Time to Delete Old Private Messages

[Phillip Dampier]

Our forum continues to grow in size, and the file that contains private messages is larger than ever.  While there is no problem keeping around important messages you wish to archive in your PM box, please consider deleting any messages that you don't feel you'll need to review again.  If you are hopelessly overwhelmed with PM's (some people have well over 3,000 in their mailbox), it might be time to consider the more brutal approach, and just delete anything dated before January 1, 2008.

We have plenty of disk space, but the larger the files grow, the longer it takes for the forum to display messages, and the longer it takes for our daily site backup, which has grown enormously in size.

Thanks for helping us keep things efficient and fast for everyone!

[Ellemeno]

I now have zero personal messages.  I bet that'll show up as a change in the file size.

If anyone wrote to me, and is still waiting for an answer, please re-send.  I feel pounds lighter!

[Kerry]

Have just deleted all PMs in my In Box and Out Box. 

[CellarDweller]

Hello Phillip.

I can talk from experinece about this  issue.


We had severe issues on the Dave Cullen forum with this matter.  Forum loading time began to slow, and we even had a few crashes as well.

We soon discovered that excessive PMs were the problem.  We found one member who had over 8,000 PMs saved!

 

Once people began to get rid of older messages, the forum's problems stopped.

[optom3]

Down to low double digits, just kept a handful of my faves.

[Brokeback_Dev]

Im having a hard time deleting my pms.  I certainly dont have masses but there's a few and as I read I realize just how much my Bettermost friends mean to me.   I willl go back later and try to delete more.   

[Brokeback_Dev]

Ive been busy deleting both outbox and inbox, but the number of messages shown at the top of the screen has stayed the same.   

[Penthesilea]

I deleted about 200 messages over the last days. And on I go....
Oh, and then there's the outbox

I'll continue deleting until I reach a reasonable number... whatever this will be.

[CellarDweller]

If you really want to keep the content of the PMs, you could just copy them to a word doc, and then save them on your computer.

[Brokeback_Dev]

I am down below 300 pms.  Ive been pretty diligent, but its time to take a break. The outbox doesnt affect the total number of pms, but Im deleting them too.

[Pipedream]

I just took a journey through two and a half years of pm history and got rid of most of it. Was about time...

[Penthesilea]

... and another 100 gone ...

The outbox doesnt affect the total number of pms, but Im deleting them too.

But it does effect the disc space of BM, doesn't it?

[Brokeback_Dev]

I just took a journey through two and a half years of pm history and got rid of most of it. Was about time...

I am not yet able to delete some of the more heartfelt pms.  Bettermost friends are some of the greatest you will find. 

[Brokeback_Dev]

... and another 100 gone ...



But it does effect the disc space of BM, doesn't it?

I think the outbox does affect the disc space because Phillip asked us to remove them too.

[RouxB]

don't kill me-60 pages of private messages. I just spent the last hour deleting but some of the oldie but goodies will need to stay. They remind me of how I got here and why.

 

[CellarDweller]

don't kill me-60 pages of private messages. I just spent the last hour deleting but some of the oldie but goodies will need to stay. They remind me of how I got here and why.

 

Rouxb!!!!!   

[Brokeback_Dev]

I came across a wonderful gem as I was "pruning" my pms.  This one I kept, but would like to share it with you all!

[Penthesilea]

What a wonderful picture Dev. Thanks for sharing!

[Brokeback_Dev]

Hey Jess, do you think you could show me how to save my pms to yahoo?
Ive still got plenty to go.

[Shakesthecoffecan]

Working on it, bit by bit. A challange to my pack rat nature.

[Lynne]

I did it.  I took the Prune Messages approach, but it was still painful.  And yes, I know they're saved in my email, but s--t--i--l--l !!!

 

[Front-Ranger]

I came across a wonderful gem as I was "pruning" my pms.  This one I kept, but would like to share it with you all!

What a great picture! Thanks for sharing!

[Phillip Dampier]

Hello Phillip.

I can talk from experinece about this  issue.


We had severe issues on the Dave Cullen forum with this matter.  Forum loading time began to slow, and we even had a few crashes as well.

We soon discovered that excessive PMs were the problem.  We found one member who had over 8,000 PMs saved!

 

Once people began to get rid of older messages, the forum's problems stopped.

8,000?  That's like my Gmail inbox!  I had upwards of 1,500 myself.  I'm down to 800 or so.  I am trying to purge a few dozen a day.  I honestly read every last one of them, but sometimes a lot of my PM's are comments and input, which I don't always have an instant answer for, but usually those things get implemented down the road, so the input is absolutely honored and appreciated. 

We've never really had any technical issues because of the number of PM's, beyond just keeping everything backed up.  I suspect the DC issues may have had to do with the hosting company used and how much memory was allocated to SMF, which can be a memory piggy at times.  DC is also larger than we are, so the specs of the server and the resources provided by the hosting company can also make a difference.  What John and I have learned is that the best way to host an SMF forum is to place it on its own server, or use one of the virtual server technologies that are out there, which allocate "slices" of resources which are guaranteed to be exclusively available to the forum and no other customer.  That way you don't run into a problem with oversold hosting companies or servers that, over time, simply have issues with memory leaks or other problems that require rebooting.

With SMF, the biggest reasons for crashes or slow responsiveness comes from:

 1) the hosting company
 2) installed modifications (mods) to the SMF basic software which are not well written.

Most crashes happen because of the hosting company.  We used to go down about once a month until we finally ditched an older company and switched.  We've been up for several hundred days with no problems ever since.  And third party software mods can also be an issue.

Should DC wish to explore switching hosting companies down the road, you can PM me and I'll share our experiences and recommendations.

[Phillip Dampier]

I am not yet able to delete some of the more heartfelt pms.  Bettermost friends are some of the greatest you will find. 

You are in no way being asked to remove anything you really want to keep here.  We don't have disk space or resource issues.  I just like to remind people to practice good housekeeping whenever possible.  If you want to keep it here, that's fine.

We've also been testing BetterMost e-mail accounts.  I have been wishing and waiting for a mod that can integrate them directly with the forum software.  They would give everyone an e-mail address of [email protected] and let them have as much e-mail as they like - it uses Gmail technology and the messages are stored by them.

I haven't pushed these because they don't integrate with the forum the way I want.  I don't like having disconnected pieces that don't fit well together. 

[Ellemeno]

Remember, you can click to make all your PMs go to your email address.  After spending quite a while going back and deleting one by one, I finally pruned em all.  It feels good.  That was about a month ago.  Now I'm trying to keep them deleted after I respond to them.