had problems logging in last night, so i deleted cookies & files thinking that was why i got the error message (and forgot to save it to post here!)
when i logged in this morning, a window popped up saying i had new PMs & did i want to see them (of course!), but when i opened the window there were no new messages there. at the profile at the top, the total # of messages had increased by 1, and it said 0 were new - but i couldn't see any new messages.
finally got the idea to count how many messages were in my inbox - and there were 33, not 28 (as profile said). deleted a couple, and lo & behold, the new messages popped up! and now, it says i have 21, but there are 26 in there.... don't think it has anything to do with usernames, since 7 are from folks with apostrophes.
can the inbox only show 30 at a time, and is that why i have a problem? still doesn't explain why the numbers don't match up.
also, never got an email notifying me of new PMs, and since profile never changed, i didn't realize i had new messages. though now i feel better - i thought everyone i'd sent a message to was ignoring me!!!