Why this Email icon and it actual function?

[Comeacross]

I noticed something today and it's been bugging me.

If you make post in any thread, you'll see an envelope icon for send email under your username alongside view profile and message icon. I attached the image below



The weird thing about it?
It only shows on your own profile when you make post in a thread. You can not see it under other user's profile. Clicking it will prompt you to open your email app and send email to yourself (your registered email).

Is there anything I'm getting wrong here? What's the actual use case for this?

I don't know if it is for testing to know if your email works but does it really make sense to email yourself through forum? Or probably just SMF forum leftover that never got removed?

Did anyone actually use it for anything useful? I have never click it for once until I mistakenly did today.

[hosemary]

It only shows on your own profile when you make post in a thread. You can not see it under other user's profile. Clicking it will prompt you to open your email app and send email to yourself (your registered email).

It's not shown only under your own name. That icon is shown under your own name and all users who have made their email address available to the public.
Most users have their email address hidden from the public and you don't see that icon under their names.

[un_rank]

Clicking it will prompt you to open your email app and send email to yourself (your registered email).

Clicking on it is the same action as clicking on your email in your profile. If you click on the pm icon under your own posts it attempts to send a message to yourself.
I think this is an SMF feature that actions you can take on the profile of others are also available on yours. Just like having the merit option on your own posts even though you cannot merit yourself.

- Jay -

[Zoomic]

It only shows on your own profile when you make post in a thread. You can not see it under other user's profile. Clicking it will prompt you to open your email app and send email to yourself (your registered email).

It's not shown only under your own name. That icon is shown under your own name and all users who have made their email address available to the public.
Most users have their email address hidden from the public and you don't see that icon under their names.

Before now, the user email was not hidden by default. A user who wants to hide it will manually go to turn it off.
But it's like the feature is changed of recent to be hidden by default, which is the right thing to do.

But I have visited the Op's profile and his email is hidden, why is the function now visible to him.
Or did he change the settings just after your post?
Remember, it's supposed to be hidden by default.

[Comeacross]

It's not shown only under your own name. That icon is shown under your own name and all users who have made their email address available to the public.
Most users have their email address hidden from the public and you don't see that icon under their names.

My email is hidden from public. I think if the icon visibility depends on email view status, it should be hidden from us too if we hide our email from public.

Clicking on it is the same action as clicking on your email in your profile. If you click on the pm icon under your own posts it attempts to send a message to yourself.
I think this is an SMF feature that actions you can take on the profile of others are also available on yours. Just like having the merit option on your own posts even though you cannot merit yourself.

- Jay -

So basically, all visible to self but they're useless. You just draw my attention to merit button now.

Are they just too minor to code a fix for or admin intentionally left it because it may break something else if removed? I mean hiding 1 or 2 icon for self should take just like 2 lines of PHP.

[Hazink]

Your email is hidden.  In your profile, I see

"Email:   hidden"

There is no link to email you in the sidebar next to your post.  That is likely just because your email address isn't hidden from you, so you can see the link to email yourself, if you so choose.

I consider that a software defect.  There us no point in showing the email icon on all of your own posts if you have it set to hidden.  What are you going to do, email yourself? 

That option doesn't seem to have any use, and it has been identified and talked about here in the forum in 2011 where the member regarded it as a bug which now have remained unfixed or the admin doesn't consider it something worth fixing.

Before now, the user email was not hidden by default. A user who wants to hide it will manually go to turn it off.
But it's like the feature is changed of recent to be hidden by default, which is the right thing to do.

Before now, you mean how long? Because since I joined this forum I have not changed my email visibility settings it has always been hidden by default if I'm not mistaken starting from the time of registration, unless the person is the one who unticks it.

But I have visited the Op's profile and his email is hidden, why is the function now visible to him.
Or did he change the settings just after your post?
Remember, it's supposed to be hidden by default.

Email hidden or not if you are checking from your own end, which is checking the box from your own action that the email icon will be visible. It's only when you are viewing it from another forum member's profile side view that its visibility is dependent on whether it's hidden or not, as the OP's own is hidden I can't see if from here, but I can see it on my own profile.

[PX-Z]

It actually bothering me even i used to looking it.

If the email is set to public that email icon should not be showing there beside your posts after posting the same thing what you seen on other user profile posts.

[AakZaki]

But I have visited the Op's profile and his email is hidden, why is the function now visible to him.
Or did he change the settings just after your post?
Remember, it's supposed to be hidden by default.

Take a look at your own profile, I think you'll see that email icon too. Hidden or public, if viewed from your own account the icon will be visible.
Look at this screenshot of mine, I've already hidden my email but it's visible and I'm sure you won't see it on my profile in this post of mine.

After all, this is trivial; OP wants to take issue with it? ooh like there is no other discussion.

[Stalker22]

So basically, all visible to self but they're useless. You just draw my attention to merit button now.

Are they just too minor to code a fix for or admin intentionally left it because it may break something else if removed? I mean hiding 1 or 2 icon for self should take just like 2 lines of PHP.

I also believe that the fix is trivial.  It should not present any difficulty to the admin, considering that he is highly familiar with the software and has already made numerous modifications and extensions to it.  The admin most likely did not consider this to be an issue that required correction.