Conversations (Private Messages) - Vanilla Success
<main> <article class="userContent"> <p>The <strong>Conversations </strong>feature allows users to send private messages to each other. This feature gives users an opportunity to:</p><ul><li>continue conversations outside of discussions, </li><li>interact with Administrators and Moderators, </li><li>and privately share information with each other. </li></ul><p>You can have multiple Conversations open at the same time with the same user, similarly to emailing. Additionally, Conversations can involve multiple users.</p><h2 data-id="conversation-permissions">Conversation permissions</h2><p>Users must belong to a Role with the following permission in order to use the Conversations feature:</p><ul><li><code class="code codeInline" spellcheck="false" tabindex="0">Conversations</code> > <code class="code codeInline" spellcheck="false" tabindex="0">Conversations</code> > <code class="code codeInline" spellcheck="false" tabindex="0">Add</code></li></ul><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/RXWNEDQFB6BA/required-permissions.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/RXWNEDQFB6BA/required-permissions.png" alt="required_permissions.png" height="124" width="827" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p>To learn more about Roles and managing their permissions, check out the following article:</p><div class="js-embed embedResponsive" data-embedjson="{"body":"Two of the most important aspects of your Higher Logic Vanilla (Vanilla) community are Roles and permissions: Roles are like high-level categories in which your users are grouped. Each Role can be customized with a unique set of permissions to control what users with that Role can see and do in your community. 📝 NOTE:…","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6030677\/uploads\/VWGAXAF5OFCO\/microsoftteams-image.png","url":"https:\/\/success.vanillaforums.com\/kb\/articles\/39-roles-permissions","embedType":"link","name":"Roles & Permissions - Vanilla Success"}"> <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/39-roles-permissions" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc"> https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/39-roles-permissions </a> </div><h3 data-id="limit-conversations-ability-based-on-ranks">Limit Conversations ability based on Ranks</h3><p>Alternatively, if you’d like to limit private messages to users who have more experience in your community, you can grant Conversation permissions based on <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/21-ranks" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Ranks</a>. </p><ul><li>When creating or editing a Rank, you can control this via the <strong>Start Private Conversations</strong> option. </li></ul><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/M3BdlM_gngYzB0mUk6PzMvHXOE-P2P03eZKD-S8vYnTX-NLNNIdc50itEMWO3JKkC4rRrGdD6FtcTGWnWf8rG-swlWeEEdS9aDLxmKdA_OKsLraIumegktwJD7quKWkjYmUnOquE=s0" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/M3BdlM_gngYzB0mUk6PzMvHXOE-P2P03eZKD-S8vYnTX-NLNNIdc50itEMWO3JKkC4rRrGdD6FtcTGWnWf8rG-swlWeEEdS9aDLxmKdA_OKsLraIumegktwJD7quKWkjYmUnOquE=s0" alt="BbuBs9viaT3M5TCWC6cgV9jVYCvD-UrQZNqpPlaMnqpJVp0xuDMwkeMlhcB2btRbsCyxjo7Fzr6lZzwzcBaq9dlbcYv05swRaSOIem5nsCSALTd6stZwbagCJyDW5fd5cwGb0fwZ" height="217" width="624" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h2 data-id="view-your-conversations">View your Conversations</h2><p>All of the private messages you've sent and received are stored in your <strong>inbox</strong>, which can be accessed via the <strong>Messages icon</strong> in the toolbar:</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/M4GJXDLZGKQX/access-inbox-1.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/M4GJXDLZGKQX/access-inbox-1.png" alt="access_inbox-1.png" height="394" width="786" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h2 data-id="send-a-private-message">Send a private message</h2><p><strong>📝 NOTE</strong>: By default, only <strong>five </strong>people can be in a conversation. Contact Vanilla Support if you'd like to increase or decrease this number.</p><p>You can start a Conversation with another user in a few ways:</p><ul><li>From your Inbox, click the <strong>New Message</strong> button. With this method, you'll need to provide the name of the person you want to message.</li></ul><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/OHY6G3G74NBR/start-message-option-1.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/OHY6G3G74NBR/start-message-option-1.png" alt="start_message_option-1.png" height="338" width="1158" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <ul><li>Click someone’s username to display their usercard, and then click the <strong>Message </strong>button to start a conversation with them.</li></ul><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-medium float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/SMXNN4TLI51H/start-message-option-2.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/SMXNN4TLI51H/start-message-option-2.png" alt="start_message_option-2.png" height="425" width="335" loading="lazy" data-display-size="medium" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <ul><li>From a user’s profile, click the <strong>Message </strong>button to start a conversation with them.</li></ul><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/4D4LIN0QILA1/start-message-option-3.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/4D4LIN0QILA1/start-message-option-3.png" alt="start_message_option-3.png" height="196" width="926" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p><strong>Leave a Conversation</strong></p><p>You can leave a Conversation at any time by navigating to it and clicking the <strong>Leave Conversation</strong> button. This will remove the Conversation from your inbox.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/6MC6KPWZHEGZ/leave-conversation.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/6MC6KPWZHEGZ/leave-conversation.png" alt="leave_conversation.png" height="403" width="1101" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h2 data-id="notifications">Notifications</h2><p>Users can choose whether to receive <strong>notifications </strong>about their Conversations: each time a private message is received, users can opt to receive an <strong>email notification </strong>and/or <strong>popup </strong>(this displays directly in the community).</p><p>To manage your Conversation notifications:</p><ol><li>Navigate to the <strong>Notification Preferences</strong> page of your profile.</li><li>Check/uncheck the <strong>Notify me of private messages</strong> boxes to set your preferences.</li><li>Click <strong>Save General Preferences</strong> to apply the change.</li></ol><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/IPEUFXHS9JCB/manage-notifications.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://us.v-cdn.net/6030677/uploads/IPEUFXHS9JCB/manage-notifications.png" alt="manage_notifications.png" height="626" width="1234" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <h2 data-id="ignore-addon">Ignore addon</h2><p>You can also give your users the ability to completely <strong>ignore </strong>other users, blocking their messages, via the <a href="https://success.vanillaforums.com/kb/articles/117-ignore#private-messaging" rel="nofollow noreferrer ugc">Ignore addon</a>. </p><ul><li>Contact Vanilla Support to enable this addon for your community.</li></ul><h2 data-id="moderating-conversations"><strong>Moderating Conversations</strong></h2><p>The Manage Moderation Conversations permission allows Administrators and Moderators to view and manage private messages between users. </p><p><strong>📝 NOTE</strong>: This permission also requires a configuration setting change that must be requested through Vanilla Support or your Implementation PM. This feature should only be available for Administrators and Moderators.</p><p>Once this permission is added and the configuration change is made, an Administrator or Moderator can navigate to a user's <strong>Inbox </strong>via their profile page and see all of their conversations.</p><div class="embedExternal embedImage display-large float-none"> <div class="embedExternal-content"> <a class="embedImage-link" href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_xuzZU0v7C41gDquTzbC0plN701TcF6ivF3eGN1p9K5UZ-51EI-KYSWX7vDTEykPyvcv3f-5LpLmzYAd-N_bKWlyFZIa1J5nXQ22yjiCkEXntCWncDeKnphXnAymsT-JzdIMLlpJ=s0" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener ugc" target="_blank"> <img class="embedImage-img" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/_xuzZU0v7C41gDquTzbC0plN701TcF6ivF3eGN1p9K5UZ-51EI-KYSWX7vDTEykPyvcv3f-5LpLmzYAd-N_bKWlyFZIa1J5nXQ22yjiCkEXntCWncDeKnphXnAymsT-JzdIMLlpJ=s0" alt="_xuzZU0v7C41gDquTzbC0plN701TcF6ivF3eGN1p9K5UZ-51EI-KYSWX7vDTEykPyvcv3f-5LpLmzYAd-N_bKWlyFZIa1J5nXQ22yjiCkEXntCWncDeKnphXnAymsT-JzdIMLlpJ=s0" height="263" width="624" loading="lazy" data-display-size="large" data-float="none"></img></a> </div> </div> <p><br></p> </article> </main>