Problem sending messages to contacts who aren't signed in

[dvandelay]

Before:
When I'd try to send a message to a contact who was not signed on, Adium would prompt me to Send Now, Send Later (when contact signs on), or Cancel. This was an easy way for me to set up an auto-IM for someone.

Now:
Adium 'sends' the message without prompting me. There is no error, but the message is clearly not sent even though it moves to the conversation part of the window -- I am sure this is happening with contacts who are not signed in (as opposed to setting their status to invisible).

I don't see any setting to go back to the way it was before. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Dave

[evands]

What messaging service are you using?
What makes you say the message clearly isn't sent?

(This has been improved for Adium 1.3, btw, which will prompt you to send immediately or send later even if the server supports offline messaging, with an explanation of what will happen)

[dvandelay]

What messaging service are you using?

I am using my AIM account -- not sure if that's what you are asking.

What makes you say the message clearly isn't sent?

I am positive this is happening with people who are not signed in to their account. This is happening with people I regularly communicate with. I leave my away message on and when I get back there is a message waiting for me, but the person who sent it signed off. I know these are people who do not set their status to invisible. Plus, I consistently get no reply from them when this happens.

Also, this has happened with lots of different people and I never get the prompt anymore to send now, send later, or cancel.

-Dave

[evands]

But the AIM server now supports offline messaging, as does Adium - when they sign on next, they should receive the sent message. Have you verified that Adium think you're sending a message without error but the other party doesn't receive it?

[dvandelay]

But the AIM server now supports offline messaging, as does Adium - when they sign on next, they should receive the sent message. Have you verified that Adium think you're sending a message without error but the other party doesn't receive it?

Yes, I have verified this with multiple contacts.

As a test, I just tried to send an IM to a fake account (random letters and numbers) of someone who was not in my contact list. I was not prompted to send now, send later, or cancel, but I did get the error "Could not send because aklsdfjalskdfjalsfjasldfjasdl345345kasdf is not available."

And when I just tried to IM you (status Last Seen: Signing Off 1 day 22 hours 8 minutes ago) I was not prompted about the message, but I did get the error 'Could not send the last message because it was too large.' All my message said was, 'just testing.'

I have been using Adium for over two years. Until recently when I attempted to send a message it was prompting me when the contact was offline.

[dvandelay]

There was a new development today, so let me restate what is happening...

Until recently, when I tried to send a message to a contact who was not signed in, Adium would always ask if I wanted to send now, send later, or cancel.

Typically I would click 'send later' and Adium would create a new event that would send my message when the contact signed on again. Then I would see exactly when my contact received my message.

Now, as I've mentioned, I no longer get those prompts. Messages appeared to be sent when contacts were offline, but I know it's not possible for someone who is not logged in to receive a message at that time. And since Adium no longer creates an event to send the message later I assumed that meant the contact would not get my message.

But I just received a reply from my dad to a test message I sent when he was offline a few days ago. That leads me to believe that Adium has now started automatically forwarding messages to a central AIM server that delivers messages as soon as the contact signs on. However, if that's the case, I am not given any indication if or when my message is delivered. I realize this has the advantage that messages will be delivered even if I am offline, but the downside of not knowing if my message has been delivered greatly outweighs that advantage for me. It appears that I no longer have the option to simply create an auto-IM event -- I now need to manually open the events section, and create a new event with all the appropriate settings.

This may seem relatively unimportant, but I use Adium for customer service. When I am away I have an auto-reply to leave me a message and I will respond when I return. It is common for someone to leave a message and then sign off. It would greatly simplify things for people in my position to be able to quickly type a reply, hit enter, and click 'send later' -- like I could not so long ago.

Thank you for your attention to this,
Dave

p.s. I don't know if it makes any difference, but I supported Adium's development with a $100 contribution last year.

[meandcat]

@dvandelay:
evands already said in one of his posts above that that feature will be back in Adium 1.3, so what are you trying to convince the developers of?

[dvandelay]

evands already said in of of his posts above that that feature will be back in Adium 1.3

I missed that note. Thanks for pointing it out.

It would help me if someone could explain what currently happens when a message is sent to a contact who is offline.

-Dave

[meandcat]

What happens right now is similar to sending an e-mail: Your contact will receive the message as soon as he signs in the next time.

[evands]

What happens right now is similar to sending an e-mail: Your contact will receive the message as soon as he signs in the next time.

*nod* In addition, you were at one point experiencing a bug in which an error was received instead of the message being queued on the server. We're not sure yet why that happens sometimes.

Here's what you'll see in Adium 1.3:


In Adium 1.2.5, the 'Send Now' behavior is what you're always getting (except when there's an error).

Adium 1.3 isn't in beta yet, but if you're interested in running a pre-release copy (caveat emptor - unfinished software!) just send me a PM or email.

[monkeyman767]

I am having this error too and was wondering if it would be possible to get the 1.3 pre release off you because the ability to send those messages was vital to me

[biglittledragoon]

the ability to send those messages was vital to me

Vital? WaoW?!

An emergency Doc Evan!

[evands]

the ability to send those messages was vital to me

Vital? WaoW?!

An emergency Doc Evan!

Not to fear - patient was stabilized via private message

[monkeyman767]

very gratefully so