The original poster, anon36895752, is experiencing issues with older, less technically inclined users clicking “Reply” in their email client to respond to private message notifications, despite having set the reply-to email as “no-reply”. To simplify the process, they consider making the reply-to email auto-populate with the private message sender’s email address. However, codinghorror suggests configuring built-in support for email replies, allowing users to reply via email and have their responses posted on the site. The original poster finds this solution excellent and shares a relevant link for future reference.
I’ve got a crazy old userbase. Most of my users are 45 - 65+ years old. A lot of them aren’t super technically inclined. And one thing i keep seeing them do is click “Reply” in their email client to reply to a private message notification. Despite the fact that i have put the reply to email as: no-reply@.. and the name as Do Not Reply. They still do it.
So i was thinking, perhaps instead of fighting it, i could just make it easier for them. Would it be possible to make the reply to email auto populate with the private message sender’s email address? At least this way the email responses go to the right place instead of a dark pit.