New messaging interface
Clicking the speech bubble icon next to your profile (top right) will reveal a new interface for messages. The new slide in/out messaging drawer on the right brings greater control over who can message you along with the ability to:
- Star conversations you use often.
- Engage in group messaging.
- Delete messages from group conversations for you and everyone else in the group.
- Mute conversations in groups or in your personal conversations (as well as email digests for these conversations).
The link ‘See all’ at the bottom of the drawer allows you to navigate to the full messaging page where there is an improved two column layout.
In the Starred messaging section there is a new personal messaging space for to-do lists, draft messages or reminders, which are only visible to you.
Messaging groups of students
When you create a group in a course, you can choose to allow group messaging for that specific group by checking the relevant box in the group settings. You can then message that group from the messaging drawer on the right.
Forums
Inline editing in forums
When starting a new discussion topic or replying to threads, the form opens inline in the page to allow you quickly start a discussion or reply to other threads. Click Advanced for options that are not available in the inline editing interface.
Reply to threads privately
When replying to someone in a thread, you can now choose for your reply to be private and only visible to the person you are replying to by ticking the relevant box next to the Submit button.
Star and sort threads in forums
Discussions can also be starred from the three dots to the right or by clicking the star on the left of the discussion. It’s also possible to sort discussions in a forum based on the number of replies, the date of the last post.
Pin and lock discussions
From the three dots to the right of each discussion you can choose to pin important discussions that you want to appear at the top of the list and also lock older discussions for which you don’t want to allow more conversations. Locked discussions will display a padlock on the right-hand side.