closing galleries opened with a time/duration selection

What would be a very nice addition to the Personal/Binocular permissions screen is a lock button on each open gallery icon square to quickly re-close the open gallery. As it now stands, you either have to wait for the timeout to occur, or deal with the harder to reach "Remove" button found in the Manage Gallery / Edit Gallery Permissions / Remove Access Lists & Expiration pages. This takes a lot more jumping around between different pages to find the user in every list they are in, and then remove them one gallery at a time.

With the help of Wayne at SLS Support, I now know what the "Personal" binoculars icon does (on the other side of the "Report" megaphone icon away from the "Private" key icon I have a;ready been using all along). Compared to the painful process to share Private Galleries I had previously been using, this new-to-me screen even seems to work the way I would have requested such a screen to work.

Having complained on many occasions in the past about how hard it was to share personal galleries, either no one bothered to point out the obvious control I was overlooking, or they probably just wrote me off an an idiot who couldn't see how easy that screen already was to use. Either way, the new screen is light years ahead of the alternative I had been using. Thanks Wayne.

Another tidbit Wayne mentioned is "The app does not support personal pictures yet. This is mostly due to Apple and Google's strict policies regarding explicit content."

I assume that is why there are still two types of picture locking controls. The "Personal" button for the original Private-Default gallery, and the "Private" screen for the newer Private non-Default and Personal galleries.

Just blocked RonKathy - their comment disappears.
Just removed the block for RonKathy - their comment reappears,

And with that, I just learned something new.

Of course it's you prerogative if you don't care, but people who question problems when they see them still helps get things fixed for everyone. When the admin says "no one else has really said anything about it" either means most don't care, no one else has bothered to complain, or I just need a better explanation as to why it's all OK. It doesn't mean everyone should just blindly trust everything will always work, or ignore something important like privacy controls if they don't works as expected. If you are just here to play, why are you even reading forums about site-related issues anyhow? I suppose you will next suggest my book is useless and I would be better joining the other folks with comments like "why does SLS suck much" or "why can't SLS developers get anything right" or "how stupid are the site owners about blah blah blah" while never actually describing what "good" looks like? I'm sure they are getting all that good administrative support instead.

(Passes you some Popcorn.)

"Yep. Blocking eliminates the message history and extends to the forum."

I don't normally block anyone (I only have 1 block at the moment), so just now looked at the block button to see:

You are about to block <profile_name>.
Blocking will prevent <profile_name> from contacting you or viewing your profile.
Blocking will also prevent you from contacting <profile_name> or viewing that members profile.

So once either side issues a block, they are both now in a 2-way block? If the original block is removed (using the control at the bottom of the "Friends" page) can communication resume, but without any of the wiped history available?

My new issue is now with the case of two people are getting into an argument in the public forums. If one issues a block. will the blocked side will suddenly see the other side of that conversation just disappear? Does the full conversation remains visible for everyone else, or are the comments from the blocked side removed from everyone's view?

I can see wiping where wiping out private user-to-user conversations makes sense. If you already don't have access to each other profiles, you probably won't be talking to each other anymore. But while reading public forum arguments can become uncomfortable to all involved, having one side suddenly wipe out part or all of a public conversation is elevating 1 person's personal dislike of another to a level of general censorship (even if it is only specifically targeted).

Who is to say if the "rational" side of a public argument is the the one getting blocked, leaving the "irrational" side as the only half that is still available? And deleting parts of a conversation only results in a conversation that makes no sense when re-read later. Public forum posts should remain untouched, regardless of any profile blocking going on. It is the forum administrators that should be the ones to decide if a forum comment should be deleting.

What would happen if I open a random public forum discussion, block every single user in that forum (who I have never had any contact with), then remove the blocks I just made? Will that delete the entire conversation thread from that randomly selected forum discussion? Does it also wipe out large swathes of comments made by those users in every other forum discussion for the site?

Or does removing a block just allow me to see the once-hidden forum comments from the other user again?

" I also cannot see any of the message history. So the block also seems to be wiping out all communication history. I now cannot find related comments that couple made on this topic in the forums. Does the block also extend to their public forum postings as well?"

Yep. Blocking eliminates the message history and extends to the forum.

I see the "Private Pic Access" list at the bottom of the "Friends" page, now that I know where to look. Was not expecting the control of "Private Default Gallery" images to non-friend profiles to be found in a list on by "Friends" page. The generic title doesn't reflect that it only controls the "Private Default Gallery" lock (how about "Private Default Pic Access" as a title?). This can mislead people to leaving open other 'custom named' Private galleries.

This may seem like I'm being nit picky to those who already understand what is going on or who just don't care, but the people on this site should not have to learn about subtle weird issues like this. Rather it should just work in an obvious and consistent way without lots of education and discussion to clarify it. I also doubt most people care to remember the difference between Default and non-Default Private galleries, or Private and Personal galleries. It just gets too confusing too fast - we are here to meet other people, not manage multiple photo categories.

Why are there still two kinds of picture sharing in use? The older system that seems to be linked to the Default Galleries, and the newer one that introduced the additional user-named Private galleries and the whole new class of Personal galleries? It would not be a problem if the two worked well together, but for now users have to manage two separate types of image permissions spread across different site locations.

Discussing problems is also made more complicated when it is not clear who is using the app vs desktop web browsing. I have talked to one couple where I shared with them two Private galleries, my Default Gallery and a Custom Gallery. They reported back that they could see both galleries on the desktop, buit only one on the app (if I read their response correctly). So who here would have expected to see that problem, given most people would not have been looking at pictures on both platforms and then commented on the difference seen?

I was also working with another couple to test some of how the permissions combined with a profile block actually works. When they blocked me I lost access to their profile as expected. In the still open message window, my messages seemed to keep going out normally for awhile before the send button just appeared to freeze up. In other tabs the that couple disappeared from my messages list, implying that not only can I not contact them anymore, I also cannot see any of the message history. So the block also seems to be wiping out all communication history. I now cannot find related comments that couple made on this topic in the forums. Does the block also extend to their public forum postings as well? Or have I just lost track of them (I have been spending a lot of time messing around with these issue, so I could easily be overlooking simple stuff at this point while juggle multiple messages in multiple places). (And if that other couple sees this, please unblock me so I can finish comparing notes.)

I'm actually getting burnt out trying to beta test the messaging and image system. This would have been unnecessary if the operation of the site was just more simple and easy to use, and the effect of the controls were better explained up front such as in a easy to find FAQ, or a footnote on the page where the controls are located.

Hmm, we have several people with "private" and "personal" access through their profile page, wonder why no names are in our bracket...…… it's all good, I'm definitely not going to lose any sleep over that....lol .

:-)

Thanks Wayne.

~Allen

<p>888,</p>

<p>On that same Friends page is a default picture access list with each profile name listed that has access. There is a 'disallow' link by each name to use to disallow access. You can also do it as you describe by viewing the profile.</p>

Just to clear any air before someone bitches about not being able to do it, you remove them from your friend’s list by the “remove” link; to remove picture access from that mentioned location, you must click on their member name (not “remove” and it will direct you to their profile, at which time, you select “un-private” where “private” was. Once the “personal” button is used to grant access, you must go the “tools” section under the menu Icon/manage galleries/edit galleries/manage permissions” to remove, “in-private” does not remove that privilege once it is granted from “personal” button.

~Allen

Sls_Wayne,

Thank you for that information. I’m sure that will come as a surprise to many of your members.

I’m sure that many of your members thought, as I did, that removing access to private galleries would be managed on the “manage gallery” pages.

By the way, it’s especially difficult to know that this “remove access” list exists, because it is at the bottom of the friends page. You have to scroll all the way to the bottom of the page before you see the list. It’s not a page that I’ve ever looked at.

<p><a href="https://www.swinglifestyle.com/profile/lookup.cfm?usercode=7960162">bondagecplinmd</a>,</p>

<p>If the other member has blocked you, they cannot view your profile. Since they cannot view your profile, they will not be able to see any of your pictures. You also still have full control over access to your private/personal pictures. It sounds like you gave that profile access to your default private gallery. You can go to your "Friends" page and scroll down to the Private Picture Access list to see who has access and to remove access. Even if they have you blocked, you will still see their profile name there and can remove access.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Customer Service - Wayne</p>

Bondage,

I sent you a private message. Assuming that you have blocked me, I’ll look here for your findings.

"First, I did not block the other user, they blocked me..... SLS _might_ be closing my Private Gallery for that other user when they block me, but I'm not making the assumption that this is how it actually works."

Blocking is reciprocal, but yeah, we shouldn't assume anything just because it's in writing in the help area or an admin says so.

"Fourth, I have no way of knowing if deleting and recreating a Private Gallery will clears the existing permissions."

You were given information, but we have no way of really knowing anything based on your assumptions. You should ask to write code for SLS, but all in all, it sounds just like a rhetorical gripe and the rest of the post unquoted is just filling. You could also request SLS to "prove" it, but that may not be convincing enough either.

~Allen

First, I did not block the other user, they blocked me.

So I can no longer see any of their profile, only a simple text message saying "Sorry, it seems you've been blocked by <their_profilename>." which appears on an otherwise blank screen.

Second, I had already granted the other member access to my private pictures using the "Private" button that appeared on their profile screen, so they definitely have access to my photos.

The Private/Un-Private button is always visible on other user's profiles when you view their profile. The problem is the privacy control button disappears from my view once they block me, and is replaced by the blank "Sorry" message screen just described.

Third, I am not going to assume that when I am blocked by another user, SLS had the forethought to automatically set my viewing permissions for that user back to Closed/Locked, leaving only the yellow/black padlock image in place of my actual gallery images.

SLS _might_ be closing my Private Gallery for that other user when they block me, but I'm not making the assumption that this is how it actually works. SLS could just have easily overlooked this situation, and inadvertently left the gallery open to the other user. Even if SLS said in a message here that this is not a problem, I still have no way to verify that gallery is actually closed. Without access to the privacy control, I cannot check the setting for myself. Furthermore, the lack of a complete list showing all users with access to my Private Gallery means I now have to remember every single profile I may have ever granted that access to, then open each of those profiles one at a time to review the current Open/Closed state. A summary list would make checking who currently has access to my Private Gallery both trivial and complete. Note, the Private Galleries have no timeout setting. Once you open them, they stay open forever unless you manually close them.

Fourth, I have no way of knowing if deleting and recreating a Private Gallery will clears the existing permissions.

Note that Private Galleries have been around for a very long time, and how they work is also very old. The Personal Galleries are much newer, and work very differently. While the Personal galleries are harder to work with, they also provide more control and feedback on how they operate. Deleting a Personal Gallery may wipe out all of the individual permissions assigned (I don't know since I have not tried it), but I am not talking about a Personal Galleries. The older Private/Un-Private button that controls access to the Private Gallery feels more like a global on/off setting for each user you grant access to, and deleting and recreating the default Private gallery may not actually affect the open/closed setting for this older type of gallery. Only the SLS technical staff really knows how that works, and I have yet to see them comment on it.

If you block a person and they cannot see your profile any more, then how do you suspect they are accessing or would access your private pictures since your galleries are linked to your user id?

If I was that concerned someone could still access my private pictures after blocking them, I'd just delete the gallery and reassign the pictures that were inside of it into the new one, then the list of those with access, "fixed" within a few minutes of time.

~Allen

Yes, it is very tedious having to change the Personal Gallery viewing permissions individually, with multiple clicks required to switch between each gallery, and also making it very hard to review exactly who has permissions to each gallery individually. To see if a particular users can see any particular gallery, you have to select each permission list one at a time, then start scrolling through all of the users allowed to see that gallery while looking for the specific profile name of interest.

There is also the tedium of remembering to assign a time delay longer than the default of 3 days, as you switch from one gallery to the next, which could result in some galleries being blocked sooner than you intended simply because you forgot to select a longer delay every time.

I was considering making the following issue a new topic, but I will start by adding it here since it is related to controlling the sharing permissions for one's own Private Pictures:

If someone decides to block you from viewing their profile, you can no longer control if they can view your Private galleries. This is a BIG problem if you had previously opened your Private galleries to them. Since the toggle button to switch Private galleries between "Private" and "Un-Private" only seems to reside on the other person's profile page, when you are blocked from viewing that other profile, you no longer access the toggle button.

Unless the SLS site automatically locks/Un-Privates all of my Private Galleries (and hopefully all of my Personal galleries as well) when the other person block me from viewing their profile, SLS is leaving me open to a huge privacy hole. If my Private pictures remain open, I can only assume that the other person can not only continue to see all of those pictures, but any new ones I may eventually upload to my Private gallery in the future. Since the Private Gallery permissions have no time limit, they will remain open forever (at least for the other user).

Even though it may appear be more clumsy to use on a daily basis, I would like to see a centralized option to review the complete list of profiles with access to my Private galleries, as then be able to remove a selected profile directly from that access list. Essentially the same type of control currently provided by the "Access List & Expiration:" list for each of the Personal Galleries.

That is a tall assumption here. I feel like someday soon they will be bragging about their new email notification feature they bought the rights to use: you've got mail

You mean there is not a simple on/off toggle switch when viewing a profile for that? We were on a different swinger website 15 years ago that had that simple functionality. Surely this one does too???

As of now, the only way we know how to close a gallery early is to go through tools, manage gallery, edit, manage gallery permission....one at a time.

I am quite sure there has to be a better way, as the way I know is so very 1995. Please advise.