I have this happen all the time. Also my conversations get jumbled where the timeline makes no sense. The people that run the support section simply don't know anything, nor do they care. They're there to simply return answers to pacify the customers instead of actually reaching out to someone with a clue on the back end. And as long as SLS holds the majority share in lifestyle members they have no intention of fixing this and other issues.
<p>The site only keeps the last year of message history.</p>
I hate to revive this old head, but we were just scrolling back on a running conversation we were having and discovered that older messages in that conversation were gone. Checked some other conversations, and the same thing........most posts from over a couple of months ago are gone.
I'm not sure what the people who run this site are thinking, but not every conversation ends up with a meeting within a few weeks. Sometimes it takes months or even a year to arrange a date. Now that large chunks of earlier messages are missing, we didn't know how long we've been chatting, what was said previously, or even what they look like when the pictures they attached earlier are gone and a date has been arranged.
How is it that site that is designed for people to meet each other makes it so difficult for people to communicate with others?
We bought into this site in 2007. 14 years ago is a long time in the world of computer technology.
In 2007 we could send emails, attach pictures to them, use a built-in photo editor, save any number of emails from anyone for any length of time, and a host of other capabilities we no longer have. We could even select specific pictures to attach to forum posts. That messages over 1 year are removed because keeping them causes performance problems is crazy. What is this, 1986? The idea that what you could do in 2007 you cannot do now is absurd.
I know of no other website that seems to have gone out of its way to shed features and continuously erode the user experience like SLS has.
Yep. MC is right. If your database can't handle a year of a users data, then the root cause is a database problem and more hamsters are needed. One year is just not sufficient.
On a web site that exists for its members to communicate with each for the purposes of meeting (either immediately or eventually), it makes little sense to us for Messages to be deleted after only one year. Given the pandemic, it can easily be a year or more before people feel comfortable meeting. It could be a year or more to meet with couples even bore the pandemic. Planned travel, people who were in our area but we were busy and had conversations about next time, people we met at clubs while traveling and we'd go back, these are all reasons why it would be important to have Messages saved. We'll put notes on a profile we save in Favorites, but even that does not help recall the details of a conversation.
We had always hoped the old Mail system would have features added to it so we could categorize, file, and save Messages based on whatever criteria helps us. Locations, travel, people we wanted to meet, etc. Instead, we lost the Mail function entirely that was replaced with a far more crude Message system that needlessly breaks up one simply Message into two or more Messages. So you're automatically causing more information to sort through. And now they are going to vanish after one year. That's just another indication that makes everyone think that the developers don't understand how swingers like to use web sites like this.
If the database performance suffers under the weight of Messages over a year old, maybe you're not using the right database.
<p><a href="https://www.swinglifestyle.com/profile/lookup.cfm?usercode=36939613">moekathy</a>,</p>
<p>Storing information is no issue at all. It is searching through and processing all that information. It was done to help with database performance issues. </p>
<p>I have been working on updating the Help files. I will add these reasons to that section when I have the chance.</p>
Why?
The old mail system which was much more reliable, archived and stored message history for years.
In many cases it take a while to connect with a couple, and a year is not a long time for many.
Given that the messages are just text strings, I can't imagine storing them is costly. I can pull up email from 15 years ago on our free Google and Yahoo accounts. So to start solving, how about 1) We increase that to 10 years and 2) Post a list in a permanent location (Site help or similar) of other conditions for deletion of messages so users know and stop asking.
<p><a href="https://www.swinglifestyle.com/profile/lookup.cfm?usercode=62968506">ConnectedLovers</a>,</p>
<p>Messages older than about a year are removed.</p>
Older messages disappear from the message history all the time. In one case the message order became scrambled and we're listed chronologically any more. As others have said I don't trust it to provide access to important messages...
<p>For anyone missing messages, I need you to submit a ticket and list the exact name of the other profile whose messages you are missing. This is the only way I can determine if it is a bug or if it is a valid reason why they are missing. There are valid reasons for messages being missing. </p>
Basically you have to find some alternate method of IM after initial contact. I know it’s from Wes upon by SLS, but the messaging system is too unreliable. It’s virtually impossible to have an ongoing convo as well because unless you sit there and refresh or stay within the one message screen you never get a notification. Occasionally I get a random message alert from the app, but there’s not rhyme or reason for this happening.
The primary reason behind message history being gone is the messaging system. It does not retain message history as it claims. Numerous past conversations with other members are simply gone. Not just us, but many other members have noted the same thing. Some reported it in previous posts here
It's one of those tough bugs for SLS to isolate and identify, so the easier path is to simply deny it's existence.
Workaround is to use the notes field in the profile to record key if (names, level of interest, etc..)
<p><a href="https://www.swinglifestyle.com/profile/lookup.cfm?usercode=53064679">OMGBBQDTF</a>,</p>
<p>Possible reasons that messages might disappear are the following:</p>
<p>The other member blocked you.</p>
<p>The other member submitted their profile for deletion.</p>
<p>The other member was Flagged by the site for some reason.</p>
<p>You actually deleted the messages.</p>
So in today's episode of "how to innovate in the field of fucking up the user experience", some (but not all) of our recent message history has disappeared. Of the maybe half dozen messages that we received and or responded to earlier, are just missing from our messages history. No discernible pattern, at least two of them are just gone, not even on the list of profiles.
As I look at the messages list, there's only one conversation showing activity today, the 20th, then a conversation last updated the 15th, then one from the 14th, when there should be 6-8 as I recall, with updates today.
No amount of logging out, back in, browser change, phone vs laptop, etc seems to resolve this.
Sane thing whether from the app or web interfaces.
What's up with that, SLS?
