OK, I guess this is just my UBB questions day.

I'm an admin (yes that is scary). But, the owner of the company and the owner of the board is also an admin. I am going to assume that he has more capabilities than I do.

I get asked this question all the time by users:

Can the actual owner of the board see private messages?

Thanks.

Bert

I also get asked this a lot. The answer is - not easily.
(For reasons of conscience and coding.) However...

It _is_ possible. But it's not something most of us feel comfortable about.

It is not part of the stock code that comes with any* forum.

It is possible to write a MySQL query to examine any aspect of the database.

This is something that an admin can do (assuming they have access to the 'Database Tools || SQL command').

Although, I suspect anyone doing this would probably not sleep well at night.





* - that I am aware of, anyway...

Well, since he crashed the whole board trying to reset FTP admin privileges, I am going to assume he can't do it.

Thanks.

heh - sounds like he may not be that 'switched on'.

Don't think so.

Well, he can just use the feature "Become User" and go read their PT's.

I don't understand why you would want to do this. I know of 2 forums that do that and it does not sit well with their members when they find out.

I don't think he does want to mate. It's the super-admin that Bert is concerned about.

As Gizmo points out, it is VERY easy as an Admin to read a member's PMs.

It's a matter of ethics. If the Admin has none, expect that your PMs will be read. Which begs the question... How would you know if the Admin of any given forum has any sense of ethics?

The answer for me is that I never say anything in a PM that I would get bent out of shape over if it got out.

That is not to say I have never said anything bad about someone in a PM. It's just that I'd not be overly concerned if it got out and I just might say it in public if the topic were brought up there.

Thanks driv for clearing that up.

@Mike

That is good practice. But, the whole idea of Private Messages is that you say things in private you wouldn't say on the board. And, it doesn't necessarily have to be bad.