Shoutbox

OS: Windows XP (and Vista on my other computer)
Messenger Version: 8.5.1202
Plus! Version: 4.80.0.356


This just started happening after the last update to Plus! - it worked perfectly fine prior to this past update.

Basically, when you add a contact who only has a mobile number and rename them (which, chances are, everyone does - nobody can remember everyone's phone number), the tab is left completely blank.  Their display name will not show up, nor will their mobile number. 

Previously, using the above image as an example, the tab would read "Nickname" - or, if you were offline, the tab would read "+15555555555".

This is not an issue in the contact list, and their name will display correctly in its own window (image attached) - it is simply an issue with the tabs.

In addition, the "Mobile" symbol that used to appear in the tabs (at least, I'm fairly certain it did) is now simply an "offline" symbol.  I'm thinking that the two issues are probably related, but if not, I'm throwing that out there also.

Thanks,

- Smike

Hmm, it seems that you are not the only one who is having that problem. I noticed when I add a nickname to a any contact whether they are on mobile or not, their name in the tab stays the same as their original nickname but not blank.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Moh Zayadi
Hmm, it seems that you are not the only one who is having that problem. I noticed when I add a nickname to a any contact whether they are on mobile or not, their name in the tab stays the same as their original nickname but not blank.

---

Plus! has no access to WLMs nicknames. This is the reason it doesn't change the tab and in my opinion, this means Plus! has never been able to update the tab with a phone number, as I  believe it the name would be their normal WLM display name.

Put simply,  Plus! does not display phone numbers or nicknames. It only displays their current DISPLAY NAME.

Just tested on my WLM 14 and MP!L 4.80 (WinXP Pro SP3) EDIT: It works as expected btw

quote:

---

Originally posted by Spunky

quote:

---

Originally posted by Moh Zayadi
Hmm, it seems that you are not the only one who is having that problem. I noticed when I add a nickname to a any contact whether they are on mobile or not, their name in the tab stays the same as their original nickname but not blank.

---

Plus! has no access to WLMs nicknames. This is the reason it doesn't change the tab and in my opinion, this means Plus! has never been able to update the tab with a phone number, as I  believe it the name would be their normal WLM display name.

Put simply,  Plus! does not display phone numbers or nicknames. It only displays their current DISPLAY NAME.

Just tested on my WLM 14 and MP!L 4.80 (WinXP Pro SP3)

---

It did prior to the 4.8 update, I am absolutely 100% certain of this.  At least, it did for mobile contacts.  I saw it every day since I installed Plus! in August - and up until this last update - it was right there.

I spend more time talking to my friend using the mobile chat than I do using MSN for normal chat, so I noticed the blank tab as soon as it did this.  It definitely had the name I gave the friend with the mobile, and (I'm 99% sure) the mobile icon was there as well.

My Vista computer forced me to update Plus!, and this was the first I noticed the issue - meanwhile, my PC was still on the previous build (no forced update), which included the mobile icon and name.  i figured it was just a glitch on my other computer, but when I updated Plus! on my XP computer, the tab information disappeared right along with it.

If I can find the previous build of Plus!, I can prove that it did .. but you'll just have to take my word for it.  7 months of seeing a name in the tab every day doesn't lie.

That said, I don't recall my nickname for another friend (who is a regular MSN contact, not a mobile-only contact) working the same way - I think the tab always displayed their current name and not the nickname.  The mobile account, though, definitely did - and now it does not.

Edit: Well, I attempted to uninstall 4.8 and reinstall 4.7, but it appears to only want to install/run 4.8. Oh well.  Either way.. whether or not it actually intentionally filled in the mobile contact's name prior to the 4.8 update, I don't know.. but either way, it certainly did. 

Keep in mind, though, this was a mobile only user (as in, there's no MSN contact/profile information for them, only a mobile number) - they have no display name unless you fill one in yourself.  I suspect that's why this worked differently before, but now it's just completely blank.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Smike
My Vista computer forced me to update Plus!

---

You are never forced to update Plus! and downgrading Plus! would work perfectly fine. As I said, I tested it on my PC and the name appears exactly as I said it should do. The only thing that I can think of is that your friend is connecting to WLM in a different method to before. If they are not, it may be an issue with their client not sending a display name (or sending a blank one). Plus has never been able to access nicknames and I don't think it has ever been able to access phone numbers from contacts accounts. This would prevent Plus! from ever showing it in any window.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Smike
Keep in mind, though, this was a mobile only user (as in, there's no MSN contact/profile information for them, only a mobile number)

---

To use the MSN network (on WLM, a 3rd-party client or mobile device) you must have a .NET passport, Live account or an accepted 3rd-party account (such as Yahoo!). All of these require you to provide account information. If you mean you only entered their phone number to add them as a contact, I presume WLM would have access to other information such as email, name, age etc.

I cannot be too much help on Mobile contacts as I have rarely used the feature. I would suggest waiting for somebody else to reply. However, my reasoning in my posts is sound and I have a great deal of understanding of basics relating to the internal workings of WLM.

My Vista computer did force me to upgrade plus (or should I say, strongly recommended it) - that's how I realized there was an update in the first place.  It said, roughly - there is a new build, and if you do not upgrade now you may lose use of certain functions or MSN may not start properly.  I didn't receive this on my XP machine but did it manually anyway.

Also, I think you're completely misunderstanding (though, like you say, you've never used the mobile functionality much).  You don't have to log into MSN, or even have an MSN account, to receive mobile messages from someone using an MSN account.

The"mobile" contact communicates solely through text messages, they do not log into MSN on their phone whatsoever - therefore, there could never be a "real" MSN display name.  It's simply a cell number on your contact list, that's it.  AIM also has the same functionality, as we previously communicated the same way using AIM (without them having an AIM account) until I realized that the MSN text server is far more reliable.

For the record, I have this person added as a regular MSN contact (with email/passport), and their mobile number is added as a completely separate "contact".  They are not related or tied together whatsoever.   But, as you'll see, this is neither here nor there.


To see for yourself, go to your contact list, add a new contact and enter a mobile number without an email address.  It shows up much like my screenshot does - a cell icon with their name next to it.  Nowhere does it attempt to ask for a passport or look on the server for contact information - you simply have to add in a first name and a mobile number, that's it.

As a matter of fact, for the heck of it, I just added my cell number to my contact list (without ever tying my account to it), sent myself a message, and I received a text message saying "You have received a message from (my email address) - reply "R" to allow this message to be sent to you or "D" to deny it" without ever touching MSN on my phone.  Heck, my phone is archaic anyway, I couldn't have MSN on it even if I wanted to.   Point is, though, it can most certainly be done without a passport - heck, even without your permission.  (A little scary if you think about it, but.. that's why the deny message is there, I guess?)

Anyway, like I said.. because of this, the only way to give them a "name" is to add it yourself (and it's mandatory that you give them a name).. and what I added previously was displayed in the tab along with that same mobile icon as seen above.  I can only assume that it somehow treats the contact list entry differently for mobile entries like this, which is why it displayed like it did previously.


PS.  You said you tested it on Plus! 4.8, which is exactly my point -- it doesn't display on 4.8.  It did, however, display on Plus! 4.7.  That's why I'm posting in the first place.  Also, in case it wasn't clear, the only thing that changed between it displaying the name and mobile icon and not displaying it was upgrading from Plus! 4.7 to Plus! 4.8.  Nothing else changed.

You can get MSN applications on your phone that show you as a Mobile device. As you didn't specify that prior to my message I was not to know that was the method you were using. You are right though, the e-mail field no longer seems to be mandatory...

Are you only experiencing the error on your Vista machine? If that  is the case, it wouldn't appear on mine anyway. Also, have you tried WLM 9.0/14.0?

As for the message to upgrade, at most it should have only said that an update is available for Plus! and ask if you want to download it, at which point it would take you to the website if you clicked yes. As MP!L does not interfere with WLM, it cannot lose functionality if you do not update it.

Yeah, sorry about that.  I should've been more clear when I said I added a contact with just a mobile number. I'm thinking it treats a pure mobile contact differently and would (normally) draw that information as the tab name.. it just isn't doing that now.

As for what machine it affects, it's both.  However, I ran the update to 4.8 on the Vista machine first a few days ago, and the tab information disappeared there instantly while it remained on the XP machine.  After I updated the XP machine to 4.8, which was just tonight, I noticed that it disappeared here also, which is why I figured I should report it.  It's clearly an issue with the 4.8 build.

Strangely, I just grabbed a third computer (also a Vista) and specifically downloaded 4.7, yet when I went to install it, I still wound up with 4.8 anyway.  I was hoping to get a screenshot of the tab displaying correctly, but possibly someone else who still has 4.7 installed can do that.  Or, if someone could point me in the direction of a working 4.7 download, that would be nice too (I've only found one, and that's this one.. which wound up installing 4.8 on both computers anyway).

Needless to say, though, this third computer is effected also - blank tab with the "offline" icon for a "pure mobile" contact.


I wasn't aware that WLM9 was out of beta, is it? I'd rather not upgrade until I know it's stable.

Speaking of upgrading, I'm fairly certain that's what it said.  It did seem out of place, but I would have upgraded even if it hadn't said that.  I may have misread it, but.. that's not really a part of the issue, heh.

quote:

---

Originally posted by Smike

I wasn't aware that WLM9 was out of beta, is it? I'd rather not upgrade until I know it's stable.

---

yeah, WLM9/14/2009 is a final release (out of beta) now and has been for around a month