No more private messages?

I can’t seem to be able to send private messages to other forum members anymore. I think it was working some time ago, before the recent forum maintenance. Is that just me, some users (perhaps those discussing certain topics), or was the private messages functionality simply removed for everyone?

I’ve got a PM from one user and could reply to a PM with a PM, but can’t seem to be able to start a new conversation (even to the same user to whom I could reply, or in response to a post like that user’s PM replying to my post here).

Is the sending of PM’s a per-user permission that only some users have and others don’t? Or is there some non-obvious way to send a new PM that should work for me as well, but I just coulnd’t find it?

You can send a PM by clicking on the users name and then the big message button.

If this isn’t available to you, either the person you’re trying to message has disabled PMs in their profile (under users in your settings)

or maybe you have an adblocker that’s disabled it, or maybe the site admins have disabled it.

I dont see any ability to message @marekm72 nor @tjh when hovering over the avatar close to the nickname in this thread. That “Message” button from your screenshot simply doesnt exist.

And when going to preferences → users there is no “Messages” available - only if I have muted a user or not.

Not sure then sorry, maybe it is a disabled feature.

Actually this is related to Trust Level on the Forums, you need to be Trust Level 3 to have access to PMs. This may have changed with the recent forum upgrade, I’m not sure. But that’s what’s going on here.

Then it sounds like something that should be reverted so all verified users can send DM’s to each other.

Would otherwise be a bit odd if you can send a DM to me and marekm72 but neither of us can reply back?

Since Im guessing not everybody want to have their email being shared through the forum.

My trust level is currently 2 (Member). I don’t see the big message button (just the gray one below it, showing number of posts in topic) or any Messages settings. The user who could send me the PM was level 3 (Regular). According to Understanding Discourse Trust Levels users can send PMs at level >= 1 (Basic), but @tjh you said it is level 3. I have joined the forum in 2020 and have been supporting the project via Open Collective since March 2022. But I don’t have a paid subscription, may that be required for these higher levels?

@Apachez it is actually possible for me to reply back, but not to start a new PM conversation.

Where do you see your “trust level”?

Anyone (even not logged in) can see it. Click on my username above my post, a popup appears and “Member” is in the bottom left corner. @tjh is “Regular” for example. @Apachez your profile is hidden so I can’t see it - you have “Hide my public profile and presence features” checked under Preferences/Interface.