Can We Exclude Ourselves from Private Messages?

Dan Bracuk wrote:

 

For a variety of reasons, I prefer public forums to private discussions.  These forums have a Private Message feature but I have not found any way to opt out of them.  The Edit Forums Profile page has nothing on the topic.  Also, hiding our email address does not prevent others from sending us private messages.

 

Is there a way to opt out that I couldn't find?  If not, could one be put in?

I'm not aware of a way to opt out, but that means little, as I

don't run this site or anything.

My opinion is that it's probably just as easy to ignore the personal message function altogether; it's easy enough to miss as it is (I had a message once for several weeks before noticing!) so for me, ignoring it would be a feasible option.

I am fairly sure that if there IS a way to opt out that someone will let you know.

The best way to block private messages is to put 150 messages in your private message store. When somebody tries to PM you after that he will get an error immediately and you never see they even tried. I have done this for most non-moderator accounts I have on these forums.

For a variety of reasons, I prefer public forums to private discussions.

I believe we all do; PMs (Private Messages) are only a means of exchange somewhere midway between forum posts and emails, more fleeting than either.

In the beginning there was only room for 100 PMs. I asked for more, because I keep some, and now it is 150. Sorry.

I should prefer to have a larger number available along with the option of opting out of PMs.

when someone pm's me about a relevant topic i tell them i don't answer questions in PMs and prefer to keep exchanges in the regular forums where then can be useful to all. that's usually enough to deter someone from PMing you.

Jacob Bugge wrote:

I should prefer to have a larger number available along with the option of opting out of PMs.

PMs are a very useful means of communicating about stuff that we don't want to appear in the forums.  I also wish that we could have more than just 150 messages, which I have to regularly clear out.  Some PM messages I would like to keep permanently, e.g. links to important online documents etc.  I cannot keep all these in browser bookmarks.

And to elaborate even further:

With a PM, if read and answered, you may reach another forum member quietly without having (to have) the email address, in other words a communication at an intermediate level, which may then be deepened by the exchange of email addresses and continuation through them.

This is (the) one feature that forms an improvement over the fair forums, which might very well have had it added, given the chance.

John, Jochem, what do you say: can Pat, I, and others, have the number further increased?

Trust me, Dan: the possibly few of us using the PMs are just as eager to have the opting out option for the rest of us.

Unwanted, and unavoidable, features are the main reason that so many of us wish ourselves back in the times of the fair forums.