907 ) to be on the safe side
Alan



_.....
Edit Update, Later.. Sunday 22October.
Email Notifications were working this morning. They weren’t this afternoon. They are not working now, this evening ( All English times ). At least they are definitely not working at all for me. Anyone else noticed? – or am I just being punished for my absence?

'_-.....
Monday 23rd October, 2017 October
Email Notifications were working first thing this morning ( English time ). They have not been working from Mid morning. So it seems like it is a sporadic thing.. If you want to try to be sure that someone gets an Email notification, then this is one way that may often work:
Send yourself a Private Message, ( check first that all your Settings are such that you get Email notifications ). If you get an Email notification of that PM then send your reply or PM quick – usually then the recipient will get an Email Notification ( if his/her Settings are set for that option). If you get no Email notification concerning your test PM, then have another go again later….
Later..
Alan

'_-
Update Tuesday 24thOktober
There were a few things I should have got an Email Notification of yesterday… I got about half. So the conclusion seems to be that Email notifications are hit and miss at excelforum – sometimes they work , sometimes not. On most internet things these days, getting an Email notification is pretty standard unless you specifically opt not to. For that reason, I think many newer OPs ( who wont have any idea about their User Control Panel), will understandably assume they have no reply if they miss one due to the non working Email Notifications.. . So more peoples efforts will be going to waste… Oh well…
( Currently, this morning, Engllish time, Email Notifications are not working.. )

'_-
Edit Update Saturday, 11th November: Ford spoke to the management/tech team again about the problem a week or so ago. There reply was not too understandable or helpful, or maybe they just had difficulty communicating…. In any case it would appear that the problem might be solved since then…. I’ll mark the thread as Solved… again..
Alan
Edit a little later Saturday, 11th November… another Member ( a Guru ) just reported that he has had no notifications for a few months… oh well .. I will keep checking occasionally ….

Hi AB33
I understand your problem. - At least I understand your Email Notification problem: Your problem with Email Notifications seems similar to those which are the subject of this Thread, but possibly not too characteristic of the current problems that I have recently experienced. (I am unfamiliar with your scrolling problem)
I am sorry to hear of your problems.

Regarding recent Email Notification problems:
I had an intermittent problem with Email Notifications over September and October and at the start of November.
Currently they are working for me now. They are working very quickly. (I did indeed get an instant Email Notification of your reply in post #53 above ).
During this recent problem time, other Members who contacted me were not aware of problems, but due to its intermittent nature in this case of the excelforum Email Notification problems, many could not be sure if they had possibly missed some Email Notifications. Some reported that they had noticed delays in getting some Email Notifications. Throughout the recent problem period, the problem was intermittent, but I did not experience longer periods with no Notifications at all. So as you have had no Notifications at all for a month, then possibly yours is a different issue to that which I recently experienced.

I will remark this Thread, once again, as currently Not Solved.
Hopefully your problem will be passed on to the Tech Team by Admin.

Possibly also other Members could check for us and report here on their current experience with Email Notifications.
I will continue to monitor my Email Notifications
Hope your problem gets solved

Alan

EDIT: Thanks AB33 for the Rep thingy.


Edit Update Friday 24th Nov 2017:
I noticed on Wednesday 22rd Nov that I missed getting a couple of Email Notifications that I should have.. So intemitancy in working is back....

I have again, pushed this to the tech team

Cling-Ons
The E-Mail Notification System appeared to stop working last night at about 22.00 German Time evening of 7th January 2018.
The system appears to have partially*** flushed out some of the missing Notifications at about 8.56. a.m. this morning German time 8th January 2018
System Flush Out E-Mails 8Jan2018.jpg : https://imgur.com/IPqDAkU

The system appears to be working now from approx 9.00 a.m. German Time. But not all the lost E-Mails were flushed out***.
So some were lost from sometime this morning.

If you were expecting E-Mail Notifications sometime in the evening to morning period 7-8th Jan 2018 then you may not have got them***



*** As I write this some of the missing E-Mails are coming in, but not in the order that they were sent…..I am getting some from early this morning now, after some more recent ones which already arrived almost instantly as they were sent at approx 9.00 am german Time this morning 8th Jan 2018 ..
Possibly the system is slowly scraping out some of the Cling-Ons after the main flush





EDIT 12th Jan 2017:
Currently seems all OK again . Some members confirmed my experiences per PM. I will probably summarise the last few months and remark [SOLVED] soon

I have already reported this to the TT

The technical team may take several days to respond to the report - I am afraid you will have to be patient.

What Ali said. Plus, it was reported on Saturday, when they probably dont work

Still waiting for feedback from the TT