By choosing the "Member List" option from the Member menu you will be able to find another member's Username and access their Profile. Once the list appears, clicking on the Member's username will take you to a view of their User Profile (the view that is available to all fellow users), as shown in the previous article on Member Profiles.

From here, you can also search for users by clicking on the "Search Users" link below the drop-down (although this is probably more useful for finding other information in their Profile such as family connections).

 

Messaging other Members

The Badham Family History Group website provides its own internal "Private Messaging" system (PMS).

This is like a simple internal email system. All messages are retained on the website server and are only accessible if you are logged-in. You can elect to be notified via your email address of a received message, however you will have to log-in to the website to read the actual message*.

The quickest way to send a fellow member a Private Message is to choose the "View Messages" menu option and then "Compose". This is fine if you know the member's Username, but it is nearly as easy to use the Member List and find the member that way, which may also ensure you are contacting the correct member!

 

View of Another Member's Profile Page:

Much of this page is described in the Member Profiles menu link. However, the quickest way to send a message to the user is to click on the "Messages" link above the Profile background image which will offer a "Send private message" link. This will take you into the "Compose Message" page where you will see the Member's username is already entered.

Compose Private Message with Pre-entered Username:

Once you are familiar with the system and member's usernames, you can use your "View Messages" link from the front page and enter the username into the "Compose" page manually (which is probably faster).

You should be aware that unlike some sophisticated email programs that have "auto save" and other drafting facilities, the Private Messaging system does not allow you to save a draft of your message and you may lose your draft if you navigate away from the Compose page. Even if you stay on the Compose page, you may also be automatically logged-off (the current automated time is 30 mins) if you do not keep your "session" alive by actively working on the system. This is a security feature. In these cases you will probably lose your draft message and will probably have to start again!

If you regularly need to send PMs to a group of users, you can set up one or more "Contacts" lists. From the "View Messages" link (under Member) click on the "Contacts" link in the header. You will be presented with a "Create New Contact List" option (plus a list of previously created lists if already used). After selecting "Create New...", just click on users in the right-hand box and press the arrow button to move them into the left-hand box. Multiple selection can be made by holding down the <Ctrl> key. Remember to give the Contact List a recognisable name before saving - however you can rename lists to suit at any time later.

*If you wish to be notified of messages sent to you via your email address registered with the website, you can click on "Settings" in the footer of the PMS facility and change the way the system works in this regard.