Status Update feature is now off

[JohnCh]

There is a feature in our forum software that enables you or anyone else to post a status update that appears on your profile page.  Anything posted there is public for anyone to see -- even spam bots that troll the web.  Unfortunately, people miss the text in the status update box that indicates this is public information and confuse it for a Private Message (see portion circled in red below.)  On many occasions, I've removed phone numbers, email addresses, and even home addresses when someone has made this mistake.  Because the proper use of this feature is so rare, and the privacy issues created when it is used incorrectly are severe, I am making the decision to turn off Status Updates.  As per Invision, who makes our software, this is the only option as the feature is only fully on or fully off.

 

Thanks,

John

 

[wemtd]

Thanks for keeping us numpties safe. 

[NSXguy]

Good call John. I noticed the same and wondered if others were aware that the information posted was public. 

Des.

[JohnCh]

When researching it, I discovered the mistake is very common on Invision forums with many admins requesting changes to allow partial implementation to eliminate those oops moments. e.g only allow people to post status updates to their own profile page.  For now though, it's all or nothing.  

 

-John