Some users Notification settings being reset to all OFF...?

I discovered that about two to three days ago, the Notification settings for some of my members got mysteriously all reset to OFF- to receive NO notifications....unbeknownst to them.
This happened in MY OWN settings, and in 4 of my profile-admin moderators as well... in other words 4 out of 7 of us moderators admins. They affirmed that they did not do this themselves. The other 3 moderators were not effected.
We began noticing we weren't net getting any notifications two days ago, but thought at first we each thought it was just a lull. Finally realized last night what had happened.

I then looked into the settings of about 40 of our most active helpful friendly members, and found about one in every 8 or 10 who surely had their settings re-set to all OFF..those people are not the type to want this- they are obsessively connected and active on the site.

I have not announced anything to my members yet, on the off chance that it can all be set back to how it was before with them non the wiser.

But if it has happened to 1 in 8 members, or even to one in a dozen, that's a significant problem and will effect overall site activity, not to mention royally pissing off members who will suddenly stop getting private notes and comment/discussion updates on stuff that's important to them.

One odd clue I did notice is that this does NOT seem to have happened to any of my members who have not yet logged in on the new site since I migrated from ning. Not sure if that factoid helps.

I'm really more hoping that the reason for this can be known so it won't happen again and/or become more widespread.



--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 02/15/16 12:56:29AM

Are they getting changed in quota? My first suspect is the Kickbox module whos job it is is to turn off notification if they fail the test.

I see for you you move them to the 'InvalidEmail Quota' if they fail, nice idea. is that happening?

No, none of them were due to kickbox. As I said, this happened in MY OWN settings, and in 4 of my profile-admin moderators as well... in other words 4 out of 7 of us moderators admins. They affirmed that they did not do this themselves. The other 3 moderators were not effected. Some various other members seem to have been reset to all OFF as well. Hard to tell how widespread it is, but the moderator group thing of 4 out of 7 was alarming.

(As to your other question- yes that system works well with the "invalid email" quota I created. I deal with those members periodically...mostly by deleting them if they have not been active in over 2 years.)

Then there's the weird issue of random group members in all groups becoming named simply "@" in the group members grid, but though the two issues seem to have occurred around the same time (3 or 4 days ago?) I'm not sure if they're related. I think Deb has a ticket open on it.
But this 'Notifications to Off' issue in what I'm addressing in this thread. Thanks!


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 11/06/15 05:44:02AM

Groups thing is not related. There was supposed to be only one question by me which was for the people who are having their emails de-activated, are they getting moved to the 'InvalidEmail' Quota or left in the same quota that they were in?

Right now there is only 2 locations that can do the changing of users notification settings, they are:
* kickbox module
* unsubscribe link in the email

And if the users are not being moved to the 'InvalidEmail' Quota, then that pretty much rules out Kickbox.

If kickbox is ruled out and we only have 'unsubscribe link in email' left, the (my) thought process tracks to "Is something else clicking that email link?" and I start to wonder if all the people who are being logged out are using the same anti-virus / firewall software and its 'checking the link for safety'.

Its a stretch, but without other locations/theories to test, stretch is the best I have right now.

Can you think of any other common denominators in the group thats effected? Could you make a list of the users who are effected so I can look for some common link?

Kickbox doesn't have to move a profile to a quota - it can just "unsubscribe" the user.

We had another site report this with a few of their users, and there really is only 2 places in the code where the key can be changed - Michael outlined those above.

Michael's idea of it possibly being email antivirus that is somehow "following" or "loading" the unsubscribe URL (looking for malicious content) is about the only thing we think it could be (outside of Kickbox), so I think a solution for that would be to update the "unsubscribe" link so it has a button on the target page that is pushed to actually unsubscribe - that would eliminate that from being a possibility.


--
Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

I'm thinking it is not Kickbox-related either.
I use an uncommon virus program... Webroot...so i think it's not related to that either.

I do remember ONE time a few months ago, I inadvertantly clicked the 'auto-unsubscribe' link at the bottom of a notification I got. I actually didn't realize I had done this until I stopped receiving all notifications for a day and a half. Now I'm wondering if this is happening more often than one would think.

I'd like to REMOVE the whole bottom-most link from ALL emailed notifications that go out (for groups, forums, profile updates, new comments on items, whatever). I'd like to leave the auto-generated link telling people where they can go to change their their notification settings....but I want to REMOVE the instruction and hotlink that INSTANTLY unsubscribes one from all notifications. I see no compelling need for it, it's too easy to click on it when not paying attention, and it may in fact be the root of this problem...maybe. At least by removing it from the email that people get, I could totally eliminate it as the possible culprit for this issue. I think it'd be a good first step to take, and who knows it may solve this.

See screenshot for what I'd like to REMOVE from ALL notification emails.
Can you please tell me exactly where I can remove it? I'm not finding it by looking through the individual module templates.




--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 11/07/15 11:26:16AM

You really don't want to do that - the "canspam" act requires you to have an UNSUBSCRIBE link directly in the email that allows a user to unsubscribe WITHOUT signing in.


--
Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

Ok, well then:
Can I possibly EDIT the text to make it a little less likely to click on it inadvertently? I would probably add a second sentence, like "Click below if you are SURE you want to instantly set all your site Notifications settings to OFF" Believe it or not, it might help if this is what has been happening. (I did it to myself once without realizing, so I know it 'can' happen, even to experienced users.)

I have previously already edited the top text (you can see the results in my screenshot above) with "Do not hit "Reply" to this email.Instead..."
I actually had to do that because too many members were simply 'replying' to the email instead of clicking the proper link. I was getting all kinds of misdirected responses to ME instead of to the intended, with messages like "Thanks so much for your comment, Albert, I'd like to get together soon!" etc etc. This was a real annoyance until I edited that text, have not gotten misdirected replies since.

--Hmm, I went to look for the thread where I did that editing, but my The Jamroom Network » Forum » My Posts » Page 3 only goes back to 3 weeks ago and page 3, no further back.


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

You really don't have to worry about "inadvertant" clicks - if someone does accidentally click on it, they are told they are "unsubscribed", but there is a big "undo" right there so they can back out of it.

If you need to change the footer (add extra space, whatever), modify the "email_preferences_footer.tpl" template in the User Accounts -> Templates section.

Let me know if that helps.


--
Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

I see 177 pages of posts here:

https://www.jamroom.net/forum/activity/1045/strumelia

Note that "My Posts" are posts that YOU started.. not all the ones you have participated in.


--
Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

Quoting myself here - that does not appear to be the case - something isn't right there. For now you can just use your link under your name on posts to view your posts until I can see what is up.


--
Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

Yes ok, thanks Brian.


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

That's fixed now...


--
Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

I see that now, but what actually happened with myself was that I clicked on it once by mistake a couple months ago, then immediately knew only that I clicked on the wrong link (without really reading what it said) and I just went right back to the email and clicked on the right link. So I had unsubbed myself and didn't really notice or read what it said. Until a couple days passed and i was puzzled as to not receiving notifications anymore. I vaguely remembered clicking to a wrong place from a notification and not bothering to read the message, instead just going back to the email and then clicking the right link. Since then, there has been more than one occasion where I've found my cursor hovering dangerously over that bottom link, and have stopped myself...not much of a stretch to think I may have done it again and unsubbed myself last week. If I did that once and still 'almost' do it (and I'm usually really careful), then others surely must be doing it. This just seems like the most likely thing in my mind, simply because i know I did it myself at least once.


Thanks, I will! I'll be sure to leave the option and link there for the "canspam" requirement. I'll just add some sort of "are you sure?" and all caps "UNSUBSCRIBE" things to it...I think it can only help.



--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015
updated by @strumelia: 11/07/15 02:25:23PM

Yeah, cool to now see what a big mouth I really am. =8-O


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Update:
Ok I have edited the email_preferences_footer template. I am suspecting that people (including myself and a couple of my moderators) have been occasionally clicking the wrong link in our notifications and not paying attention to the warning message, instead simply going right back and trying a different link.
I've now changed the footer text of notification emails from this:
....


A new comment has been posted by Bob McClure:
(blah blah by Bob)

http :// ...(rest of link)
---------------------------------------
If you would prefer to no longer receive event notifications, you can adjust
your notification preferences in your User Account:

http :// ...(rest of link)

Or you can instantly unsubscribe from all notifications:

http :// ...(rest of link)


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

To this instead:
....


A forum topic you are following has had a new post:
member: Helen Seiller
posted in: The Positive Thread...
- Do NOT hit "Reply" to this email. -
To see and respond to the new post,
Click THIS LINK: http ://...etc

--------------------
--------------------
To EDIT which site notifications you'd like to receive, you can
CHANGE YOUR PREFERENCES in your User Account settings by clicking here:
http :// ...(rest of link)

To UNSUBSCRIBE instantly from ALL notifications-
You can STOP receiving ALL site notifications immediately by clicking this link:
http :// ...(rest of link)


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

I think the change makes it so that the three links are not all kinda floating around in space, and also adds some bold words that might make folks pause before they click.
I'm hoping this will prevent people from inadvertently setting their notifications off...if indeed that's what's been happening. I can envision clicking the wrong links otherwise, especially on a phone.


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Strumelia,

I has something similar happen, but they other way around. A bunch of my members had all their notifications put to on, and they were getting their mailboxes flooded with emails. I didn't believe them at first, but then I went into their notifications and saw indeed all the notifications had been set to on. So I made the adjustments right there and then. Still, it hit me as very odd. At least it's good to know someone else is having strange issues, LOL.
updated by @perrie: 11/09/15 09:14:33PM

Perrie, you do know that all member notification settings are set to ON/EMAIL by DEFAULT, to begin with...is that what you are referring to?, because that is the norm. OR, do you mean their settings had been purposely turned to OFF by them, and then somehow got turned backed to being all ON ?


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

That is exactly what I am saying. I made instructional videos for the the group (I have to update them now), so that everyone knew what to do with the site. One of them covered settings and their email. We were in there for about 3 weeks and this happened and I got a mailbox full of HELP! emails... they didn't realize what had happened. And it happened all at once.

Had those members been re-imported again, or newly imported?

Do you think perhaps they first inadvertantly clicked on a notification email's link for 'instantly unsubscribe from ALL', and then perhaps clicked the warning message to re-set back to receiving notifications again?
I'm just trying to figure out what happens from the premise of suspecting the easiest way this might accidentally happen.


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

They were here already. I didn't do a second import.

I would be suspicious, if two of the people were not techies and know what they are doing. So I really doubt that it was anything else but a glitch.

I opened a support ticket for this problem (Notifications all being set to OFF), before I saw this forum.

We have had this happen numerous times over at least 2 months (maybe longer - I always dismissed reports as being due to clicking the unsubscribe).

I really don't think it is the unsubscribe link. This has happened to some of our most active, long-time members, even including the site owner, and all are well aware of the unsubscribe link. Some members have had it happen two or three times recently, so even if it was an accidental unsubscribe initially, I can't imagine they'd do it repeatedly, especially having been through the process of resetting all their notifications. The pop-up confirmation says "Ooops Set my notifications back to the way they were" and you click that and it works correctly, so it's quite unambiguous.

We have Kickbox, but I've passed the relevant emails through the Kickbox validation and they all validate without any problem. I've checked mailgun logs for those addresses, and nothing has been flagged as an error - notifications stop being generated by our site.

For testing purposes, @Brian has put in a log entry on our site for when someone clicks the unsubscribe. I'm just waiting for the next report of notifications all turned off. Obviously, it takes time for people to realise it's happened. It just goes quiet for a couple of days.
updated by @lornawebber: 11/13/15 02:13:59PM

Lorna, thank you for this. I'll be watching this thread!


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015

Note that the latest User module now adds an Activity Log entry so you can see if the user clicks on the "unsubscribe" link in the email.


--
Brian Johnson
Founder and Lead Developer - Jamroom
https://www.jamroom.net

That will be useful in getting to the bottom of this mystery, Brian.


--
...just another satisfied Jamroom customer.
Migrated from Ning to Jamroom June 2015