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Explicit reactivation of PQs after 30 days


eilinger

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Today, I received the following message in my PQ-email:

It has been more than 30 days since you last edited this query. To continue receiving this query next week you will need to reselect the days for it to run. This is an automatic housekeeping rule to speed up Pocket Query generation for everyone.

 

For me this is a huge step backwards and a very uncomfortable solution. :):D

 

BTW: Has there been an announcement for this "feature"?

 

Regards

eilinger

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They did this some time ago and backed off later.

 

I would never see this message because GSAK reads and processes the PQ e-mails.

 

I guess if this is restarted, my "notification" will be the PQs not running.

 

I went and looked in my "trash" and see that message on 5 PQs received today (to two accounts.)

 

I understand the "efficiency" argument, but even if I am running them for my own amusement and do nothing with the output....I did pay for that privilege.

Edited by beejay&esskay
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I have a set of 15 PQs that run on several weekdays. Today, three of them deselected and i had to retick them to be scheduled for next week.

 

Since the PQs are fetched automatically using GSAK, i didnt get the warning message.

 

With this 'feature' enabled, i have to check every day if one of the PQs was disabled since i dont know when i first generated them... *Very* inconvenient.

 

Please Groundspeak find another solution - the current implementation is anoying paying customers. And the regular PQs are the reason for my premium membership.

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Holy cow, you're right. All my weekly queries that ran today were deactivated afterward. I had to recheck all the boxes. I have weekly queries that run every day. This is a non-starter for me; I can't go recheck the queries every day every week. :)

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Wow, you would think they would have learned last time they tried, this.

 

PQ EMAILS GENERALLY DON'T GET READ.

 

People expect their communication from gc to come to the designated email they have listed in their profile, NOT TO SOME ALTERNATE EMAIL THAT THEY ARE SENDING PQ'S TO.

 

They tried this quite some time back, and it caused a massive uproar in the forums, for these two reasons.

 

If this is really happening, ANY COMMUNICATION NEEDS TO GO TO THE EMAIL THAT I DESIGNATED FOR COMMUNICATING WITH GS, IT WILL NOT BE SEEN ANYWHERE ELSE.

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That notice was sent by my mistake and was not an official communication by Groundspeak. I've been making changes to the PQ generator this past week and a flag got changed that enabled that old "feature". I've disabled it once again so you shouldn't see that happen with tonight's run.

 

Sentences in all caps are hard to read too..

 

-Raine

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Despite the uproar last time, I also heard that a significant percentage of PQs were never re-enabled. This means many PQs are being run needlessly.

 

If it cuts down on the waste, and enables *my* queries to run faster, I fully support a yearly "spring cleaning" :laughing:

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Despite the uproar last time, I also heard that a significant percentage of PQs were never re-enabled. This means many PQs are being run needlessly.

 

If it cuts down on the waste, and enables *my* queries to run faster, I fully support a yearly "spring cleaning" :laughing:

I don't mind the spring cleaning, its the lack of notification (putting a note in the pq email is not adequate notification).

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That notice was sent by my mistake and was not an official communication by Groundspeak. I've been making changes to the PQ generator this past week and a flag got changed that enabled that old "feature". I've disabled it once again so you shouldn't see that happen with tonight's run.

 

Sentences in all caps are hard to read too..

 

-Raine

Raine, thanks for the update.

 

As a side note, I'm not against a "spring cleaning" or whatever else you may want to call it.

 

Its all about the notification.

 

Here is a suggestion on what I think would be a good way to handle this if its being considered:

 

* Send the pq email as its normally sent

* Send a separate email to the account email address (not the pq email address) with a link to reactivate.

 

Now, everyone got notified, "communication" doesn't go to an unread account, and reactivation is extremely simple.

 

I'd rather gs not auto-turn-off my pq's, but if they do, communicate it in a way that's not going to be missed.

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Doesn't matter. If someone continues paying for the service then they should continue to receive it.

 

Normally do not reply to sock puppet accounts, however...

 

Yes, it does matter. You may have convinced yourself that $30 purchased PQ's however PQ's are just a bennie. The membership supports the site as a whole and running PQ's that are never used tax the system, no matter how insignificantly. Add them all up and it can impact the rest of us who use the system with respect rather then a sense of entitlement.

 

When I first saw this thread I assumed it was clean-up due to the PQ changes Jeremy said are taking place in the next two weeks and did not give it a second thought.

 

Not sure I agree or disagree with the way it was/would be communicated if it was to be implemented again, however I do agree that there should be some sort of cleanup done on stagnant PQ's every year or so.

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Normally do not reply to sock puppet accounts, however...

I do hope you're not referring to me :laughing:. I am not a sock puppet: I am a long-standing member (almost as long-standing as you) with over 5000 finds. You would see this if you read my profile.

 

PQ's are just a bennie.

I'm not familiar with the word "bennie". Regardless, I stand by what I said. I choose to pay for the service: so long as my use is within the TOU then it's no business of Groundspeak's whether I actually use it or not. Best analogy I can come up with up: I rent DVDs; DVD rental company charges me; I watch the DVD. If I choose not to watch the DVD the rental company will charge me but doesn't care whether I did or didn't watch the DVD.

 

As for the communication, you'd have thought that Groundspeak would have learned from the last time.

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Normally do not reply to sock puppet accounts, however...

I do hope you're not referring to me :laughing:. I am not a sock puppet: I am a long-standing member (almost as long-standing as you) with over 5000 finds. You would see this if you read my profile.

 

So there is no misunderstanding, I did, that was why the sock puppet designation.

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So there is no misunderstanding, I did, that was why the sock puppet designation.

Then you read, but you do not understand.

 

"A sockpuppet is an online identity used for purposes of deception within an online community." Given that I publicise that I am a member of a team, in what way do you consider yourself deceived?

 

I await your apology, failing which I'll report your post for being offensive and therefore contrary to the TOU of this forum.

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I choose to pay for the service: so long as my use is within the TOU then it's no business of Groundspeak's whether I actually use it or not. Best analogy I can come up with up: I rent DVDs; DVD rental company charges me; I watch the DVD. If I choose not to watch the DVD the rental company will charge me but doesn't care whether I did or didn't watch the DVD.

 

As for the communication, you'd have thought that Groundspeak would have learned from the last time.

that analogy doesn't hold up, because renting a DVD is a manual process. it's like going to the PQ page and enabling a run-once PQ. you will always get those, no matter if you use the result for anything (watch the movie) or not.

 

but GS doesn't charge you for each PQ, does it?

 

think of the whole issue as a paid membership to a movie club. being a member entitles you to get a free DVD in the mail every week. but if you never watch those DVDs and rather toss them all in the trash, it would be better for everyone if you told them to stop sending those DVDs, because everything else would be an enormous waste. yeah technically you're still entitled to get them, but why insist on that when all you do is trash them?

 

if GS had a way to check for unused active PQ without requiring me to do something, then i'm all for it :laughing: checking for bounced emails is one obvious thing to do, but i guess they do that already?

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that analogy doesn't hold up, because renting a DVD is a manual process

Not so. DVDs are sent in the post. The only manual action required is to put them back in the post once I've watched them (or not, as I choose). Regardless, I still pay for them. Just like PQs.

 

Anyway, whatever the differences between PQs and DVDs, a service which is still being paid for at the requested rate and within the TOU should not be removed. The argument about a "spring clean" doesn't hold water as PQs are spring-cleaned automatically when the subscription expires.

 

Still, this discussion is academic as Raine has said it was an accident. Though after the previous furore it's more than a little worrying that such code still exists and can be so easily enabled that it can be done inadvertently. One wonders how many customers won't be getting their PQs next week.

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Not sure how your DVD rental agreement works, but with mine, they don't keep sending a new DVD every week. Until I return the ones I already have, their system doesn't generate a new mailing. My interaction is required to keep receiving the benefits of my subscription.

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It appears to be limited. The only two reports here are Germany and the UK, none stateside as of yet. Raine did indicate it was not all.

 

Good idea to check anyway.

 

Did a second check and my Saturday PQ's were turned off.....they are back now. :laughing:

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It appears to be limited. The only two reports here are Germany and the UK, none stateside as of yet. Raine did indicate it was not all.

 

Good idea to check anyway.

I had 5 "stateside" PQs that were turned off.

 

Since this was a mistake rather than a new policy, there doesn't seem to be a lot of reason to argue about whether it should be done, but....

 

I bought a second membership for the sole purpose of running PQs. I have some set up that I may not need to edit for some period of time even though I want them to run weekly.

 

If GS thinks this is a drain on their resources, they need to increase the price of premium memberships so they at least break-even on my PQ membership.

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That notice was sent by my mistake and was not an official communication by Groundspeak. I've been making changes to the PQ generator this past week and a flag got changed that enabled that old "feature". I've disabled it once again so you shouldn't see that happen with tonight's run.
Thanks for the info. I was wondering why some of my PQ's had been switched off. (I never read the PQ mails) ;) I just switched them back on.

 

Maybe include it in the weekly newsletter or in the Announcement forum? Not everybody reads the Website forum unfortunately.

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I'm not familiar with the word "bennie". Regardless, I stand by what I said. I choose to pay for the service: so long as my use is within the TOU then it's no business of Groundspeak's whether I actually use it or not. Best analogy I can come up with up: I rent DVDs; DVD rental company charges me; I watch the DVD. If I choose not to watch the DVD the rental company will charge me but doesn't care whether I did or didn't watch the DVD.

 

I agree with Alan 100% - USA West coast logic is always a wee bit different though than most, so what ever they do - we can work around it.

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