The MyConversations admin manual

Instructions on the installation, upgrade, configuration, and maintenance of the MyConversations plugin

🔗 Installation instructions

The four basic installation steps are:

1. Purchase and download: Purchase MyConversations and download an archive of the plugin's files.
2. Copy files: Extract the files in that archive to a temporary location, and then copy the files in "root" into the root of your MyBB installation. That is to say that "root/converse.php" should be copied to your MyBB root directory, "root/inc/languages/english/converse.lang.php" should be copied to your MyBB root's "inc/languages/english/" directory, etc.
3. Install via the ACP: In a web browser, open the "Plugins" module in the ACP of your MyBB installation. You should see "MyConversations" under "Inactive Plugins". Click "Install & Activate" next to it. You should then see the plugin listed under "Active Plugins" on the reloaded page.
4. Run the migration tool: In that same "Plugins" ACP module under "MyConversations" you should see an indication of the count of private messages that have not yet been migrated to conversations. If it is non-zero, then you should click on the provided link to run the migration (otherwise, your members will lose access to PMs that they sent before MyConversations was installed). You can also access this migration tool in the ACP via Tools & Maintenance -> Migrate PMs to MyConversations.

You may then optionally want to configure settings (by navigating in the ACP to Settings -> Plugin Settings -> MyConversations), and/or edit the plugin's templates and/or stylesheet.

🔗 Upgrade instructions

The three basic upgrade steps are as follows. Be aware that order is important!

1. Deactivate: In a web browser, open the "Plugins" module in the ACP of your MyBB installation and click "Deactivate" beside the "MyConversations" plugin.
2. Download and Copy files: As in steps one and two for installing above.
3. Reactivate: As for step one but clicking "Activate" rather than "Deactivate".

This will maintain any settings and template changes that you've made, although if you've made template changes, you may after upgrading need to navigate in the ACP to Templates & Style -> Templates -> Find Updated Templates to properly integrate/update this plugin's templates.

🔗 Attachments

MyConversations supports the attaching of files to messages as for forum posts. With one exception, it honours, for conversation messages, MyBB core settings for forum post attachments, rather than providing alternative settings of its own. Here is a list of the applicable settings:

• Two of the three core settings in the ACP under Home » Board Settings » Attachments:
  • Maximum Attachments Per Post
  • Show Attached Thumbnails in Posts
• MyConversations does not honour the third core setting on that page: Enable Attachment Functionality. Instead, conversation message attachments can be globally enabled/disabled via the Enable attachments in conversations setting on the MyConversations settings page.
• The per-usergroup core settings Can post attachments? and Attachment Quota. Note that the quota applies separately to each of forum post attachments and conversation message attachments, effectively doubling each user's overall attachment quota.
• The list of valid attachments, including their maximum allowable size, on the core settings page in the ACP Attachment Types.

MyConversations also modifies and/or integrates with the tabs of the ACP page Forums & Posts » Attachments:

• It renames the first tab from Find Attachments to Find Public Attachments. (It doesn't provide for finding conversation message attachments so as not to breach the privacy of conversation participants).
• It integrates with the functionality of the Find Orphaned Attachments tab to provide for detection and deletion of orphaned conversation message attachments on top of the existing core detection/deletion of orphaned post attachments.
• To the Attachment Statistics tab it adds a General Stats for Private Conversation Attachments box.

🔗 Likes

"Likes" in conversation messages can be globally enabled/disabled via the Enable "likes" in conversations setting on the MyConversations settings page.

🔗 Limits and exclusions to prevent sending, flooding, and spamming

MyConversations provides the following limiting/excluding settings:

• A per-usergroup setting Can start conversations and conversation groups?, defaulting to "No" for users in the Awaiting activation and Banned groups; otherwise to "Yes".
• A per-usergroup setting Maximum Participants Per Conversation/Group, defaulting to 15 for all usergroups.
• A global limit on the interval between posting conversation messages via the Message Flood Time setting on the MyConversations settings page.

🔗 Two-way migration tools

MyConversations provides two tools to migrate back and forth between core private messages and MyConversations conversations. They can be accessed in the ACP at:

• Tools & Maintenance » Migrate PMs to MyConversations.
• Tools & Maintenance » Migrate MyConversations messages to PMs.

The second is an anti-lock-in tool for your peace of mind: if after some time you decide that you no longer want to use MyConversations on your board, you can migrate back to the core private messaging system without any loss of messages. Only attachments and conversation groups would be lost given that MyBB core does not support them for private messaging.

🔗 MyAlerts integration

MyConversations integrates with MyAlerts to provide three new alert types. The two plugins can be installed in either order. Check the MyConversations entry in the ACP's Plugins page to see what the integration status currently is, and to integrate with a single click if necessary. The new alert types added are:

• Receive an alert when somebody adds you to a conversation (including by starting one with you)?
• Receive an alert when somebody adds you to a conversation group (including by starting one with you in it)?
• Receive an alert when somebody likes your message in a conversation?

🔗 Purge spammer integration

MyConversations hooks in to the core "Purge spammer" functionality to also purge any conversation messages sent by the spammer. If this results in any empty conversations, then those conversations too are purged (at the database level).

🔗 Deletion of conversations and messages

Other than when hooking in to the core "Purge spammer" functionality, MyConversations does not currently support the deletion of messages or conversations at the database level. Members can "delete" messages, or, equivalently, move them to their Trash can folder, but this only removes the messages from their own view; it does not remove them from the database nor even does it remove them from the view of other participants in the conversation, unless those participants also "delete" the same messages.

🔗 IP addresses

As for forum posts, MyConversations records the IP address of the poster of each conversation message. These are automatically made visible to any admin(s) in the conversation - there is currently no means of toggling this visibility as there is for forum posts.

🔗 Core private messaging system compatibility

MyConversations intercepts and replaces the core PM sending functionality, in particular the core PMDataHandler class and (simply because it relies on that class) the core send_pm() function. Core code and other plugins that rely on that core functionality are drop-in compatible with MyConversations: rather than core PMs being sent by those core tools, MyConversations messages are sent instead. Some points to note are:

• This relies on a small, two-line change to the core file inc/datahandlers.pm.php; a change which MyConversations automates and automatically reverts when appropriate. You can track this in the MyConversations entry in the ACP Plugins page.
• System-generated PMs are supported (converted into conversations), and their sender shows up as "MyBB Engine", as for the core PM system.
• System-generated PMs notifying members of new replies in forum threads to which they are subscribed are supported (converted into conversations). New notifications for the same thread are sent as replies to any existing notification conversation for that thread rather than generating a new conversation.

🔗 Changes to member-level settings

When active, MyConversations replaces member-level settings related to the default private messaging system with its own. In particular:

• On the member registration form, MyConversations replaces:
  • Receive private messages from other users.
  • Alert me with a notice when I receive a Private Message.
  • Notify me by email when I receive a new Private Message.
  With:
  • Allow other members to add me to conversations and conversation groups, including by starting new ones with me.
  • Notify me by email when somebody starts a conversation with me.
• In the User CP's Edit Options under Messaging and Notification, MyConversations replaces:
  • Receive private messages from other users.
  • Alert me with a notice when I receive a Private Message.
  • Notify me by email when I receive a new Private Message.
  • Receive PM notifications for new buddy requests.
  • Automatically accept buddy requests (if the above checkbox is ticked, a PM is sent informing of the new buddy connection).
  With:
  • Allow other members to add me to conversations and conversation groups, including by starting new ones with me.
  • Notify me by email when somebody starts a conversation with me.
  • By default, notify me by email of new replies by other participants in conversations in which I'm a participant.
  • By default, email me copies of my own messages in conversations.
  • Receive private conversation notifications for new buddy requests.
  • Automatically accept buddy requests (if the above checkbox is ticked, a private conversation message is sent informing of the new buddy connection).
• In the ACP under Users & Groups when selecting a member to edit, on the Edit User page under the Account Settings tab in the Messaging and Notification box, i.e., at admin/index.php?module=user-users&action=edit&uid=[uid]#tab_settings, MyConversations replaces:
  • Receive private messages from other users
  • Only receive private messages from buddy list (this setting has no effect unless there is at least one buddy on the list)
  • Alert with notice when new private message is received
  • Notify by email when new private message is received
  • Receive PM notifications for new buddy requests
  • Automatically accept buddy requests (if the above checkbox is ticked, a PM is sent informing of the new buddy connection)
  With:
  • Allow other members to add this member to conversations and conversation groups, including by starting new ones with him/her
  • Notify this member by email when somebody starts a conversation with him/her
  • By default, notify this member by email of new replies by other participants in conversations in which (s)he is a participant
  • By default, email this member copies of his/her own messages in conversations.
  • Receive private conversation notifications for new buddy requests.
  • Automatically accept buddy requests (if the above checkbox is ticked, a private conversation message is sent informing of the new buddy connection)