What are PM's and how to use the messaging system.

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

I've noticed from a few recent posts and from conversations with one or two members that they aren't sure what the PM system is, or how to use it.

 

First, what is it?

 

The PM system is a Private Messaging function within the Boardroom; it allows members to send messages to one another, or even to a small group of other members, crucially though, without revealing the personal email addresses of anyone in the group. The messages themselves are just like emails and can include photos etc.

 

How do I use it?

 

Like most things computer related, there are a few different ways of accomplishing the same task, you pick a way that suits you! I'll cover two methods here, the quick PM and PM'ing from the Messenger manager screen.

 

Sending a quick PM:

 

If you need to respond to someone in a Boardroom post - known as a thread, it's very straightforward!

 

I'll walk you through it below:-

 

• Scroll up to one of the persons posts, and click on their "avatar", (that's the picture or graphic at the left hand side of the screen, just below their name).
• ​A page showing the publicly viewable profile information about that person should have opened up; somewhere just above the centre of the page, you'll see his avatar again at the left, a large banner with their Boardroom name in the centre, and at the right of that, three buttons - "Add me as a friend", "Send me a message" and "find content"
• Click on "Send me a message"
• A little pop up window should now have opened, where it says "subject" type a suitable title, underneath that, there is a box labelled "Message". Type your message in here.
• Once you've written your message, hit the "Send" button below the message box and you're done, the PM will be on it's way to John.

It's actually even easier to do than it is to describe!! The disadvantage of this method, is that their is only a very simple text box to type in, so no fancy formatting is possible nor can you add pictures and so forth.

 

Sending a more complex PM:

 

So, the other way to send a PM, that does include a full text editor, is to go into Messenger itself:- 

 

At the very top of every screen, there is a little envelope icon, next to your Boardroom name, at the top right. (Whenever you get a new PM, the little envelope icon will change to include a little red circle with a number in it. (The number is the number of new, unread PM's you have!))

 

If you click on the envelope icon, it will take you to a list of your messages, unread will have the subject in bold type, (click on the message to view it.)

 

You will also see at the top of the message list are buttons to "View all messages" and to "Compose New" messages. 

• Click on "Compose new" - a new page will open, it should look vaguely familiar if youve ever sent an email.
• In the box labelled "Recipient's Name" you need to type the Boardroom name of the person you want to PM. Helpfully, as you start typing, a selection box will appear with all the Boardroom names that match what you've typed so far in it. The list obviously gets shorter, the more of the name you type. But if you see the person you want in the list, just select them!
• If you want to send a message to a group, perhaps you're organising a run with a few others, you add their Boardroom names in the "Other recipients" box.
• Normally, leave the next box as "invitation", (the meaning of this is explained on-screen).
• Add a message subject.
• Type your message in the main message box. All the normal Boardroom editing and formatting tools are in the strip just above the message box, so you can format, add smilies, photos, hyperlinks etc as you would anywhere else in the Boardroom.
• Once done, you can either hit the Send button to send immediately, use the Preview button to see how the message will look, or save it to come back to later.

​Now, at some point, you may receive a new PM, or someone may well reply to a PM you've sent, again, don't panic! If we have an email address for you, then you will get a notification that you've had a PM, this will include the message itself, so you can read it offline. The little envelope icon at the top of every screen will change to include a red circle next to it. In the red circle is a number - telling you how many un-read PM's you've had since you last read any.

 

As before, click on the envelope icon. If you've received fresh PM's you can go directly to them from the pop up list. Otherwise to see your whole messenger and all the old PM's you've had, click on "View all messages" at the top of the pop-up window. This takes you to a list of all the messages you've sent and received. They are known as "Conversations". You can click on any of them to open them up, and carry on the conversation with a new message.*

 

However, the Boardroom doesn't have limitless space, so each member only has storage space for, if I recall correctly, about 50 Conversations. Periodically therefore, if you use the system a lot, a bit of house keeping is required. Any conversations that are old or no longer required, just tick the box to the right of them and select "Delete", then "Go" at the bottom right of the page.

 

​Note deleting a conversation in your inbox does not delete it in the recipient's inbox.

 

*if the other person in a PM conversation has deleted the conversation at their end, even though you can still see it, you can no longer reply to it. You have to start a fresh PM conversation instead.

 

Hopefully that's reasonably clear!