Messaging: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 08:19, 9 October 2017

Private messages

Unless disabled by the administrator (in Advanced features), teachers, students and other users may send and receive private messages via Moodle. This is in addition to receiving notifications about assignments, forum discussions etc. See the screencast [Messages and notifications] for more information.

New feature
in Moodle 3.2!

New messages are highlighted with a number in the messaging menu at the top of the screen:

Note that the number reflects the number of people who have sent new messages, and not the actual number of new messages.

Clicking there displays the new messages, along with the option to send a new message (1 below), to mark all as read (2), to go to their preferences page (3) to change how messages are received, and (4) to view all messages.

Sending messages

Messages may be sent from a number of locations:

by clicking 'New Message' from the Message menu as in the screenshot above and then searching for a user or course
by clicking the Messages link in the user menu;
by clicking on a user's name or picture in a course, for example from the Participants link or in a forum thread;
from the Messages block if available.

When sending messages, the size of the message box will increase as the message lengthens. Note that to start a new line, you can press Enter. (Pressing Enter alone will not send a message.)

Be careful if you use Moodle 3.2 before 3.2.3 : to start a new line, you need to press Shift + Enter. (Pressing Enter alone will send the message, which you may not want.)

Adding and messaging contacts

To add a contact, click their name or picture as in the section Sending messages above:

Click the + sign to add them to your contacts.
Click the Message icon to message them directly.

Contacts may be accessed from the Contacts link and then either messaged, blocked or removed.

Deleting messages

Messages may be deleted by clicking the Edit link (1 below), selecting a message or messages to delete and then clicking the Delete button under the messages (2).
Note that messages are only deleted for that particular user, not others involved in the conversation.

Receiving messages

Along with a visible alert to new messages in the messaging menu, users can configure how they are notified of new messages from their message preferences page accessed from the user menu or the gear icon in the messages menu.
If the site is set up with the mobile app, they can enable new message alerts to be sent to their mobile:

Sending a message to selected course participants

A teacher can send a message to course participants as follows:

Go to the Participants page.
Select participants from the list or use the "Select all" button at the bottom of the list.
Choose "Add/send message" from the "With selected users..." drop-down menu.
Type the message then click the "Preview" button.
Assuming you are satisfied with the message, click the "Send" button.

Administrators can also send a message to users in many courses via Bulk user actions.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Messaging}}
+{{More features}}
-{{Improve}}
+==Private messages==
+Unless disabled by the administrator (in Advanced features), teachers, students and other users may send and receive private messages via Moodle. This is in addition to receiving [[Notifications|notifications]] about assignments, forum discussions etc. See the screencast [[https://youtu.be/YRZJlOYJ2sk Messages and notifications]] for more information.
-"Messaging" refers both to  automatic alerts from Moodle about new forum posts, feedback notifications etc and also to  conversations using the instant messaging feature.
+{{New features}}
+New messages are highlighted with a number in the messaging menu at the top of the screen:
-==Message alerts==
+[[File:NewMessagingMenu.png|center]]
-*Users can receive message alerts from Moodle in a number of ways and for a number of reasons: users may for instance receive instant messages via the [[Messages block]]; students may be messaged by their course tutor via the [[People block]]; teachers might receive automatic notifications of assignment submissions and admins might receive notification of problems with the site.
-*How these messages and others are received can be set by each user from the Messaging link in their profile. Check  boxes allow the user to select how they wish to be notified of incoming messages. See [[Messaging settings]] for more information.
-[[File:Messaginginprofile.png]]
+''Note that the number reflects the number of people who have sent new messages, and not the actual number of new messages.''
-'''Note:''' In Moodle 2.1 there are default options for messaging settings in ''Settings>Site Administration>Plugins>Message outputs''{{Moodle 2.1}}
-==Instant messaging==
-*If the administrator has enabled it in ''Settings>Site Administration>Advanced features'' then users in Moodle have the option to send each other messages. Messages can be sent from the following places:
-**as admin in [[Bulk user actions]]
-**as a teacher from the [[People block]]
-**as any logged in user from the [[Messages block]] or [[Online Users block]]
-**as any logged in user by clicking on the profile of another user (if admin has allowed profiles to be viewed)
+Clicking there displays the new messages, along with the option to send a new message (''1 below''), to mark all as read (''2''), to go to their preferences page ''(3)'' to change how messages are received, and ''(4)'' to view all messages.
+[[File:NewMessagingFeatures.png|center|thumb|400px]]
+==Sending messages==
+Messages may be sent from a number of locations:
+#by clicking 'New Message' from the Message menu as in the screenshot above and then searching for a user or course
+#by clicking the Messages link in the user menu;
+#by clicking on a user's name or picture in a course, for example from the Participants link or in a forum thread;
+#from the [[Messages block]] if available.
-==Sending messages==
+When sending messages, the size of the  message box will increase as the message lengthens. Note that to start a new line, you can press Enter. (Pressing Enter alone will not send a message.)
-To send a message to an individual:
+Be careful if you use Moodle 3.2 before 3.2.3 : to start a new line, you need to press Shift + Enter. (Pressing Enter alone will send the message, which you may not want.)
-#In the Messages window click on the Search tab to search for the person, if appropriate checking the box "Only in my courses", then click on their name. (Alternatively, if the person is listed in the Online Users block, simply click on the "Add/send message" envelope opposite their name.)
-#Type the message in the pop-up box then click on the "Send message" button.
-To send a message to selected course participants (for teachers only):
+==Adding and messaging contacts==
-#Click on the Participants link in the People block on the course page.
+To add a contact, click their name or picture as in the section Sending messages above:
-#Select participants from the list or use the "Select all" button at the bottom of the list.
-#Choose "Add/send message" from the "With selected users..." drop-down menu.
-#Type the message then click the "Preview" button.
-#Assuming you are satisfied with the message, click the "Send" button.
-==Reading and replying to messages==
+[[File:Contacts01.png|thumb|400px|center]]
-When you are sent a message, the Messages window will pop-up. Also, the Messages block will display the name of the person sending the message with a link to read the message. If you have set the email option (see Message Settings below), then you will get a copy of the message in your email after the time you have specified if you are not logged in.
+#Click the + sign to add them to your contacts.
+#Click the Message icon to message them directly.
+Contacts may be accessed from the Contacts link  and then either messaged, blocked or removed.
-After reading a message, you may type a reply then click on the "Send message" button.
+[[File:ContactMessaging.png|thumb|400px|center]]
-==Searching messages==
+==Deleting messages==
-[[Image:MsgSearch.jpg|thumb|Message window Search tab]]
+*Messages may be deleted by clicking the Edit link (''1 below''), selecting a message or messages to delete and then clicking the Delete button under the messages (''2)''.
-In addition to searching for people, the Search tab in the Messages window provides the option to search for keywords, only messages to or from you, and to include in the search people you have previously blocked from contacting you.
+*Note that messages are only deleted for that particular user, not others involved in the conversation.
-==Managing contacts==
+[[File:DeletingMessages.png|thumb|400px|center]]
-[[Image:MsgContacts.jpg|thumb|Message window Contacts tab]]
-People may be added to your list of contacts (or blocked from contacting you) by clicking the "Add contact" (or "Block contact") icon opposite their name in the Messages window.
-By default the contact list is empty. In order to send a message or to create a shortcut to the person you are sending, go to the Search tab.
+==Receiving messages==
+*Along with a visible alert to new messages in the messaging menu, users can  configure how they are notified of new  messages  from their message preferences page accessed from the user menu or the gear icon in the messages menu.
+*If the site is set up with the mobile app, they can enable new message alerts to be sent to their mobile:
-==Message history==
+[[File:MessagePreferencesUser.png|center|thumb|400px]]
-A record of messages sent to/from a person may be obtained by clicking the "History" icon opposite their name in the Messages window.
+==Sending a message to selected course participants==
-==Message settings==
+A teacher can send a message to course participants as follows:
-[[Image:MsgSettings.jpg|thumb|Message window Settings tab]]
-Message settings may be changed via the Settings tab in the Messages window.
-Here you can decide on having a popup Message window whenever you get a new message, blocking messages from people who are not on your Contacts list, having an audio signal for a new message, using a HTML editor, or getting email messages when you are offline.
+# Go to the Participants page.
+# Select participants from the list or use the "Select all" button at the bottom of the list.
+# Choose "Add/send message" from the "With selected users..." drop-down menu.
+# Type the message then click the "Preview" button.
+# Assuming you are satisfied with the message, click the "Send" button.
-Note: It's possible to set a different email address for receiving copies of messages to the email address in your profile.
+Administrators can also send a message to users in many courses via [[Bulk user actions]].
 ==See also==
+*[[Notifications]]
+*[[Messaging settings]]
 *[[Messaging FAQ]]
-*[[Using Moodle book]] Chapter 5: Forums, Chats, and Messaging
-*[[Messaging enhancements]] (contributed code)
-*[[Development:Messaging 2.0]]
-Using Moodle forum discussions:
+[[Category:Messaging]]
-*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=27559 What facilities are there for seeing other users' messages?]
-*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=58977 How can I see student messages?]
-*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=34972 Viewing old messages?]
-*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=63401 Restrict Messaging to Course Participants/Teachers]
 [[es:Mensajería]]

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