Uneasy with email for private messages

Question

I'm not terribly comfortable with the email system for private messaging. I received a private message via email, and while it seems legit, I don't want to have to reply through my own personal email. I would feel much more comfortable with a messaging system being on the site. Is there such a thing and I'm just missing it, or do I have to "step out in faith" that this person is legitimately a cousin and related to my ancestor and answer them via my email? I just feel like these days you can never be too careful.

Comments

Besides following the suggestions below, I would suggest going for it.  Leave them a message on their profile page, and start forming connections.  It's one of the things Wikitree is best for.  I've never had an email from someone who isn't legitimately interested in exchanging information and cooperating on our mutual tree.

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(Not sure where this comment ended up, so I started over in a new one ...)

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So I changed my email to one I set up when I had a blog a few years ago. As I have mentioned, I REALLY wish we could just private message through the website without having to reveal email addresses at all, but as I'm not a techie person, I realize I may not understand all the ins and outs of WikiTree providing such a service.

It would definitely be worth considering, though!

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I really agree with this.I have one email adress shared with my husband. I am not happy about replying to unknown people from it.

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My question to you then is when they send these emails does it have the senders profile in the email?    I got one today but there is one thing in it that says it came from a non-Wikitree email yet the from listing says it’s a “Wikitree private message”.

Answer 1

You could reply on their profile .. the message you post would send them an email, but not let them have yours the way it would if you reply via email.

(Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!  )

Answer 2

That is understandable, you could always switch your email address to a new one which you use only for wikitree, or at the very least one which is less personal.

to change your email go to your profile, then edit, and change the email address

Answer 3

Actually there is very easy solution. The private message gives you the profile name and number of the sender. Just go to their profile and send them a pm from there.

Comments

Not a real solution, George.  When you send a private message, the person you send it to receives your email address.

You can avoid that, though.  When you send the private message, there is a field for your email address that is already filled in by WikiTree.  You can change that, but you must enter a valid email address.  I use something like nobody@noplace.com if I don't want the person I am messaging to see my email address.

Answer 4

I got a free email address that I use for WikiTree and nothing else. There are a bunch of services which offer them. If it gets to the point that there is so much spam coming into that address that it's not worth using, I can just ditch it and register a different one.

I have other addresses, using different services, which I use for communicating with friends, family, businesses, and for other hobbies.

Comments

They're not exhaustive, but TheFreeSite.com has a couple of lists of free email providers under their Email Freebies page.