A site for Joomla! documentation

Joomla Help Screens

Manual Index

Private Messages

Description

The Private Messaging screen allows you to send messages to other Back-end Joomla! users who have permission to send and receive messages. You may read, write, send, and delete messages here. In addition, you may also manage message settings and grouping options.

How to Access

  • Select Users → Messaging → Private Messages from the Administrator menu.

Screenshot

Help-4x-Components-Messaging-Inbox-screen-en.png

Column Headers

  • Checkbox. The item selection checkbox. Check this box to select one or more items. To select all items, check the box in the column heading. After one or more boxes are checked, click a toolbar button to take an action on the selected item or items. Many toolbar actions, such as Mark As Read, Mark As Unread and Trash, can work with multiple items.
  • Subject. The subject line of the message. Click this to open the message for viewing. This takes you to the View Message screen where you view, reply to, or delete the message.
  • Read. A green tick indicates that the message has been read. A red donut indicates that it has not been read.
  • From. The user who sent the message.
  • Date. The date and time the message was sent.

List Filters

Search bar. Near the top of the page you will see the search bar shown in the Screenshot above.

  • Search by Text. Enter part of the search term and click the Search icon. Hover to see a Tooltip indicating which fields will be searched.To 'Search by ID' enter "id:x", where "x" is the ID number (for example, "id:19").
  • Filter Options. Click to display the additional filters.
  • Clear. Click to clear the Filter field and restore the list to its unfiltered state.
  • Ordering. Shows the current list ordering field. 2 ways to change the order:
    • Select from the dropdown list. Ordering may be in ascending or descending order.
    • Click a column heading. The column heading toggles between ascending and descending order.
  • Number to Display. Shows the number of items in a list. Select from the dropdown list to change the number displayed.The default for a site is '20' but this may be changed in the Global Configuration.

Filter Options

  • Select State. Use the drop-down list box to select: Read, Unread or Trashed. Only messages with this state will show on the list.

Toolbar

At the top of the page you will see the toolbar shown in the Screenshot above. The functions are:

  • New. Opens the editing screen to create a new message.

  • Actions: Reveals a list of actions for selected Items. Check one or more Item checkboxes to activate the list.

    • Mark As Read. Marks the selected messages as Read. Select messages by checking the message's checkbox.
    • Mark As Unread. Marks the selected messages as Unread. Select messages by checking the message's checkbox.

  • Trash. Changes the status of the selected items to indicate that they are trashed.Trashed items can still be recovered by selecting 'Trashed' in the 'Select Status' filter and changing the status of the articles to Published or Unpublished as preferred.To permanently delete trashed items, select 'Trashed' in the 'Select Status' filter, select the items to be permanently deleted, then click the 'Empty Trash' toolbar icon.

  • My Settings. Opens a new window that allows you to change messaging settings.

  • Options. Opens the Options window where settings such as default parameters can be edited.

  • Help. Opens this help screen.

Quick Tips

  • Only users who are members of the "Super Users" and "Administrator" groups have access to this screen, unless User Group permissions have been altered for this component via Options on the toolbar.
  • You are able to restore Messages previously sent to the Trash by finding the Select State filter drop-down and selecting "Trash" from the list. Finally, to restore the message, simply select the messages you want to restore using the checkbox next to the particular message you require and click the "Mark As Unread" button in the toolbar.

Related Information