Current Situation
Currently, all notifications, including private messages (PMs), and general notifications, are grouped together in the main Inbox section. While this centralized approach has its merits, it can sometimes lead to important personal messages getting lost in the mix of other notifications.
Proposed Feature
I would like to suggest the introduction of a separate section SPECIFICALLY for PMs, similar to the model used by Reddit. This new feature would involve:
- Creating a distinct “Messages”, “Private Messages”, “Chat”, etc. section within the app
- Separating PM notifications from other types of notifications (post replies, mentions, etc.)
- Potentially adding a new notification icon or badge specifically for private messages
Benefits
Implementing this feature could offer several advantages:
- Improved organization and clarity for users
- Easier access to private conversations
- Enhanced privacy, as personal messages would be separate from public interactions
- Potential for more robust PM features in the future
User Experience
This change would allow users to quickly distinguish between general notifications and personal messages, potentially leading to faster response times for private communications and a more streamlined experience overall.
Conclusion
I personally believe that this feature would be a valuable addition to Summit for Lemmy, aligning it more closely with user expectations shaped by other popular social platforms while maintaining its unique identity.
This would be a pretty big change I think as it would turn chat in Summit into a first class feature. I’m not sure if I’m ready for Summit to be used as a chat app just yet. I’ll put this on the roadmap to explore but I make no guarantees about implementing this. I’ll probably collect more feedback once I tackle this.
Fair enough
As a much simplified version of this ask…
Could we just aim for badges or a list filter? Sometimes it’s difficult to distinguish a mod notification from a comment reply without opening things up and I’d just like some visual feedback.
Filtering based on type displayed would be good too, but I understand that’s likely more work.
