Delayed pop-ups

Is there anything I am doing on my side that delays pop-ups coming in or reaching the other party ?
Timing of arrival of message seems to be random...from instant to minutes to hours to..well, sometimes, never.

I've had similar issues myself. I can't find a pattern either...whether it's a reply to one I received or simply a newly generated PM, it will happen from time to time.

There's no one simple answer to your popup question but I can give some general info. Basically, the popup system is designed for the occasional interaction between members and typically things such as responding to comments and so forth. In general, popups should be sent and arrive almost instantly. However, there are some circumstances that can result in delays happening.

One big concern is that we let spammers get on the site because as things stand they could create havoc via the popup system on here. We do a pretty good job of heading them off at the pass so to speak before they even get on but we need to have in place some precautions just in case one slips through the net. Consequently, I have an automated script which attempts to determine if popup messages are being sent as spam. It's specific to the LSF but probably has some elements in common with the spam checking done by the various web-based email services. What happens if a message gets detected as possible spam is that it gets temporarily dumped into a holding queue and at some time in the future another process runs which either lets it through or zaps it. Someone whose messages have been flagged in this way a number of times will have all their subsequent popups automatically dumped in the holding queue (until we manually remove the possible spammer status from their account).

In much the same way as the web-based email services operate, occasionally some messages are going to get flagged as possible spam when they are not but it shouldn't happen too often. Without disclosing the finer points of the checks that are made 2 things to avoid are: sending the same URL to a large number of people, or, sending a whole bunch of short popups in a very short space of time. The popup system is not intended to be used for real time interaction which is best done either in the chat room or via one's own choice of messenger program.

Don't know if that helps any, I can tell you that your own account isn't flagged for spam checks but it could be that whoever you're having exchanges with is flagged in that way. Bet you're sorry you asked now...

I got the impression, perhaps incorrectly, that when a pop-up is sent to me while I am logged off, it is not delivered until I log in again. Sometimes delivery seems to be triggered by moving from one tab or screen to another on the site.

Popups can only be sent to you while you are on the LSF and as you surmised you need to click on a menu button before the software will check if you have any waiting to be delivered... they operate on a pull rather than a push basis.

Februs,

So it would be best to shift from menu item to a different screen if we are expecting a popup ??

Well if you're expecting a popup you can always click the button labelled 'msg' to look at all your messages as they will all be there irrespective of whether they've popped up or not yet.

In order for the site to check if you have a popup you need to actually 'run' something on the site, by clicking one of the menu buttons.


That's because the Activity page reloads itself every 60 seconds.

I am having the same problems, I think I get all my incoming pop-ups, but I know a lot of my outgoing pop-ups don't arrive.... Maybe the system thinks I am a 'spammer' and now I am unable to access the Activity page ..... Februs thinks it's because I leave the Activity page open to long and if this happens the system shuts it down..... so I do need to refresh, otherwise I don't see the pop-ups

Februs, usually the reason for the pop-up (at least in my situation) is to ask someone to the chat, to talk about things. Problem is, by the time they get the pop-up, the opportunity, or reason has passed. Any chance something simple like a buzzer could be employed letting someone know that their presence in chat is requested? Something that would be immediate, or at least would alert them that a message is waiting?

Well as I mentioned previously the site can only deliver the popup to you if you're actually active on the site so the exact same principle would apply in regards to your buzzer idea. Personally, I always have the audible message receipt facility switched on so that incoming popups get announced audibly.

One other thing you can do is simply to leave yourself in chat so that you're around when someone you want to chat with pops in.