Discussions - Reading & Sending Messages

• About Discussions
• Reading and Sending Messages

• read a message
• mark all messages as read
• mark selected messages as read
• mark selected messages as unread
• send a message with or without attachments
• download messages
• compile and download messages
• search messages

Reading a message | Top

1. From the Discussions table, click the topic that contains the messages that you want to read. The Messages screen appears.
2. To display any messages that were just sent, click Update Listing.
3. Click the hyperlink to the message that you want like to read.
   
Notes: only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All.
Messages are presented by threads; to view in chronological order, click Unthreaded.
4. If the message includes a file attachment you'll see a paper clip icon. To download the file attachment, click the paper clip icon, and then follow the instructions for downloading from your browser. When the download is complete, click Done.
   
5. When you have finished reading the message, you can either
• close the message. Click Close. The Messages screen appears.
• reply
• download

Marking all messages as read | Top

1. From the Discussions table, click the topic that contains the messages that you want to mark. The Messages screen appears.
2. Display the messages that you want to mark. By default, only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All.
   
3. Click Mark all as read.

Marking selected messages as read | Top

1. From the Discussions table, click the topic that contains the messages that you want to mark. The Mail screen appears.
2. Display the messages that you want to mark. By default, only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All.
3. Select the messages that you want to mark as read.
   
4. From the Apply to selected message(s) below drop-down list, select Mark as read. Click Go.

Marking selected mail as unread | Top

1. From the Discussions table, click the topic that contains the messages that you want to mark. The Messages screen appears.
2. Display the messages that you want to mark. By default, only unread messages are listed; to view all messages, click Show All.
3. Select the messages that you want to mark as unread.
   
4. From the Apply to selected message(s) below drop-down list, select Mark as unread. Click Go.

Sending messages with or without attachments | Top

1. From the Discussions table, click the topic that you would like to send a message to. The Messages screen appears.
2. Click Compose Message. The Compose Message window appears.
3. From the Select topic drop-down list, select the topic to send a message to.
4. Complete the subject line, and type your message in the text box. Blank subjects or messages are not allowed.
5. If you want to attach a file
   
a) Enter the filename of the attachment.
b) Click Attach File. The filename appears.
c) Select the check box next to the filename.
6. Click Send.

Replying to a message | Top

1. From the Discussion table, click the topic that contains the message that you want to reply to. The Messages screen appears.
2. Click the message that you would like to reply to. The message appears.
3. Click Reply. The Compose Message window appears.
4. Type your message in the text box.
   
5. Click Send.

Downloading messages | Top

1. From the Discussions table, click the topic that contains the message that you want to download. The Messages screen appears.
2. Click the message that you want to download. The message appears.
3. Click Download. Your browser's file download window appears.
4. Select the save to disk option, and choose the saving location.
5. When the download is complete, click Close. The message appears.
6. Click Close.

Compiling and downloading messages | Top

This feature allows you to select messages, compile them into one file, and download the file.

1. From the Discussions table, click the topic that contains the messages that you want to compile and download. The Messages screen appears.
2. Select the messages to choose from
   • to choose from all messages, click Show All.
   • to choose from all unread messages, click Show Unread.
3. Select the order in which the messages will be presented
   • for chronological order, click Unthreaded.
   • for threaded, click Threaded. (Note: threads are created when someone replies to a message. The first message is shown with the subject above; the reply is shown underneath and is indented under the original message.)
4. From the Apply to selected message(s) below drop-down list, select Compile.
5. From the list of messages, select the messages to be compiled. Click Go. The compiled messages appear.
6. Click Download. Your browser's file download window appears.
7. Select the save to disk option, and choose the saving location.
8. When the download is complete, click Close. The message appears.
9. Click Close.

Searching messages | Top

You may search messages by

• full name of the message writer
• user name of the message writer
• thread subject
  
• unique message number
• date that the message was sent
• content of the mail message

After you have searched your messages, you may compile and download them.

To search messages

1. From the Discussions table, click any folder. The Messages screen appears.
2. Click Search. The Search Topics screen appears.
3. Choose your search parameters:
   a) From the Topic drop-down list, select the topics to search.
   b) From the Show drop-down list, select the messages to search.
   c) From the Filter drop-down list, select the filter.
   • None = no filter
     
• Name = full name of the message writer
• User ID = user name of the message writer
• Subject = the thread subject
• Message No = the unique message number associated with each message
• Date = the date that the message was sent
• Message = any of the words in the text of the mail message
4. From the Comparison drop-down list, select how the information entered in the Value text box will be compared with the filter.
   • Contains = retrieves messages that match any part of the text or numbers entered in the Value text box
   • Equals = retrieves messages that match exactly the text or numbers entered in the Value text box
   • Before = in combination with the Date or Number filter, retrieves all messages before the date or number entered in the Value text box. In combination with a text filter (Name, Subject, Message) retrieves all messages containing letters that occur alphabetically before the word entered in the Value text box.
   • After = in combination with the Date or Number filter, retrieves all messages after the date or number entered in the Value text box. In combination with a text filter (Name, Subject, Message), retrieves all messages containing letters that occur alphabetically after the word entered in the Value text box.
   • Starts with = in combination with a text filter (Name, Subject, Message) retrieves messages with words that begin with the letter entered in the Value text box.
   • Ends with = in combination with a text filter (Name, Subject, Message) retrieves words that end with the letter entered in the Value text box.
5. In the Value text box, type the words or numbers to be searched. If you have selected the Date filter, type the date in the format dd,mm,yyyy. Include the commas.
6. Click Search. The Messages screen appears listing all messages that satisfy your search requirements.

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