Messages: Overview

What it does

The Messages tool is an internal course mail system for messaging between individuals and groups.

Key concepts

Viewing messages: Unread messages are in bold; viewed messages are marked as read, but you can mark any read message as unread. By default, messages are listed chronologically, but you can select the By Conversation view to display messages in indented threads.

Composing messages: A WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) interface allows rich text, plain text, and HTML editing. You can also add attachments.

Note: Pasting text from Microsoft Word directly into the WYSIWYG editor may result in garbled output, even if the text appears correct in the editor. Instead, to insert formatted text from a Word document, click the Paste from Word icon, and paste using Ctrl-v or Command-v.

Some users have reported problems using Paste from Word in Internet Explorer 9; for best results, use a supported browser. See Which browser should I use?

Message priority: You can set priority levels for messages to distinguish important messages from others.

Things to consider

• Using Messages, you can send messages to another individual, a select number of individuals, or a select number of groups.
  
  
• Messages you send using the Send Cc option are sent directly to participants' email addresses; copies also appear in your Sent folder and the recipients' Received folders within Messages. Recipients must reply using Messages, not their email programs.

Help documentation

For help documentation about the Messages tool, see Messages.