Instant Messages

The Instant Message feature provides a way for you to exchange private discussions with another member. Guests cannot make use of Instant Messages, so if you get a message it is definitely from another Villager.

If you've placed a check in the box next to "New IM Pop-ups" in the Member Options of your profile, you'll see a small notification pop-up on your screen whenever you receive an instant message. Note: The pop-up will appear only when you access a page on the site. Click "OK" to close the pop-up screen, if applicable.

To access your instant messages, locate the "Who's Online?" block on the left column of your screen. Beneath that block, the first line informs you that you are logged in as "yourname". Directly underneath that line is another that says "You have X message(s).” where X is the number of messages awaiting you. Click the number and you'll be taken to your Instant Message screen.

The IM area appears as a grid, displaying the following columns:

From: Indicates whom the Instant Message is from.

Date: Displays the date and site time that the message was sent.

Subject: Shows the subject that the sender chose for the message.

Action: Allows you to Reply to or Delete the message, respectively.

To read the message, click its Subject and the message will appear in its entirety, much like a forum post. From this screen, you can either "reply quoted", reply without quotes or delete the message. The icons for these actions appear at the bottom right corner of the message.

Also underneath the message is the grid that displays all of your messages, just like on the Instant Message main screen. This is a timesaving feature so you don't have to click the Back button just to see your message list again.

At the top of the message grid is a link that says "Send IM". This is only one of the many ways you are able to send an IM to another member. Clicking this link will take you to a message composition area with a drop-down box listing all the members of the site.

An more convenient method might be to access the Memberlist, find the member you wish to instant message, and click the icon under the Actions column to "Send a message" to that member. Still another quick, easy way is to access a forum post made by the member you wish to instant message.

Underneath that members post you'll notice four or five icons underneath that person's "signature". Hover your mouse pointer over each of those icons and a small bit of text will float above the pointer, indicating the action that will occur if you click that icon. Click the icon that says, "Send a message to username", where "username" is the name of the member who wrote the forum post.

When you no longer want to keep a message in your list of instant messages, click the second icon in the Action column next to the message. You may also delete the message as you're viewing it. At the bottom right corner underneath the message body, click the last icon on the right.