Genealogy Chat

I have sent a couple of pm's tonight and have just noticed that instead of my board name being shown on the message my maiden name is coming up instead.

Is this something that has been happening long as it always used to be my board name?

Kath. x

Good question

I have no idea what shows if I send a message - board name or maiden name or married name

I've just gone into "my account" to see if anything had been changed in there and the bit where it asks if you want your board name to show when sending a message was not checked (when it used to be) and it is also telling me that my board name (Kathleen Bell) is invalid but it can't be as it is showing up on these posts. Don't know what is going on!!

Kath. x

As far as I am aware, your Board Name has never appeared on your PM's, only on message board postings.

Mine certainly never has and on just checking few, all show my birth surname.

A few years back GR changed the validation for board names so spaces are no longer allowed. Existing names could continue to be used but if you access my account and wish to change any details you will also need to change your board name to meet the current validation rules. I believe that at the same time the use of non standard characters was also stopped.

You can set your Board Name to be the name that shows on the pm ........ mine shows SylviaInCanada :-D


Otherwise, IGP is quite correct ...................... the changes in late 2010 removed the ability to have "symbols" and spaces between words in your Board Name. Those changes ALSO allowed your maiden name to show on the pm

I used to have Sylvia In Canada, but when I went in and changed pm name to board name ..................... I had to remove the spaces. I could not do one without doing the other.




sylvia

When I was previously on this site, a number of years ago, I had PM's from you, Kathleen, showing a 4-letter surname other than Bell

The name I registered as has always come up on PM's. This used to be my maiden name but I have now changed it!
Jan

Reggie, how about our PMs?

Just had a look at my sent messages. Yes, they show my maiden name.
However when you click on my board name it just shows my first name as Margaret.

apart from when I first joined, when my maiden name was displayed, then I answered 'yes' in the appropriate box on my account details and my board name has been shown on sent messages ever since

if you wish your board name to be displayed just go into your account and change the setting

Have just done so, LA, thanks. I hadn't realised it was showing my maiden name.

Edit: Just checked my sent messages and it hasn't changed on my previous ones. Perhaps it take time?

Thanks everyone. I have tried changing the setting in "my account" but it hasn't changed anything. Perhaps it is because I have my board name displayed with a space so that it reads correctly.

I know years ago my board name showed on sent messages and then after an update of the site maiden names started to be shown but there werea lot of people unhappy with this and it was changed back to board names. I didn't realize it had changed back to maiden name.

Reggie - yes, it's a four letter name.

Kath. x

I was sent a pm by another member yesterday (Feb 29) ....... in it hesaid that he had RR'd a posting of mine, apparently because I had disagreed with him (!!!) ... and he c&p'd GR's email to him

In that email they gave him my maiden name ............................

-----------

From: xxxxxxxx

29 Feb 2012

So this is what takes place when others don't agree with you.

Dear xxxxxxx

You recently requested a message board response added by Sylvia (xxxxxx) for review giving the reason, Other
I can confirm that this posting has already been removed.
As you will know

---------

I have for obvious reasons x'd out his name and my surname.

I was furious that they would give him my surname .......


I have emailed support to see a) if they will tell me which post has been removed, and why ...... 'cos I don't have the faintest idea!!,

and b) complaining about the breaching of my privacy when I have tried to maintain it for the 8 years I have been on site.




sylvia

To understand how Board Names are used we need to step back a bit in time.

Remember I am talking about what appears on message posts, not PM's or Contact lists which use the First Name, Current Name and Birth Name fields.I stand corrected if I am mistaken, but I can't recall Board Names ever being used for PM's.

** Update **
You can now elect to use your Message board name in PM's Go to 'My account' and select 'Yes' under 'Would you like to use your message board name when sending messages?'

Note re recent Board Name changes
1. Some time ago several members were trying to add non printable characters to their board name. This caused several problems with the database, especially with displays and the page displays. This practice was stopped by adding validation on the accounts page to disallow certain characters, including spaces.

2. If you changed your board Name then it only affected new or updated postings. Previous postings continued to show your old name. As a result of member requests, this was changed so that postings always showed your current Board Name, irrespective of when they were originated.

3. However, because this required the name to be looked up on the database each and every time someone viewed a post it was realized that this was causing a huge system overhead and was affecting site performance. As a result GR removed the mod, reverting back to the old system whereby the name was added at the time of posting.

4. This of course put us back to the previous situation where updates to Board Names in My Account were not reflected on earlier posts. so, to get round this GR introduced a new process which runs in the background during quiet periods whereby names on posts are systematically updated to reflect the current Board Name. This means that it takes a few days before any changes you make in My Account are reflected on existing postings.

I've sent you a message IPG just to see what name comes up as I have altered my board name by taking out the space and this has allowed me to say that I want my board name to come up in sent messages instead of my maiden name.

If you could let me know please which name shows.

EDIT - It's o.k. - I have checked my sent messages now and they all now show my board name and not my maiden name (even the ones right back to 2004). Whether they have changed in other people's records of messages they have received from me is anyone's guess!!

Kath. x

Thanks, Kath.

Could you please let me know what appears on my reply to you. According to my sent messages it isn't my Board Name but my First Name and Birth Name.

P.S. Got it....!

In 'My Account' there is now an option to opt to use your Board Name in PM's. I had forgotten about that. For those who are interested the default (blank) setting is No. So if you want to hide your real name on PM's you need to go in and set it to 'Yes'

I got a response from GR this morning re my maiden name being shown in the text of a pm they sent to another member

This is what Lisa said .................

----------------
Your maiden name was included as this is the name you have added to the current surname field. This can be seen on the My Account page. I have now amended this to 'In Canada' for you.

Alternatively, on the My Account page you can opt to use your message board name for all communication through the site, rather than the name you have registered with.

----------------


Now, the problem with this is that I HAD opted to have my board name shown on all communications through the site. I semi-regularly ask friends to tell me what name is showing on a pm (the last time was about 2 months), and that option is still ticked.



so .............. GR broke their own rules.




another email has gone to them!




sylvia

I have sorted my too, just seeing if this posting shows my board name as one word.

Spruce

I have just checked mine....

My account page has Chris in Sussex in the first name field and a full stop in the surname field. I have nothing in the Message board name field.

My sent messages only show my board name.

Chris

Chris,

If you have nothing in the Message board Name field then sent messages can't show your Board Name as you don't have one.....!

If the Message board Name field is blank, then your First Name field is used on Message Postings which is why you show up as "Chris in Sussex" spaces et al, which are of course allowed in First Names.

I need to double check for PM's where you haven't ele3cted to use your Message board Name, but I think that when you click on a member's name you see their First and Current Names but when you send a PM, your First and Maiden or Given Name appears on the message you send.