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MyLDSMail.net

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:49 am
by techgy
Most missionaries in the US have been instructed to use myldsmail.net as their primary Email system. The system is secure and is tightly managed by the Church. However, it seems that there may be a problem that's causing some full-time missionaries some grief.

Yesterday, while a group of full-time missionaries were doing their weekly Email, I learned that two of the missionaries had been auto-logged out after a period of only 15-20 minutes. This occurs while they're creating their Email to their families, which results in the loss of what they typed. Not very friendly.

As I don't have access to the myldsmail.net account, I was unable to test this. However, going to the site I was able to provide some feedback. I received a response this morning that stated that the timeout should be 40 minutes. This is in agreement with the helps file which is available w/o being logged in.

It's quite obvious that there's something wrong. I was hoping that someone in the right department might see this and check into the situation.

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:03 am
by RossEvans
My own ISP has similar timeouts if I use its web interface into email. (Not sure what the threshold time is, but it is short.)

The workarounds I use are:
  • Compose my mail offline in a text editor and paste it in.
  • Save drafts frequently.
Does the interface for myldsmail.net include a persistent "draft" area?

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:20 am
by techgy
boomerbubba wrote:My own ISP has similar timeouts if I use its web interface into email. (Not sure what the threshold time is, but it is short.)

The workarounds I use are:
  • Compose my mail offline in a text editor and paste it in.
  • Save drafts frequently.
Does the interface for myldsmail.net include a persistent "draft" area?
I made the suggestion yesterday to create their messages by using Notepad and then pasting the text over. As to whether there's a "draft" area, I don't know. I do not have access to these accounts. I was reporting what had been told to me.

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:17 am
by faazshift
My brother is letting me use his account to try and set something up. I don't see any draft area. Email composition doesn't look to have any way to save your place. They are using the Novel NetMail system.

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 4:12 pm
by lajackson
boomerbubba wrote:Does the interface for myldsmail.net include a persistent "draft" area?

None that any of my missionaries have ever found.

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 4:29 pm
by techgy
faazshift wrote:My brother is letting me use his account to try and set something up. I don't see any draft area. Email composition doesn't look to have any way to save your place. They are using the Novel NetMail system.
It would be interesting to test the auto-logout issue to see how long it's set for until it logs you out.

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:43 pm
by faazshift
Techgy wrote:It would be interesting to test the auto-logout issue to see how long it's set for until it logs you out.
In my brothers account the Timeout option is set to 5 minutes. Im guessing this means 5 min. of inactivity. Perhaps the system is determining activity by mouse movement, and not including keyboard use, which could possibly explain the problem the missionaries were having.

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 8:57 pm
by techgy
faazshift wrote:In my brothers account the Timeout option is set to 5 minutes. Im guessing this means 5 min. of inactivity. Perhaps the system is determining activity by mouse movement, and not including keyboard use, which could possibly explain the problem the missionaries were having.
It's possible. I'll pass that along next Monday when they do their Emails again. Can you describe where the setting is located to change this inactivity time?

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:10 pm
by faazshift
Techgy wrote:It's possible. I'll pass that along next Monday when they do their Emails again. Can you describe where the setting is located to change this inactivity time?
Heres a link to a screenshot I took showing where the setting is: http://66.93.224.121/pub/LDSMail-Screenshot.png.

Posted: Tue Nov 03, 2009 10:14 pm
by russellhltn
faazshift wrote:Im guessing this means 5 min. of inactivity. Perhaps the system is determining activity by mouse movement, and not including keyboard use
I'm not sure of the underlying technology used by this system, but most web-based time-outs are based on server activity. That is, clicking an icon that will cause the screen to change. As such, composing a message, (with or without mouse movement) may not cause anything to be sent to the server.