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Feedback on the New Message System



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    Very inconvenient. I don't need notifications about my own actions. I know that I marked a lesson complete. I know I left feedback. It's just spam. I have to scroll through endless irrelevant notifications to find a message I'm looking for.  

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    I received the following the message.


    Hi AKI,

    You received new message(s) on italki. You can view your messages in the Message Center by clicking the link below.

    View Unread Messages




    I clicked the link, but nothing came up, it was only a white screen,

    Can Italki people here tell me how I can read the unread messages?


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    Could you please add an option to delete or organize chats? I don't want to have at the beginning of the list the recent ones who just said hello to me today.

    And I agree, the old message system was better. 


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    Guillaume 李友林

    I think like most people that the new system is terrible. Why on earth would you group message and notifications in the same place.
    Please people from italki, get inspiration from the best communication tools out there and notice how FB and others separate notifications and messages.

    A great idea would be to have a third "tab" for lesson request, the major function of italki, similair to, let's say, a friend request. Separate from all the rest.

    The most annoying aspect is that for every single action you do, you have to check back your message to see if you genuily have a new one, which is just getting you bored of checking at all, like many people noticed as well. I know I just gave a student a review, I just wrote it. I don't think it is necessary to notify me again, in the chat.



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    IT WORKS AWFUL. I didn't read everyone's comments so forgive me if it's a repeat, but it is not working well for me at all. While using the Android app, I was trying to send messages and when clicking "send" the message would disappear and not show up in the chat history. So I didn't think it went through at all. I go online only to discover that sometimes they did and sometimes they did not. As a result, in one case it sent the same exact message over a dozen times in a row, making me look like a fool to the person I was speaking with. I think this product is a great way to help language learners connect, but it leaves much to be desired. Since I can't trust the app, I'm no longer using it and doing everything through a web browser.

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    Not sure there's any point, but I'll make an addition to my previous feedback. I was using Italki Classroom the other day. The student and I could see our whole message history from before the class, but not the messages we were sending each other during the session. These we later found in the messages section. Well, I've rarely used the classroom anyway, but now it's not an option any more, since chat is an important part of most of my classes. A pity, though, I was really hoping for it to improve, not the other way around :( Italki is still a great website, but if it continues to move in this direction...

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    Bonnie U.

    Instead of the messaging system getting better, it's getting worse. I noticed today that I'm getting 3 notifications, one on top of the other, saying exactly the same thing, that I've accepted a lesson request. Apart from the fact that I already know what I've done...it seems that a parrot has taken over the system! "You have accepted a lesson request". "You have accepted a lesson request". "You have accepted a lesson request". 

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    Horrible new design and navigation!

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    Pierpaolo Ciocca (Edited )

    Hey there! It might be due to the fact that I'm new to this site, but I think that replies sent to me by other users are just not being displayed. Is anyone else having this problem or something simmilar? I've taken a look at this comment section and people've been complaining for months, I cant either agree or disagree as this is literally my first day here. If this is a real problem and not a matter of my ignorance, please, try to solve this bug, as it could discourage many new arrivals! :D

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    Ilene Springer

    Hi Pierpaolo,

    Please hang in there!  I'm a longtime English teacher on italki, and things have really gotten messed up here regarding the message system.  But somehow I still get students; I don't know how many I may have lost because of this.  I'm not sure if you're a potential teacher or student.  But wait; it's not you. We're all hoping that responsible people in the italki system will do something.  italki used to be the best around.  If you can't get anywhere soon, contact me through my teacher profile and I'll give you my email.  Best of luck to you and to all of us--Ilene

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    In terms of the system from a teacher’s perspective, I would really appreciate a separation between all the messages - ideally, two which are automatic and one which is manual. There should three “tabs” (which each clearly show a message notification icon), one for all the messages from your actual students (either past or present), one from everyone who has never booked a lesson with you (so, your general inbox), and one for “prospective students”, which should be empty until the teacher manually selects “add to Prospective Students” in the message chat options. I would really like to keep track of my students and prospective students like this, without having to scroll through hours of messy messages.

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    Luciana Pegoraro

    I already wrote as a teacher here saying how terrible this new system is for us. But I had a bad experience as a student as well. I'd like to share it here, too. I wrote to a teacher asking for information about his lessons and I only saw his answer because I entered Italki to check one of my student's request. I haven't received any notification that the teacher had answered my questions. 

    Now as a teacher I enter Italki many times a day as part of the work, but I think if I were just a student on the site I wouldn't be connected as much. I know many of my students buy a package, book all lessons and just enter Italki again to buy a new package and book the lessons. If there is no notification sent to their emails, they won't see the messages.

    I've asked some of my students if they received my messages on Italki and they said no. One even shared his message screen with me and showed my message was nowhere! This change on their system is really a shame.

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    Luis Crespo


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    Theresa Mullaly

    HORRIBLE.  No matter what teacher I try to message, ALL THE MESSAGES are being sent to Milton Ralph B (or someone similar).  If I can’t contact my teacher, then iTalki is pointless.


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    Heather (Edited )

    The system is terrible. You used to be able to start a new line or paragraph when hitting the return key, but now it sends the message, warts and all! I made a complete arse of myself when connecting with a new tutor for the first time today because I was unaware that the new system had changed the old feature. Normally I like to review go back through my text before I hit enter, but I couldn't and instead it sent a garbled mess to the tutor. Have you learned nothing from Facebook? People cannot stand that pressing enter sends text and they want time to review and fix their messages before hitting the send button, more so when learning a language and you want to make sure everything is correct so you can be understood.

    Another thing, paragraphs exist for a reason. I don't want my text to look like War and Peace without the breaks! Awful. While things are aesthetically pleasing, the functional side is not fit for purpose. Please revert to the previous feature!


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     When will you listen to users and get rid of this new system.  I know that whenever a company pulls out a new system there will be people that will complain, but I've not seen 1 comment praising this new system.  Which by now we should just call it the system as it is no longer new.  You attempted it, it didn't work out, you gained information to improve it in the future--so, go back to the old system so we can be user friendly again. 

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    Gilda ROMMEL

    Hello, my teacher has cancelled my package without explanation and she does not reply to my messages anymore. I was wondering if I will get back the credits or money Ieft? Other than that she has 2 no show I asked me to confirm the lesson and that we will make a catch up later, catch up never happen. I guess I cannot do anything about it.



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    You can send a message to italki Support using the following link:


    I am sure they will refund your italki credits.
    Just tell them exactly what happened.

    Good luck...

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    @ Marshall and the other 200+ members who left comments regarding the new Message/Notification system.

    After several months and hundreds of requests to separate the Messages from the Notifications, absolutely nothing has happened (and it is easy to imagine that nothing will happen).

    So, this feedback section of the site has served its purpose, i.e. it has given us a place to offer our feedback, a place to offer our helpful constructive recommendations, and a place to vent our frustrations but unfortunately, nothing more than that... full stop.


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    Andrew B (Edited )

    I don't know why I'm even wasting 15 minutes writing this. I've just had yet ANOTHER complaint from a student about the sh*t italki messaging system. In fact, most students are now asking me if I will do lessons with them outside of the platform. I'm serious contemplating it as I'm sure most of you are. I mean, what the hell are we paying 15% commission to these clowns for???! Before it was justifiable, but now it most definitely isn't. 
    I've given up on trying to push it with them. 'Support', who are a joke (what is the point in them?!) and don't actually provide any support whatsoever, just push it onto 'someone who can better help you'. This person doesn't actually help you and always sends the same bullsh*t copy and paste message about how they are aware of the feedback and are looking at a fix. How long has it been now, and still no fix???! 
    To rile us even more, they then have the nerve to send us an italki Awards email this week, banging on about how important us users are. Yeah, right. If we are so important to you italki, you would surely listen to us, respect us, and fix this shower of sh*te website. I mean, do you guys really not have any shame whatsoever. Are you really so stupid to realise that you are losing teachers and students. I'm now working on another (and a better) platform and have 50% less availability on here now. If you imagine if every teacher does that. That is going to hurt italki's profit, yet somehow you don't seem to care about it. 
    If anyone reading this has any ideas or knows anyone higher up the chain who you can speak to and get this sorted, please do so, as it's really getting beyond a joke now. I repeat to you teachers: "Why are we putting up with this and letting them take 15% of our hard earned money???" Maybe if everybody put their prices up by 15% and told their students that it was to account for italki incompetence and direct them to complain to italki about the increase, it might actually force their hand. Even if we 'lost' the student from italki because of this, I'm sure we could take them on as privates and therefore not have to pay the ridiculous commission. Just an idea. If anyone has a better idea, please share it here. We all should get together now and make italki a good website to work on, just as it once was.

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    And students pay roughly 5 percent to the company as well.  For learning Spanish, at least, there are much, much cheaper alternatives.

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    Andrew B

    I didn't realise it was that much Peter. Well, that's even more reason why we shouldn't put up with this. Disgusting way to run a business.  

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    If the student can afford to buy $100 in credits at a time, the fee is 4.44%.  But if the student can only afford to buy, say, $25 in credits at a time, the fee is 5.28%.

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    Andrew B

    Terrible Peter. I just wish sometimes that I didn't have morals and I'd therefore just steal the students from the platform. I'm actually now thinking: screw it. If italki don't have morals then why should we!

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    Elena (Edited )

    The new message system is very inconvenient because now we have to click a few links to follow a notification instead of clicking the one in dropdown menu which would take us directly to the event.

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    The new system is a catastrophe! I'm totally agree with the other people here. I couldn't find the important messages, because there are too many. Please go back to the old system!

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    Professor Anna

    I just wrote a long message to a prospective student and it disappeared! I'm only glad I double checked, or the student would have thought I am rude, and would of course never book a lesson with me. SO annoying!!!

    Please PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE Italki, fix all the bugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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    Professor Anna (Edited )

    I agree with everybody here (and I had already commented before). The new messaging system is a disgrace for both students and teachers.

    I just found out that there is a maximum length for messages! And NO notice about this! The message just doesn't get through, no reason explained, just a little red explanation mark right next to the message (which I overlooked as it's hardly to be seen, and doesn't explain anything anyway).

    Mistery solved! I tried to send a short message to the same student... and it went through. So I had an intuition... what if it was "too long" (?) for Italki? So, I split it in two, and they went through. I'm only glad I found out, because there is NO notice anywhere about the prescribed length of messages, nor is there a notice when a "too long" message doesn't get through. Besides finding it utterly ridiculous to have a maximum length of messages (we as teachers often need to explain in detail our method and what we offer, and students might have to send long texts or homework), we absolutely need a notice when a message doesn't go through as to WHY it didn't. Also, we need a notice stating maximum length of messages while we write a message.

    Since Italki prevents us from sharing email addresses or communicating externally, the current messaging system needs to be completely rethought and made user friendly. This isn't a chatting platform, it is (supposed to be) primarily a teaching platform, and that's how Italki makes its revenue: through paid lessons.

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    This system is not good because:

    1) It doesn't allow to distinguish work and language exchange.  In the past I knew if a message was from a student, now if I get fifteen messages from those who want to do language exchange and among them there is hidden also a message from a student, and I can so easily miss the student's message.  The two should be kept clearly separate.  This is important.

    2) I used to get the whole text of the student's message in the email you sent to inform me of the message, from which I could determine whether it was urgent or not, and I could take care of it accordingly.  Now I don't even know if it is a student who sent a message.

    3) It doesn't allow me to mark a message as 'unread' again after I read it, or to mark it as important somehow, to be able to select the messages that I have read but I still need to do something about. 

    4) It doesn't allow me to see all unread messages, so sometimes an unread message gets ignored and I discover days later that it got missed.

    5) It doesn't allow me to stretch the size of the message box any more, so I can't see my whole message without sending it.  Because of this, I can't edit my message easily, and too often I end up sending a message with a typo in it or a sentence that is not as good as it should be.

    6) It automatically sends the message if I press enter instead of going to the next line, so I can't send professional messages - it is meant for playful chatting rather than professional teaching.

    7) Even for language exchange, I want to know who has sent me a message, but I get many emails from italki each saying I have a new message without telling me who sent the message.  Why did you remove the names of the message sender from the emails that you send to notify us about a new message?  That is a serious step backwards.  Rather, you should add the actual message to the notification email.

    8) When I leave feedback or I accept a lesson request it marks it as if I have a new message. So I need to check the messages again! So I start ignoring the student messages assuming it is just italki telling me I left feedback. This can cause me to miss student messages.  It should only notify the student that I left feedback.  I obviously know that I have left feedback or that I have accepted a lesson request! 

    9) Sometimes it automatically adds my last sentence to the blank space as I start writing, and the message ends up having a repeated last sentence at its beginning.  This is so embarrassing when sent to a student accidentally.

    We know you are trying to improve the system, and not make it worse, and we appreciate your desire to do so, and the time and effort you put into it to make the changes.  But please kindly consider these issues with the new system.  Thanks for making this website available and for making it so great in many other ways.

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