I would really like to see some function made available to have an “IN-box” where one can receive threaded messages; this would be much like the function available on facebook, known as “Messenger,” which all members can use.
This forum already offers the possibility to send private messages to users, but this feature is available to members (see Understanding Discourse Trust Levels).
The idea behind this limitation is that private messages are an extra feature for regular users of the forum. This reduces the risk of spam and other abuses hard to detect.
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Is there no customization to trust levels in this instance?
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Yes. Private messages are by default available to “trust level 1” users, and we set them to “trust level 2” following the advice of the Legal team. This and other privacy-related details are explained on User privacy considerations in this forum.
We have modified other trust level defaults based on the Wikimedia Space experience (i.e. allowing everyone to edit wiki posts). If you want to discuss trust levels and features, we can do this on a new topic.
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OK - I noticed I can not message others. Thanks for elaboration and pointers.
I think it is worth opening that topic (sometime soon) even if just for transparency and to double check the choices…before the ‘final’ decision about this forum instance is made.
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This seems like a useful thing. I use OpenStreetMap’s equivalent function quite often for inviting possibly-local users to meetups and things.
Can a higher trust level person privately-message a lower trust level one?
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Yes, everyone has permissions to receive private messages, and to reply to them. In fact, everyone does receive a private message as soon as they log in for the first time, by our beloved @discobot.
The permission discussed here is about creating private messages.
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Hi! To find out what I can do, say @discobot display help.
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Ah, makes sense. I should’ve realised! 
(And yes hi @discobot, you should learn about the use–mention distinction! 
)
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thanks for all the replies here, everyone. much appreciated!!
thanks for all the replies here. actually, I appreciate your comments; but I meant something different; I meant to have the possibility for threaded communication amongst editors at Wikipedia, in other words not at this site.
ok, go. so what are the chances of doing so? is there any way to do so? I know we already have a number of group threads on Telegram, whcih editors are able to join if they wish. some of these threads are somewhat less effective due to excessively-high mesage traffic, so i do see the possible pitfalls to this as well.
however, perhaps a new group thread centered on ‘‘topics,’’ such as history, might have some usefulness?
additionally, I note that we have some groups on Discord for users; I must say that I visited one such group for Discord, and I did not find it effective as a platform for discussion. Unlike Telegram, users on Discord don’t get immediate notification of comments or replies awaiting their attention. Telegram seems much better in this regard.
but anyway, what are the options for creating some type of threaded messaging at wikipedia itself? open to any comments or ideas on this. thanks!
Since Wikipedia apparently and currently does not offer this function in any way, I would suggest that these forums, the online forums hosted by Discourse, are highly valuable for several reasons:
- one of the many reasons that this site is highly useful is that it does offer the ability to send private messages to other users here, whether singly or in groups. thanks!
My Discourse inbox says, “You don’t have any messages
Need to have a direct personal conversation with someone, outside the normal conversational flow? Message them by selecting their avatar and using the message button.” It mentions nothing about trust levels, would be nice if it did.
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@Elitre_WMF Good catch! There is little we can do in our Forum (we could edit that string, but it’s an ugly hack and it would mess up translations). I have filed a bug report:
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@Elitre_WMF, check the link above. The Discourse team agrees with your bug report and they are taking it (low priority, better than nothing). 
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I got the power!
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I was trying to find a way to send PMs. I checked the official discourse blog and there they mentioned the PM privilege gets unlocked on tl1. Was kind of pulling hair until finding this post. 
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I was also surprised, but this is issue with Discourse software in general, not just here.
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Hello @Qgil-WMF,
Can you tell me how to increase trust level is there any stat (how close or how far I am from the next level?).
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The best way to increase your trust level is not to bother about trust levels and use the Forum for whatever you want to do here. The trust will come.
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