What is a private message?

Private messages are just like an email, or any other personal, one-to-one communication.

Private messages on community engine are a way you can talk to your followers, members of your communities, fellow locals, or anyone else on community engine (including our team), discreetly, for any reason at all.

You can only send private messages to people that have chosen to follow you (to make sure people can't send unwelcome or unsolicited messages).

How do I send a private message?

To send a private message:

• Make sure you're signed into community engine
• Click on 'Messages'  in the toolbar
• Click 'Compose new message'
• Type the name of the follower you want to send a message (you can send a message to up to 10 individual followers at one time, or to ALL of your followers). To message everyone, select 'Message all Followers'
• Compose your message and click 'Send message'

If you're already in your Private messages folder, click 'New message', in the right hand corner.

How do I know if I have a private message?

You'll get an email notification if you have a new private message. This will be sent to the email you signed up to community engine with.

If you're signed in, you'll see orange numbers appearing on the Messages icon in the toolbar. This lets you know that you've got messages and how many you've received.

← It'll look like this!

How do I turn off notifications for private messages?

• Click 'Manage'  in the tool bar
• Click 'Settings', then 'Notifications'
• Un-select the check box next to "Sent me a message"

To reactivate this notification, go to Notifications and re-select that check box.

Can I search my private messages?

Unfortunately not. But - the messages you exchange with other members are bundled together in neat conversation threads, making them easy to locate.

Can I delete a private message?

You can delete private messages from your sent folder. Please note: this does not recall that message from its recipients, only from your own messages folder.

To delete a private message:

• Click on the Messages   icon in the toolbar
• Click 'Sent', on the left hand side menu
• Select the message(s) you wish to delete
• Click 'Delete' and voila, it's gone!

Can I archive a private message?

Yep! If you want to clean up your message folder you can archive messages and access them whenever you need them.

To archive a message, select it and click Archive, at the top of the folder.

You can undo this step at any time.

To access your message Archives, click on Archive on the left hand side menu.

Can I send a private message to someone that isn't a member of community engine?

No, you can only send a private messages to your 'Followers'.

Are there any rules about sending messages that I should be aware of?

Yes there are.

Even though they're private, messages are still subject to the same terms and guidelines as all other content and interactions on community engine.

Make sure you've read them and don't send anything inappropriate, illegal or unwelcome.

We reserve the right to terminate your account if you do - so please don't.

Take care that messages are always suitable for their intended audience and won't be construed as spam.