Post by Leeroy Atherton on Oct 6, 2009 22:01:23 GMT
Addie's PM Sorting Guide For the Cluttered Inbox
[/u].: Because a clean inbox is a good inbox. :.[/center]
1. Introduction
Let's make it short and sweet - PMs are crazy in vast amounts. If you are a staff member, well-known artist, etc., chances are your PM box is probably worse looking than the ham sandwich from last year at the back of your refridgerator. Some are fine with endless pages of PMs from years before, but for some, searching for an archived message can be a hair-pulling experience. To lessen the stress of sorting your inbox, here's a quick guide to keeping your PMs neat and tidy.
2. Step A: Set An Inbox Limit
First things first - we need to know our limits. Setting a limit on the number of PMs contained in the inbox itself at any given time will help you learn to seperate unneeded messages from the needed. Do you really need a hundred pages of PMs, when you could function on one or two of the most recent and/or vital messages? Does the entire conversation about fluffy lolcats from eight months ago really belong in your archives? I find that ten to twenty PMs at a time is enough for anyone's inbox.
Grab the metaphorical sack and start sorting. It's time to delete - but not without backing up your messages first.
3. Step B: Sort, Save, Repeat[/u]
Once a month, you can use the forum's built-in backup function to save your messages to your computer. Between the Outbox and Preferences buttons, the backup button is there, labeled "Backup Messages" - in short, exactly what it says on the tin. Follow the instructions and save the file to your computer; I find, however, that this function does not always work. Luckily, there is a second method you can use - open a Word document, open up the PMs you want to save, and just copy and paste into the document. Then, hit "Save". For those who want the original code and all, just hit the quote button, copy the text in the typing field, and paste into the document. Remember to remove the quote tags if you don't want to put everything in a quote box - something you need to remember if you were going to send the PM's content to someone else.
But what if you can't, for some reason, save all the PMs you want onto your computer? The answer to that is quite simple. Open a PM and address it to yourself, labelling the PM something relevant, such as "Plot Discussion" for plot-based PMs. (I suggest creating seperate sections for different members, and labelling the PM with any member names if the PMs are specific to them.) Seperating one original PM from another by breaks (such as asterisks), like as if you were to divide OOC from IC in a post, copy and paste the individual PMs in whatever order you see fit. Once that is done, send the PM to yourself, and BAM! A copy of all the PMs you wanted to save in one individual PM.
4. Step C: Hit That Delete Button!
Make sure you have all the PMs you want to save saved. Then, start deleting the original copies, since you already have them backed up. For this step and Step B, I suggest working on one page at a time, starting with the most recent PMs (a.k.a., first page of your inbox).
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I hope this short guide has proved useful to you. Please note that, if you want to sort your outbox as well, these steps can pretty much apply to that as well. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to drop me a PM of your own! ;D
~Addie