Sending and Receiving Private Messages

About
Sending
Inbox / Outbox
Reading a Message
Status Codes

Private messages, available to registered members, are a way of communicating with other members without having to post a public message in the forums. They are a convenience, but they are not intended to be a complete replacement for email. Please do not use them to send very long messages (such as fanfic, long letters, etc.).

How to get to them: (You must be logged in.) Click on the "Control Panel" link in the forum menu, and view your Message Center. Also, the Main Index will always say "Welcome, [username]! You have X new private messages" on the upper right. The phrase "private messages" in this greeting links directly to your Inbox.

Please note that all private messages are deleted after 30 days (though you can always delete them yourself beforehand). If you wish to keep a message, you will have to save it to your computer, copy it into an email to yourself, etc.

If you have new (unread) private messages, the system will let you know in the following ways:

• The Main Index will say, "Welcome, [username]! You have X new private message(s)." ("X" will be a number.) The phrase "private messages" in this greeting links directly to your Inbox. (Or, you can go to your Control Panel.)
• You'll see an image flashing to the left of the forum menu (). This will appear on every page of the forum until you read the message(s). The flashing envelope links directly to your Inbox. (Or, you can go to your Control Panel.)
• If selected in your Preferences, whenever you receive a private message, you will be emailed to let you know.

Tip: People often abbreviate "private message" as "PM." So if you see people talking about "PMs," they mean private messages. Also, you may see people use "PM" as a verb (i.e. "PM me" means "send me a private message").

There are a few ways to send a Private Message to someone:

• Go to your Control Panel and click on "Send a Private Message."
• When viewing a user's profile, you can click on "Send a Private Message" to send a PM to that user.
• When viewing your Address Book, you can click on the "Send a PM" link to the left of any user's name to send a PM to that user.

When sending a private message, you need to type in the username of the person the message is going to (it will be filled in already if you came from their profile or your address book), or choose a name from your address book (you'll see a drop-down box listing all the names in your Address Book - select the one you want). Then you'll need to enter a subject for the message, and then type the message itself. You may use markup in your private messages.

1. The first box allows you to type in the username of the person you want to send a message to. (If you came from a user's profile or your address book, this field will already be filled in for you.) If you'd like to add this user to your address book, check the box to the right that says, "Add this user to your address book."
2. Alternatively, you can choose a user from your address book. Just select a name from the drop-down box. (If you'd like to Delete a user from your address book, select their username and click the "Delete from Address Book" button.)
3. If you wish, you may send the message to multiple users using the CC (Carbon Copy) feature. You must enter the first username in the "Username" field, or choose a name from your Address Book (see steps 1 and 2 above). Then enter one or more usernames in the "CC" field. If you enter more than one name, separate them with commas (e.g. "Bob,Jim,Jane"). The message will be sent to each of the users just like a normal message, with no indication that it's a CC (and the recipients will not know who else you sent the message to).
4. Type in a subject for the message, with a maximum of 80 characters.
5. Type in your message. You may use markup in your private messages.
6. If you want to keep a copy of this message in your Outbox, click the box that says, "I want to keep a copy of my message."
7. If you'd like to be notified (via PM) when this message is read by the recipient, click the box that says, "I want to receive a read receipt." The system will automatically sent you a PM letting you know when the user reads the message.
8. If you want to preview the message before sending it, click the box that says, "I want to preview my message." Then, you can either submit it by clicking the first "Continue" button on the preview page, or scroll down to edit some more.

Note: If there are any problems with your message, you'll get an error and the message will not be sent. You'll then need to hit your back button and correct the problem, which could result in you losing the message you typed. It's never a bad idea to copy your message before submitting it, just in case. You can do this by highlighting the message and hitting Ctrl+C (or right-click and choose "Copy"). If you do have to go back and you find the message gone, just click your mouse in the message text box and hit Ctrl+V (or right-click and choose "Paste"). (Common errors include: forgetting to enter a subject, forgetting to enter a username, the username (either the initial one or any of the names in the CC field) is not in the database (due to a typo or other reason), or the user (either the initial one or any of the names in the CC field) is not accepting PMs.)

To access your Inbox (received messages), go to your Control Panel and click the "Inbox" link in the Message Center. Alternatively, you can click on the link on the Main Index ("You have X new private messages"), or — when you have a NEW message — you can click on the flashing PM icon ().

To access your Outbox (sent messages), go to your Control Panel and click the "Outbox" link in the Message Center. This will not necessarily show every private message you've sent, but only the messages which you chose to keep a copy of. (In other words, when you sent a message, you must have checked the box for "I want to keep a copy of my message" in order for it to appear in your Outbox.

In your Inbox or your Outbox, you'll see the following information:

• The message status (details below).
• The message subject (click on it to read the message).
• The sender's (or recipient's) name (click on it to view the user's profile).
• The date/time that the message was received (or sent).
• A check box for selecting messages that you want to delete.

To read a private message simply click on the subject of the message.

To delete a private message: Check the box to the right of the message, and click the "Delete Checked" button. To delete ALL messages on the list, click the "Check All" button, and then click the "Delete Checked" button.

To read a message, click on its subject from either your Inbox or your Outbox. You'll be presented with the following information, from top to bottom:

• The subject.
• The sender's name (click on it to view the user's profile). (If you're viewing a sent message, you'll see the recipient's name here.)
• The date/time that the message was received (or sent, if you're viewing a sent message).
• A few buttons:
  • "Reply to this Message" — Click this button to reply to the message. (This button only appears when viewing a received message, not a sent message.)
  • "Delete this Message" — Click this button to delete the message.
  • "Return to Message List" — Click this button to return to your Inbox (or to your Outbox, if you're viewing a sent message).
  • "Show all Messages from [User's Name]" — Click this button to view a list of all the private messages you currently have from this user. (This button only appears when viewing a received message, not a sent message.)

To the left hand side of each message shown in your Inbox and Outbox, you may see a one letter code. These stand for:

• N - A new message that you haven't read.
• R - You have replied to the message.
• No Code (blank) - You have read the message but you have not replied.