Using Oncourse CL Messages, how do I send, forward, and reply to messages?

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Using Messages, you can send messages to other site participants, and reply to messages sent by other participants.

On this page:

• Sending a message
• Forwarding a message
• Replying to a message

Sending a message

To compose and send a message:

1. In your site's menubar, click Messages.
   
   
2. On the Messages screen, or while viewing the contents of a Messages folder, click Compose Message.
   
   
3. Next to "To", use the list to select the individual(s) or group(s) you want to receive the message. To select multiple participants, use Ctrl-click (in Windows) or Cmd-click (in Mac OS X). You can also choose to send your message to the entire site, or to all users with a particular role (e.g., all instructors or all assistants).
   
   
4. Next to "Send Cc", check Send a copy of this message to recipients' email address(es) if you want this message sent to both the recipients' Oncourse accounts and their email addresses.

   Note: When you send your message using the Send a copy of this message to recipients' email address(es) option, the following occurs:

   • Your message goes directly to the recipients' email addresses. However, the From address in the email message will indicate the message was sent from the Oncourse system, and recipients will be unable to reply to you using their email programs.
   • A copy of your message is saved in recipients' Received folders in Messages.
   • A copy of your message is saved in your Sent folder in Messages.

     Note: IU Webmail users may have difficulty reading messages sent from Messages to their email addresses. In Webmail, an Oncourse CL message will appear as a link labeled unnamed that you must click to read the message text. As a workaround, instructors can use the Email Archive to send email to all course participants to let them know what to do when they receive messages (from Messages) in IU Webmail.

   Note: To turn off the option to send messages to recipients' email addresses, see Viewing and managing messages. If this option is turned off, you will not see the "Send Cc" option.

5. Under "Label", use the drop-down list to change the priority status for your message.
   
   
6. Next to "Subject", type the subject of your message.
   
   
7. Under "Message", use the WYSIWYG editor to compose your message.

   Note: Pasting text from Microsoft Word directly into the WYSIWYG editor may result in garbled output, even if the text appears correct in the editor. Instead, to insert formatted text from a Word document, click the Paste from Word icon, place your cursor in the subsequent "Paste from Word" text box, and then press Ctrl-v in Windows, or Cmd-v on a Macintosh, to paste your copied text. Using Ctrl-v (or Cmd-v) to paste is the best method for preserving the formatting of the original Word document. Click OK to add the text to the item you are composing.

8. Under "Attachments", you can attach a file from your local computer or from Resources, or specify the URL for a file on the web. For instructions, see Options for adding attachments.
   
   
9. When you're finished, click Send to send your message or Cancel to cancel your message.

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Forwarding a message

To forward a message to another recipient:

1. In your site's menubar, click Messages.
   
   
2. On the Messages screen, click Received to view the messages you've received.
   
   
3. Find and click the message you wish to forward.
   
   
4. Click Forward.
   
   
5. The text of the original message is included in the WYSIWYG editor. To edit and send the forwarded message, follow steps 3 through 9 in Sending a message above.

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Replying to a message

To reply to a message someone sent to you:

1. In your site's menubar, click Messages.
   
   
2. On the Messages screen, click Received to view the messages you've received.
   
   
3. Find and click the message to which you're replying.
   
   
4. Click Reply or Reply to all.
   
   
5. To compose and send your reply, follow steps 3 through 9 in Sending a message above.

   Note: The original message is automatically included in the reply.

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Feature demonstrations

• Send a message
  
• Read and reply to messages
  

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