Editing drafts

[Soporose]

How do you edit a draft message in MyPhoneExplorer?

I create a message and save it as a Draft.

Then I select Drafts from the Messages options in the left-hand column.

The draft message appears in the top part of the right-hand window, and the text of the message appears in the bottom part of the right-hand window.

But I cannot edit the content text.

ALSO...

If the draft message is addressed to multiple recipients, only one recipient is shown in the TO column in the top part of the window.

How can I see all the recipients and edit the recipient list?

[Soporose]

So I take it that none of the 7 Forum Monitors knows the answer to this question?

[Soporose]

So, 2 1/2 weeks later and still NOT ONE of the SEVEN moderators can answer this question.

I mean, come on, if drafts can't be edited its an oversight that should be rectified in a future release, but at least have the decency to say so.

After all, it does say at the top of this page "SUPPORTforum".

[dvhttn]

Not a good idea to harrass the moderators who do a good job VOLUNTARILY!
Oh, and it has been the 'season of good will' lately so I expect the moderators are actually having a life rather than checking in on this forum all the time....

As for your question, seems you're right. Choose a previously saved Draft message and you can't edit it. However you can 'Forward' the draft message and you can then edit it however you want. Does that get around your problem?

[Soporose]

Not a good idea to harrass the moderators who do a good job VOLUNTARILY!
Oh, and it has been the 'season of good will' lately so I expect the moderators are actually having a life rather than checking in on this forum all the time..

Oh, so you mean if I don't hold my tongue they might react badly by not answering my question?

Err, please explain exactly how I would be worse off, since the question hasn't been answered in 3 weeks anyway.

And if I hadn't kept bumping this post, it would now be off the front page and working further backwards all the time, constantly reducing the chances of it ever being answered.

Speaking as someone who has been in business in the technology industries for over 30 years, I have never tolerated my businesses giving less than first-class service, and I don't tolerate accepting it from others without speaking up. One of the problems with the online society, and in fact consumers in general, is that too many people just quietly go away when their reasonable expectations are not met. If more people would speak up then so called "service" providers would be forced to actually provide the service expected of them, if only out of embarrassment. Of course the smart ones do it because it's good for business and therefore revenue.

If all 7 moderators have to have 3 weeks or so off for the "season of good will", thus completely ignoring the forum for that period of time, then there is something seriously wrong with this company's business plan. However your claim in that regard doesn't stand up to examination, as there have been moderator responses since my OP. But they have been significantly outnumbered by the queries that have been completely ignored.

I don't really care whether the moderators are being paid or are providing their time for free. This is the support avenue for the product, and as such those moderators, whether free or paid, represent the product, and their actions and/or inactions reflect directly on the product.

Every time the application is exited I am asked for a donation. When a donate-ware product is useful to me I invariably do make a donation. If the product is potentially useful, but the support is non-existent, as in this case, then no donation will be forthcoming.

Although many people won't bother saying it, no one makes a donation for poor support, so this operation is throwing away money hand over fist because of their lack of engagement with users.

[dvhttn]

.... Speaking as someone who has been in business in the technology industries for over 30 years, I have never tolerated my businesses giving less than first-class service, and I don't tolerate accepting it from others without speaking up. One of the problems with the online society, and in fact consumers in general, is that too many people just quietly go away when their reasonable expectations are not met. If more people would speak up then so called "service" providers would be forced to actually provide the service expected of them, if only out of embarrassment. Of course the smart ones do it because it's good for business and therefore revenue. ...

That's funny, so have I! And if I'd been making use of a 'paid' service I might also react like you. In this case MPE is not paid for, like a lot of Android apps it is free. If you don't like reminders to 'donate' then get another app but 'insisting' on support for a free app is just not on and you shouldn't expect it.

I have used the app for over 3 years and find it excellent for my needs, but in all that time this is the first time that your request/issue has come up that I can remember (I'm assuming that you have 'searched' the archives for a possible solution first? No, you would have done, having being in IT for over 30 years ..... ). Did you look at the solution I suggested? Go to the 'drafts' folder, 'double click' the draft message in question (you can't edit it at this stage as you say), click the 'forward' button and Bob's your father's brother. Try it and get back as to whether it fixed your problem at all.

HTH - and a Happy New Year to you!

[Soporose]

That's funny, so have I! And if I'd been making use of a 'paid' service I might also react like you. In this case MPE is not paid for, like a lot of Android apps it is free. If you don't like reminders to 'donate' then get another app but 'insisting' on support for a free app is just not on and you shouldn't expect it.

I have used the app for over 3 years and find it excellent for my needs, but in all that time this is the first time that your request/issue has come up that I can remember (I'm assuming that you have 'searched' the archives for a possible solution first? No, you would have done, having being in IT for over 30 years ..... ). Did you look at the solution I suggested? Go to the 'drafts' folder, 'double click' the draft message in question (you can't edit it at this stage as you say), click the 'forward' button and Bob's your father's brother. Try it and get back as to whether it fixed your problem at all.

HTH - and a Happy New Year to you!

Yes, your workaround works to the extent that it allows editing of the draft message body. But it is only a workaround, not a solution, because (apart from being an unnecessary step) when a draft is Forwarded it loses the TO: phone numbers from the original draft. This is a nuisance when you have drafts created specifically to be sent to particular message groups, and especially if there are several different message groups involved.

But...

This is not about the solution, it is about the extremely poor level of support, not only for me but for countless others who have a 0 in the replies section of their post. With one overworked moderator it might be somewhat understandable, but with SEVEN moderators? Come on!

You apparently support the ridiculous proposition that "free app + poor support = quite OK". It might happen a lot, and if it really is "free" there's not much grounds for complaint. But its certainly not "OK".

But again I point out the obvious: this app is donate-ware. It is not free absolutely, no strings attached. The "string" is a request to pay for it if you find it useful. Donate-ware has a long and reputable history, and a successful one for developers who provide a quality product at a reasonable price AND quality support as and when required. Omit any one of those factors and you have either a failure or a level of success well below what it could be.

I'm not bothered by the donation nags. I simply will not react positively to them and provide a donation for reasons I've already made abundantly clear.

Smart, successful business people welcome complaints and are grateful when someone takes the trouble to point out failings; it gives them the chance to improve the things that will improve their bottom line, things of which they may not have been aware. Business people who consistently ignore complaints, or immediately go on the defensive, are either very, very inexperienced or simply not very smart.

It really is quite incredible the number of potentially useful and successful products that are ruined by the arrogance and carelessness of tech-heads who have the business acumen of a brick. Yes, many tech types have what it takes, but those who don't should be smart enough to get out of the way and put someone else in the public eye.

[FJ]

It really is quite incredible the number of potentially useful and successful products that are ruined by the arrogance and carelessness of tech-heads who have the business acumen of a brick.

You do not know the story of MyPhoneExplorer and you do not know me at all so be a littlebit more careful with your comments. I did develop MyPhoneExplorer in the last 8 years, alone besides my full time job. Just checked the forum stats - i wrote 28276 posts till now. I think this says alot. Besides of this i get daily about 20 support requests via email, i have to find bugs which does cost alot of time, i have to develop new things and i have to manage the whole project. All in all i work daily 10 hours in my normal job and 4 hours on MyPhoneExplorer. I have also family, two little childs and yes - they also need my time. And then i read from you "arrogance and carelessness". Sounds like a joke.

There are currently 2 active moderators, they check the forum also in their free time and i fully understand that they do not read and answer evry thread - they have also their live. I read and answer EVERY thread but i have to pause the forum support for other tasks, its the only way to manage it cause lack of time.

You talk about business - there is no business. Not because there would be no potential to build a company with this software. I simply don't want to make the big business, i did not create this software to earn money - its my passion. Money is needed to keep it alive but this is not my main intention - and money is not the key for happiness at all.

And cause of the "nag screen": Come down, you can disable the screen after it was shown 5 times.

To answer your initial question: Its simply not implemented to edit existing drafts cause it was not possible for the earlier phones. Inbetween it would be possible on android but since there were near zero requests about this i lost the focus on this task.

And in future: If you think you have an IMPORTANT problem which needs answer then contact me directly via email. It will take also some days to get an answer but its faster than the forum.

[Soporose]

Well, it seems that the way to get a response to a query is to call you to task, then wait 5 or 6 weeks.

I mean, seriously, you really need to wake up to reality. Your family and friends might care about you and what you do and how much work you put in to whatever takes your fancy, but believe me, no one out here in the world gives a damn.

You provided a piece of software which seemed to be fairly good, and with the potential to be even better, then you failed to support it. End of story. Reasons don't matter, just facts. I had other queries posted at around the same time and they've only been answered in the last few days also. That sort of a delay is completely useless to anyone trying to get help with your software.

And it doesn't help your argument to claim you only have "2 active moderators". What I and everyone else sees at the top of the English section is "Moderators: FJ, Mr. Deauville, weinbi, manitougs, Papa Schlumpf, StefanGaller, deGrasi". As I said before, 7 moderators advertised and it takes 5 or 6 weeks to get a question answered. You're creating your own problems.

The nag screen is irrelevant. I can read English, so I was quite well aware I could eliminate it. I just hope you realize that no one is going to click the PayPal button if they've asked a support question and been ignored. They won't care WHY they've been ignored, just that they have.

To answer your initial question: Its simply not implemented to edit existing drafts cause it was not possible for the earlier phones. Inbetween it would be possible on android but since there were near zero requests about this i lost the focus on this task.

And that's really all I wanted to know, but that was 6 weeks ago; now the information has no relevance to me.

To be fair, from a technical perspective I admire what you have done. Unfortunately it's what you haven't done that is the problem.

[TheLandYacht]

Oh, so you mean if I don't hold my tongue they might react badly by not answering my question?

No, "if you don't hold your tongue", you'll reveal yourself to be just the jackass you've actually ended up being.

There's such a thing as common courtesy, which you've shown yourself apparently unable to comprehend.

Your 30 years of experience in whatever field (I got bored at about that point & stopped reading) means diddly squat in a forum that does a decent job of supporting what is, after all FREE SOFTWARE.

As to the timing...lets see, 3 weeks ago would be...right around CHRISTMAS TIME. You say some of your other issues were answered recently (probably by FJ, as he's the author of the software). I'm guessing that they're finally starting to get their legs back under them after the Holiday Season.

And for your information, just because someone's a moderator in a forum doesn't necessarily make them an expert on that software, it makes them a MODERATOR, someone who moderates the conversation in that forum. The only one I've ever seen substantively answer technical questions in-forum is FJ...and again, it's because he's the Author.

[Soporose]

There's such a thing as common courtesy, which you've shown yourself apparently unable to comprehend.

Something that anyone except a thick-as-bricks donkey who's never run a business should be able to understand is that supporting your products is both a common courtesy and a mandatory condition for success.

Your 30 years of experience in whatever field (I got bored at about that point & stopped reading)...

Ha ha ha. So you decided to respond to a post you hadn't read. My, that simply reeks of intelligence!

...means diddly squat in a forum that does a decent job of supporting what is, after all FREE SOFTWARE.

5 or 6 weeks delay isn't "a decent job of supporting", it's absurd. It says "I don't have a clue about how the world operates". And had you had the intelligence to familiarise yourself with the whole discussion before going off half cocked, you would have noted that I more than adequately addressed the "free software" excuse. And EXCUSE it certainly is, and a poor one at that.

As to the timing...lets see, 3 weeks ago would be...right around CHRISTMAS TIME.

Your point being? I adequately address the "holidays question" too, but again you wouldn't know about that because you were too clever to absorb the whole thread.

You say some of your other issues were answered recently (probably by FJ, as he's the author of the software). I'm guessing that they're finally starting to get their legs back under them after the Holiday Season.

Yes, by him. But again, 5 or 6 weeks after the fact renders any response irrelevant.

And for your information, just because someone's a moderator in a forum doesn't necessarily make them an expert on that software, it makes them a MODERATOR, someone who moderates the conversation in that forum. The only one I've ever seen substantively answer technical questions in-forum is FJ...and again, it's because he's the Author.

So the other 6 moderators are figments of his imagination? No wonder they couldn't provide any solutions. But you raise an interesting point: why an earth would you appoint someone a moderator who isn't capable of answering questions on the purpose for which the forum exists? So it looks like there are at least 4, and possibly 6, non-participating moderators! Yes yes, I know ... they have to look after all this behind-the-scenes stuff. Reminds me of those shops where there are plenty of staff but you can't get served, because everybody is too busy restocking shelves and making things look attractive for the customers who keep walking out disgusted.

Keep it up girls, I'm quite enjoying this. It's always interesting to watch people reveal their mental and emotional processing.

[TheLandYacht]

Your 30 years of experience in whatever field (I got bored at about that point & stopped reading)...

Ha ha ha. So you decided to respond to a post you hadn't read. My, that simply reeks of intelligence!

Apparently, the concept of sarcasm escapes you. I might just as well have said "Your 30 years of experience in blah blah blah, like I give a crap".
No amount of experience excuses rudeness.

...means diddly squat in a forum that does a decent job of supporting what is, after all FREE SOFTWARE.

5 or 6 weeks delay isn't "a decent job of supporting", it's absurd. It says "I don't have a clue about how the world operates". And had you had the intelligence to familiarise yourself with the whole discussion before going off half cocked, you would have noted that I more than adequately addressed the "free software" excuse. And EXCUSE it certainly is, and a poor one at that.

So because your specific question wasn't answered, the support given to others is somehow cheapened? Perhaps this is an example of the me-ism that is so rampant in today's society.

You say some of your other issues were answered recently (probably by FJ, as he's the author of the software). I'm guessing that they're finally starting to get their legs back under them after the Holiday Season.

Yes, by him. But again, 5 or 6 weeks after the fact renders any response irrelevant.

Another example of the me-ism I mentioned earlier? Because it didn't solve your problem in time for YOU doesn't mean it won't be relevant to the next person who needs this answer.

And for your information, just because someone's a moderator in a forum doesn't necessarily make them an expert on that software, it makes them a MODERATOR, someone who moderates the conversation in that forum. The only one I've ever seen substantively answer technical questions in-forum is FJ...and again, it's because he's the Author.

So the other 6 moderators are figments of his imagination? No wonder they couldn't provide any solutions. But you raise an interesting point: why an earth would you appoint someone a moderator who isn't capable of answering questions on the purpose for which the forum exists? So it looks like there are at least 4, and possibly 6, non-participating moderators! Yes yes, I know ... they have to look after all this behind-the-scenes stuff. Reminds me of those shops where there are plenty of staff but you can't get served, because everybody is too busy restocking shelves and making things look attractive for the customers who keep walking out disgusted.

Again, it appears the concept of "moderator" as opposed to "technical consultant" or "supporter" appears lost to you. The concept of a "moderator" is to moderate discussion. And it's already been mentioned that they do so in their own free time. They're not being paid to do this, as is true of moderators on most forums.

The moderators (short singular form: "mod") are users of the forum who are granted access to the posts and threads of all members for the purpose of moderating discussion (similar to arbitration). Moderators also answer users' concerns about the forum, general questions, as well as respond to specific complaints.

The above is copied from a wiki (with some trimming) for your edification. Notice nowhere in that description does it mention "technical support".

Keep it up girls, I'm quite enjoying this. It's always interesting to watch people reveal their mental and emotional processing.

And as a closing, you've either overlooked or disregarded one simple fact. The author, by his own admission, is not a member of an organization in this. He's an individual. An individual who has created this software in his own time with little assistance, while at the same time maintaining a separate career to support himself (and I'd assume his family). Any support he provides for this software comes after a long day at the job that actually puts food on his table.

Just because he doesn't fit the definition that you've decided somehow he must in this enterprise, doesn't mean what he's done doesn't have merit.

[TheLandYacht]

[Soporose]

Ha ha ha. What an amusing little chap you are!

I present a series of facts, you respond with a series of rambling, poorly thought out and illogical arguments in return, and then you want to declare how pointless it is to argue on the Internet. You're the one who is arguing old son, I'm just stating bald facts. I don't really give a damn whether you acknowledge them or not.

Couple of awkward attempts there to cover up your previous faux pas, too. Somewhat transparent, but at least you're making an effort to keep me amused.

And what's with the Wiki extract? For every one you come up with I can come up with 2 others that say different -- if I could be bothered -- which I can't. Next you'll be spouting the dictionary, which I suggest might be an unwise move, considering my command of the language is clearly a quantum leap above yours.

But I must say your love of the word "me-ism" is very revealing. I've tried to teach you about the realities of business and customer relations, but clearly it's like trying to teach a monkey to do a crossword. A simple enough task in itself, but the monkey just can't get it. Never mind, just don't ever try to go into business for yourself, because with your attitude and mentality FAILURE is writ large on your horizon. And PULEASEEE don't try to tell me you are in business, because you definitely are not.

OK, one last try...

Customer service is synonymous with money, success, freedom and all the good things that anyone might want out of life. And don't give me the "money can't buy health/happiness" crap, because it most definitely can and does. With superior customer service you can have all those things; without it you can have a big fat dose of S.F.A. And to successfully plan, manage and provide customer service you must understand that me-ism lives in the heart and head of EVERY consumer. Yes, even you, whether you want to lie about it or not.

So the bottom line is, like any other consumer, I don't give a rats-rear-end how well anybody else is or isn't being looked after. When it comes to customer service the only person I give a damn about is ME! That's speaking as a consumer. As a business person the only people I give a damn about are my customers & clients and their me-ism.

Remember Gordon Gekko? You can argue until you are blue in the face about whether greed is good or not, and likewise with me-ism. But one thing you can't argue against is that unless you recognise me-ism and cater to it then you are a fool - and broke fool at that.

But don't stop, I do so enjoy a comedic break while I'm working.

[dvhttn]

... So the bottom line is, like any other consumer, I don't give a rats-rear-end how well anybody else is or isn't being looked after. When it comes to customer service the only person I give a damn about is ME! That's speaking as a consumer. As a business person the only people I give a damn about are my customers & clients and their me-ism. ...

Me thinks you should give some thought as to why you seem to be in a minority of one here .....

As for your original request, it's been stated by the author that a) it didn't use to be possible and is thus a 'feature request' and not a bug and b) there is at least a partial workaround for how you wish to work. If you have been in the "technology industry" for over 30 years you'd settle for that.

[FJ]

OK, i think is everything is said. 5 or 6 weeks is a long time, this is right. I just wanted to give you some reasons why it took so long. To tell me i am ignorant and arrogant is simply not fair. I will close this topic now cause it will bring us not forward.