Messages are a way to privately communicate with one or more members. If you have received a new message from a member, you will see a number next to the "Messages" menu selection, the number being the number of new messages you have received.
How can I read my messages?
After you click on the "Messages" menu selection, you will see your inbox for your messages. Unread messages will have the subject title in red. If you click on the subject, the message will open and you can read it.
How can I send a message?
At the top of the main Messages page is a button marked "Compose New Message".
Click that button. Enter the username of the person to whom you want to send the message in the top box. If you are sending your message to more than one member, enter each username on a separate line. You are allowed to enter up to 12 usernames per message.
You can also "blind copy" a member, meaning you can send a copy of the message to another member but the recipient of the message will not see that you did so. To do this, enter the username of the member you wish to "blind copy" in the box labeled "Blind". If you are blind copying more than one member, enter each username on a separate line.
Enter the subject for your message in the subject field. Messages must have a subject.
Enter the message you wish to send in the large box labeled "Message". When done, hitting the "send" button at the bottom sends your message to the user or users you wanted.
You may attach links and/or photos to a message. To do so, click on the "Attach Links" or "Attach Pics" link at the bottom of the screen under the box where you composed your message.
Organizing Messages
All new messages appear in your Inbox, but you can create new folders and move them from folder to folder so that it is easier to locate them later. To create a new folder, click the "Options" link from the main messages screen (where your inbox is located). Type the name of the folder you want to create in the box next to "New" then click "New". Select the message or messages you want to move to that folder by clicking the box next to the message, then click the button next to the folder you want to move the message to. If you click the "Move" button on the top or bottom right, the message or messages will be moved to the new folder.
To delete a folder, click the "Options" link, then click the button next to the folder you want to delete. If you hit the "Delete Folder" button, the folder will be deleted. You must first delete the messages in the folder or move them to another folder before deleting a folder.
Ignoring Users
There may be members from whom you do not want to receive messages. If so, you can choose to "Ignore" them. To Ignore a member, click the "Sender Conrols" link from the main message page. Enter the username for each member you want to ignore in the large box near the top of the screen. Enter each name on a separate line. Click the "Ignore Message from Users" button under that box and you will not receive messages from those members.
A list of users you have ignored is on the left side of the "Sender Controls" screen. If you later decide you DO want to receive message from someone you have set to Ignore, click the box next to that Member's username then click the "Remove from Ignore List" botton. You can then receive messages from that user.
Power Up options
You may want your message to stand out from others, and Power Up options are the way to make that happen. You do need FXPoints to use Power Up options, and the cost for each option is PER recipient, NOT per message. You can find all of the Power Up options by clicking on the "Show Options" link.
Self Destructing Messages
You may want your message to expire and disappear after a certain amount of time, and you can accomplish this by sending a "Self Destructing Message".
After you have selected the "Show Options" link, click the "Show Self-Destruct options" link.
You can then select the date you want your message to "self-destruct" or the hours until the message "self-destructs". If you check the "when opened" box, the message will "self destruct" after the recipient has opened it. Messages that have "self-destructed" are purged forever and cannot be recovered.
You can only send self destructing messages to users who have agreed to receive them from you.
You can set from whom you want to be able to receive Self Destructing Messages from by clicking the "Sender Controls" link from the main message screen. Enter the username for each member you want to be able to receive Self-Destructing Messages from in the large box near the bottom of the screen. Enter each name on a separate line. Click the "Allow Self-Destructing Messages from Users" button under that box and you will then be able to receive Self-Destructing Messages from those members.
A list of users you have allowed to receive Self Destructing Messages from is on the left side of the "Sender Controls" screen. If you later decide you do NOT want to receive Self Destructing Messages from someone, click the box next to that Member's username then click the "Remove from Allowed List" botton. That member will no longer be able to send you Self Destructing Messages.
Encrypted Messages
You may want some assurance that only you and the recipients of a message can read the contents.
You can accomplish this by sending an encrypted message. If you wish to encrypt your message, enter a password in the "Password Protect" box, and enter the same password in the "Confirm Password" box". Only users with THAT password will be able to read the message, to anyone else the message will appear to be a jumble of letters and symbols. Keep in mind your recipients MUST know the password to read the message. Passwords to encrypted messages are like keys to treasure chests: they are useless if locked inside or if attached to the outside.
Of, if you are having trouble understanding how password protection works, here is a little analogy for you:
Let's say you have a lockbox and a key. And you want to send Yaniv something very important in your lockbox. How do you get it to him?
If you put the key into the box and lock it, when Yaniv receives it, it's pretty useless, right? He can't get the key, being that it is locked in the box.
You could tape the key to the outside of the box (ie tell him the password in the subject of the private message), but then anyone that gets their hands on your box could just open it with the key you've so conveniently made available to them.
You could send him the key ahead of time, THEN send the lock. This is pretty safe, but if you suspect the mailman might steal your really important stuff, the mailman could potentially take the key, make a copy, and you would never know.
Or, you could have given Yaniv the key a long time ago when you went to see a movie with him. In this case, he'd have the key, and you could send him your stuff in the locked box, and he'd always be able to open it.
So in other words, for your password protected message to be truly secure, you need to have told the recipient the password OUTSIDE OF THIS SYSTEM.
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