Messages trash

[boonebgorges]

Message deletion is currently handled in a strange way. The recipients table has an is_deleted column, which is used to mark when a user has deleted a given thread. The thread and its messages are only deleted from the db when every participant in the thread has marked is_deleted.

I don't see much of a reason to ever delete messages, but in any case it would be nice to have a proper Trash. If we converted the Messages component to CPTs, it would be straightforward, but even if we don't, I think it's a worthwhile feature if someone has the time to build it.

[sooskriszta]

Messages seem to be a pretty good use case for CPTs, don't they? Interested in hearing arguments against.

[boonebgorges]

I agree that messages are probably the BP component best suited for CPTs. The issues standing in the way are:

• Messages are sorted into threads. We'd have to describe a CPT-oriented ontology for this. (Messages and Threads as separate CPTS, like in bbPress; Messages as a CPT, and Threads as some sort of tax term; Threads as CPTs and Messages as post comments; etc.) Needs a good amount of research and discussion.
• A data migration script would need to be written.
• Much of the bp-messages API functions (such as template tags) would need to be rewritten to point to the new data structures.
• Backward-compatibility would have to be maintained at some level.

So, lots of work. If someone were to step forward with a proof-of-concept, I'd love to look at it. But as it stands, it's a huge amount of work for relatively modest benefits (ie, inheriting the Trash functionality).

If this is just about a Messages Trash, it'll be much quicker to simply write this feature on top of the existing data schema, rather than migrating to CPTs.

[DJPaul]

We're closing this ticket because it has not received any contribution or comments for at least two years. We have decided that it is better to close tickets that are good ideas, which have not gotten (or are unlikely to get) contributions, rather than keep things open indefinitely. This will help us share a more realistic roadmap for BuddyPress with you.

Everyone very much appreciates the time and effort that you spent sharing your idea with us. On behalf of the entire BuddyPress team, thank you.

If you feel strongly that this enhancement should still be added to BuddyPress, and you are able to contribute effort towards it, we encourage you to re-open the ticket, or start a discussion about it in our Slack channel. Please consider that time has proven that good ideas without contributions do not get built.

For more information, see ​https://bpdevel.wordpress.com/2018/01/21/our-awaiting-contributions-milestone-contains/
or find us on Slack, in the #buddypress channel: ​https://make.wordpress.org/chat/