Search Last Posting by specific user

Is there a way to search the forums to find the last posting of a specific user.

For Example:
Say I'm waiting on a response by Dmail from someone.
I keep waiting, so I start wondering of something has happened to this person,
- or - if they may be ignoring me. ( oh-no )
Well, my curiosity kicks in and I'm wondering if they're being active somewhere else on DG, so I'd like to see the last post they made, and check the dates...... Right now, as far as I know, you can only check the last thread they start -- not the last post.

Is there also a way to somehow 'turn on' the ability to Search Forums, and leave the "What are you searching for?" blank, but only put the "Show only posts by the following user:" and put the name of who you're searching in the blank. This preferrably would bring up every post they've made. But nothing happens because the first blank is not filled in: "What are you searching for?" Then I've noticed that when there is a subject, the results are not sorted by date either, and you wind up going through loads of pages to find the most recent post....

Anyhow -- the search seems to still be a little less useful.
But - I'm not saying that it can or can't happen. I have no idea of the difficulties and planning and brainstorming that must go on in order to give us this current great level of usefulness. this place is the best!!!!

About the Dmails, maybe a read receipt could also be useful. :^)

This has come up before, and I don't think there's ever been a definite conclusion...

I don't know that we need to get really specific in terms of "read receipt" for Dmail or even knowing exactly where somebody's most recent post was... most of the time, I'm just trying to figure out if the person has posted anywhere on DG for weeks/months or not.

I'd be really happy with a feature -- perhaps added to the member page? -- that said "username's most recent post was the week of mm/dd/yy."

That would let me know somebody hadn't dropped off the face of the earth (well, at least not off the face of DG) without being too invasive.

?

I agree 100%, Critter!
most often it concerns a trade..........

Critter -- I agree that your suggestions are not too invasive - like all my suggestions are.
It is certainly probably better that way.

I would be satisfied with your suggestion.

But, I would also like a better search function, searchable by DG member, and sortable by date.
There is simply a lot of good information by certain people out there.
Since the info is there, it would be helpful to search it and sort it.

Or ------- have Dave add Google Search into his site. ( yea )
Google's search options are, well, legendary.

If I'm remembering right, from when this has come up before, trying to show previous posts by other members (the way we can find our own previous posts) was something that would use too much server time/bandwidth/space/whatever. Showing the 5 or 10 most recent posts, or showing the most recent posts by that person in a particular forum, might narrow it down enough to make it reasonable.

I'm actually not in favor of a read receipt on Dmail... sometimes I get Dmail that I want to think about a while, or one that I simply don't want to respond to (rare, but it happens). Sometimes I glance at a Dmail and realize it's complicated and that I'll need to come back to it when I have more time. I'd rather not have somebody know exactly when I've opened the mail they've sent.

(edited because I meant "read receipt" not "return receipt" -- must have post office issues on the brain tonight!)

This message was edited Feb 6, 2008 10:50 PM

I agree -- I do the same with my Dmail.

Me too, If it's not a note to myself, I actually need time to think about what I am going to write. If there was a read receipt sent to the other person it might seem like I lacked respect for them, when really it's the opposite.

Yes, I agree we need this.

For instance, right now I want to know if Dryad has posted recently. She hasn't been on our CG thread, and I am getting worried. I don't want to call her if I can see she's posted recently.

That would be a good thing-- a mouse over (their DG name) with the last time they posted (or logged on?)

Suzy

I'm wondering about bbrookrd...same boat; don't want to bother her, but she is usually around a lot and I miss her. All I could find was the last thread posted by her in March.

4paws, while it may not be her most recent post, she did post on the peony co-op interest thread April 14.

I understand that it may be a little invasive to have a link that takes everybody to our most recent post or tells exactly when we were last online... but even knowing if the person was online within the past 24 hours, past week, or past month would be really helpful.

PLEASE, if we could get an official update or thoughts on this, it would be appreciated... I tried to find the last time this topic was discussed on the DG forum and wasn't able to come up with the thread, so I don't remember why it was that something along these lines wasn't feasible...

Thanks!

Thanks, critter - it's still a long time. I'm anxiously waiting to see her spring explosion of 7001 bulbs! :-)

I know I've seen this discussed before on this forum, and if I remember right from last time there were a number of people who were concerned about privacy and didn't want people to be able to see when they'd last posted or been on the site. Privacy is a super big deal to some people here so there tends to be some resistance anytime something like this is suggested. I'm not sure if that's why nothing happened the last time this came up or if there were other reasons too.

Ecrane - I have to agree with the privacy concerns, not for myself but
for those to whom it is important. Sometimes people want a break
from a certain thread, or they just get interested in other topics. Being
tracked down by people from previous threads in which they no longer
choose to participate may seem invasive. The same objections came
up when there was a discussion of having a "Who's On Line" feature
at the top of each thread. It's apparent that privacy is one of the most
valued features of DG for many people.

You can always go back to an old thread and d-mail a person if
you are curious about their absence.

I think it may be a three-prong constraint:

1) privacy concerns;
2) time available for dave to spend on to-do's like this (there's quite a list ;o) and
3) the potential strain on the servers.

Remember every time we post, the system keeps track of our username, and adds our location, zone, the date and time we posted to the post.

When we read a thread, the system is pulling up dozens (or hundreds) of bits of information - just in case we need/want it to refer to: all that information I mentioned above (in the left-hand column), plus it remembers if we've read the thread before, and if so, where we left off, whether we have this on our watched threads list or not, etc.

When we view a member's page, the system pulls up all sorts of other bits and pieces of information the member has chosen to share with us. It may be asking a lot of the server to also have the system have "at the ready" a link to our last post or the last date we posted.

What about being able to do a simpler check, like whether or not the member has posted in the last week or the last month? Having a "window" like that should address most of the privacy concerns while also addressing the worries of people who are missing a regular poster and wondering whether they're active elsewhere on DG or if something might have happened...

It's not all that often that I find myself wondering where somebody "went" and getting concerned... when it does happen, is it permissible to Dmail admin and simply ask if that member is still posting? I don't necessarily need to know when/where their posts are, but if I know they're logging onto DG then I'm less worried that something bad has happened. And I know that they can read my Dmail and respond if/when they choose.

I think the people who were worried about privacy were still concerned even if it just showed that they'd posted in the last week or something along those lines. One good way to figure out if someone's still around or not is to send them a dmail--if they are around and just not posting in the forums you usually see them on they will most likely respond to your message and tell you everything's fine. If they don't answer, then that gives you a better idea that they're not around. You can also try posting in a forum where they used to spend a lot of time, sometimes people there might be close to them and know what's going on, or have a personal email address to try and get in touch.

That might alleviate some of the privacy concerns, but the resource issue and system issues would remain the same, assuming those are also part of the holdup on this idea ;o)

Yes, you can send us a note via the "contact us" link if you're worried about an AWOL DG buddy. We will tell you what we can - which usually isn't much: mainly a last-post date, as we do have access to see that information.

Thanks, Terry. That does make me feel better about not being able to find the information myself! :-)

Terry -- And last date post is all anyone needs to know, if even that.
I'm sure Admin will use good judgement in giving out that information.
Where members post or why they dropped out of a thread or why they
don't answer someone's d-mail is their business. It's kind and considerate
to be concerned and many will appreciate being tracked down, but some
may not.

ecrane, I appreciate your insights as well.

June, the only response I'd expect to get is something along the lines of "yes, this person is still actively posting on DG." As I said above when suggesting that I'd be fine with knowing if they'd posted within the last week or month, a general idea of if they're still active here is usually all I need to know. That way, I know that they can "see" my Dmail and will respond if/when they want to. Otherwise, I don't know if they're offline or in the hospital or something... if I get a response that they're not actively posting any more, I'd follow up with snail mail, a phone call if I have their number tucked away somewhere, etc. I really don't want to shove my nose in anybody's business. :-)