Using Messages

Where are Moodle Messages?

Messaging exists throughout the site - anywhere you see someone's name! For example, you can go to your class's participants list in the main menu in your course. On the Participants page, click on the name of another student in your class or the instructor.

The participants link

Messaging From A Profile Page

From a participant's profile, click the "Message" button. This will open the messages screen. You can also add someone to your contact list by clicking on "Add to contacts" from this screen.

Detail from a student's profile page showing the "Message" link and the "Add to contacts" link

Message Icon

You can also get to messages via the messaging icon in the upper right corner of the screen next to your name. The message icon will indicate you have unread messages with a red square and a number (the number of unread messages you have).

The messages icon with the number "14" on it indicating 14 unread messages.

Opening the Messages Drawer

The "Messages Drawer" is where all your current messages are. To open it, click the messages icon next to your profile (upper-right corner of the Moodle window).

The messages icon

The message drawer slides out from the right side of the page, showing you all your current and past conversations. Unread messages are indicated with a white number inside a red circle. The number indicates the number of unread messages within that conversation, or unread conversations within a category. Messages and conversations are displayed with most recent messages at the top.

The block drawer showing several conversations, some unread. Arrows point to the unread messages indicators on two conversations.

Making a New Message

To make a new message, you can click on one of the conversations in your message drawer, and type your message in the "Write a message..." field at the bottom of the page. Once finished writing your message, click on the send icon to send it  -- it looks like a cartoon of a black paper airplane.

The new message editing field with an arrow pointing at the send message icon.

You can also search for the name of someone in one of your classes in the search field, and then message them as described above.

The messages search bar

Message Preferences

Click the settings icon -- shaped like a small gear -- to open the settings page. Here you can change your notification preferences for messages.

The messaging preference page showing the current privacy and notification preferences for a user. This user has "Email" toggled on as a preference.

Depending on how you setup of your messaging preferences, Moodle will forward notifications of new messages to your email. Keep in mind, this is only a notification. If you try to reply via email to this message, your reply will not be delivered to the student or to Moodle. If you are already logged in to mySCC and Moodle when you receive this message, you may be able to go directly to the message and reply by clicking the link at the bottom of the emailed notification.

An example of an emailed notifcation of a moodle message. There's a link at the bottom of the message to click on it to view the message in Moodle.

Using Contacts

With the block drawer open, click the "Contacts" link to view your current list of contacts.

The link to the contacts page

You can request individual users let you add them as a contact by searching for them, clicking on their name within the search results, and clicking on the row of three dots to the right of their name on the conversation screen. From the dropdown menu, select "Add to contacts." You can also block users, delete, get more info about them, mute them, or delete existing conversations with them from this menu.

A user's conversation page showing the dropdown menu with additional options for that user's messages, including the option to "Add to contacts."

Contacts let you message users quickly, without having to search for them. Keep in mind, however, that you can only message students and instructors from classes you are enrolled in.