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Messages

Quick links

• Internal messages
• E-mail accounts

Clicking the letter icon in the main menu takes you to an overview that allows you to send new messages. To enter the inbox, click the Messages link. By default the internal messaging system is accessed from the letter icon, but users can decide for themselves whether to set an external e-mail account or the internal messaging system as standard.

Internal messages

The internal message system differs from an e-mail account in several ways. You cannot send or receive messages from other message systems or from e-mail. This means that you can only send and receive messages from other itslearning users. The internal message system can be used to send messages to groups, or a group of course or project participants, or simply to send messages to teachers or friends without having to leave itslearning.

One of the advantages is that users receive new messages once they log in to itslearning. If you are logged in to itslearning, you are notified when new internal messages arrive by an icon in the top menu, or by a received message notification sound (you must upload a sound yourself).

If you have chosen an e-mail account as default, you can choose to forward the internal messages to your e-mail account. This is recommended so that you do not miss important internal messages.

While e-mail accounts use e-mail addresses such as "[email protected]", the itslearning message system uses itslearning user names as addresses. If you do not know the user name of a recipient, it is easy to search for a user within a site.

Attachments

You can use attachments in both internal messages and e-mail messages. You can read more about file uploading here. If an incoming internal or e-mail message has an attachment, the message is marked with a paper clip.

The different folders

There are five default folders in the internal messages. They are explained in the table below:

Folder	Explanation
Inbox	All your new messages are stored in this folder. Unread messages are marked with bold.
Favourites	All your favourite messages are collected in this folder. You add messages to the favourite folder by clicking the yellow star: in front of the sender. Click the star again to remove the message from the favourite folder. The star then changes colour to white.
Drafts	When you start writing a message, itslearning automatically saves a copy of the message in this folder. If you are unexpectedly logged out or navigate away from the editor while writing a message, you will always find a draft of the message in the Drafts folder. Click the message to resume writing from where you left off.
Sent	All the messages you send are stored in this folder.
Trash	All the messages you delete are stored in this folder.

Actions 

The Action drop-down list is central in the internal message system. Except for New message, Delete and add and remove from favourites, every action is performed from this drop-down list. These actions are:

• Mark as read
• Mark as unread
• Add to favourites (another option is to click the )
• Remove from favourites (another option is to click the )
• Forward to e-mail
• Move to folder
• Create new folder

Message filters

The new message filter allows you to sort the messages from participants belonging to certain courses and projects. When you select, for example, English in the Filter drop-down list, only messages sent from participants belonging to this course are listed in the messages overview.

Drafts folder

All messages that are written are auto saved. If you are disconnected from the Internet, or are otherwise not logged in to itslearning, you can always find a copy of your message in the Drafts folder. When you have started writing a message, you can also choose to save it as a draft by clicking the Save draft button.

The drafts folder is available from the navigation tree.

Favourites

You can now add your favourite messages to a favourites folder. Adding messages to favourites is accomplished in the usual itslearning way by clicking the and . A white star with yellow border in front of the message means that the message is not added to the favourites, while a yellow star indicates that the message is currently a favourite.

You can find all your favourite messages in the Favourites folder in the navigation tree.

Deleted messages

In the Deleted messages folder, we present a much sought-after feature: the ability to empty the deleted messages folder. Click Empty folder to delete all messages from the folder. There is also a new link in the toolbar that allows you to select specific messages and delete them permanently.

How-tos

Reading internal messages

If you have internal messages set as your default account, you are directed straight to the internal messages inbox when you click the Messages tab. The internal messages overview has several headings:

• From: In this column you can see the senders names.
• Subject: This is the subject or title the sender has specified.
• Received: The date and hour you received the message.

 

To read a message, click on the message Subject.

 

Replying to a message

When you click on a message you have several reply options:

Options	Explanation
Reply	Click Reply if you want to reply to person who sent you the message.
Reply all	Click Reply to all If the message has more than one recipient and you want to send a reply to all of them. Example: A teacher has sent out a message with information to all participants in a course. You notice an error and want to notify the course participants about the error.
Forward	Click Forward if you want to send a copy of the message to others.
Newer	Click Newer to see a newer message.
Older	Click Older to see an older message.
Print	Click Print to print the message.
Delete	Click Delete to delete the message. The message is moved to the Deleted messages folder.
Actions	From this drop-down list you are allowed to perform several actions, such as mark the message as read or unread, mark it as a favourite, forward to e-mail, or move to a different folder.

To reply to a message:

1. Click on the internal message you want to reply to.
2. Click Reply, Reply to all, or Forward.
3. Fill in the following fields:
   • To: The recipient's itslearning user name. You can also click the and icons.
   • Blind CC: Here you can enter a user name of one or more persons that will receive a copy of the message. You can also click the and icons.
   • Subject: Enter a title, or subject, of the message.
   • Text: Write your reply here. The original message is quoted in the text editor. It is common practise to write replies above the quoted message, but some prefer to write the reply below the quoted message.
   • Attachment: itslearning allows you to attach files to messages. Click Upload file to attach a file.

4. Click Send.

Tip 1: If you want to send a message to more than one person you can separate the user names with a semicolon (;) in the To field.

Tip 2: Click Save as draft to save the message as a draft. The message is then moved to the Drafts folder.

Creating a new message

1. Click the Inbox link in the personal menu.
2. In the navigation tree, click Internal messages.
3. Click New message.
4. Fill in the following fields:
   • To: The recipient's itslearning user name. You can also search for users and contacts .
   • BCC: Here you can enter a user name of one or more persons that will receive a copy of the message. You can also search for usersand contacts.
   • Subject: Enter a title, or subject, of the message.
   • Text: Write your message here.
   • Attachments: itslearning allows you to attach files to messages. Click Upload file to attach a file.
5. Click Send.

Tip 1: If you want to send a message to more than one person you can separate the user names with a semicolon (;) in the To field.

Tip 2: Click Save as draft to save the message as a draft. The message is then moved to the Drafts folder.

Adding new folders

When you inbox fills up with messages you can sort them in folders. To add a folder:

1. Click the Messages tab.
2. In the navigation tree, click Internal messages.
3. Select + New folder from the Actions drop-down list.
4. Enter a folder name.
5. Click Save. The new folder is now visible in the navigation tree.

The next step is to move the messages to the newly created folder:

1. Click the Messages tab.
2. In the navigation tree, click Internal messages.
3. Select the messages you want to move by checking the boxes behind them.
4. In the Actions drop-down list, select a folder under Move to. The messages are then automatically moved to the folder.

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