Private messages

[Astoria]

I find my message box fills up very quickly, this could be because I am very popular or because I talk too much. Some messages I would like to keep, at the moment I tend to cut and paste and print, but there must be a better way. I notice at the bottom of the the private messages page there is an option to move to folder, with a drop down box saying things like XML, CSV, Text. Would some kind soul explain these options to me, please |help|

[Jan1954]

From the FAQs:

Private Message Folders
By default, you will have two folders in your private message area. These are the Inbox and the Sent Items folders.

The Inbox (http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/private.php) folder contains any new messages you receive, and allows you to view all the messages you have received, along with the name of the person who sent the message to you, and the date and time the message was sent.

The Sent Items (http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/private.php?folderid=-1) folder contains a copy of any messages that you have sent, where you have specified that you wish to keep a copy of the message for future reference.

You may create additional folders for your messages by clicking the 'Edit Folders (http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/private.php?do=editfolders)' link.

Each folder has a set of message controls which allow you to select messages, then either move them to one of your custom folders, or delete them completely. You may also have a button which allows you to forward multiple messages from a folder to another member of the forum.

You will need to periodically delete old messages, as the administrator has probably set a limit to the number of private messages you can have in your folders. If you exceed the number of messages specified by the administrator, you will not be able to send or receive new messages until you delete some old messages.

[Astoria]

Thank you Jan,
I will have a play with the folders.

[MarkJ]

If you are going to delete some messages to free up some space, you can - if you want - save them to your own computer first (handy if they contain useful data for example).
Simply select the messages you want to back up by ticking the box alongside the message for example and then choose to download the message. Unless you have a specific requirement for XML or CSV, I would go for text.
You can download ALL your messages via the option at the bottom of the messages screen if you want.
As far as I am aware, it is a backup of your messages - the originals are still in your Inbox or Sent Message box until you actually select and delete those.

As you suggest Astoria, it is a much better option than cutting and pasting :)

Give it a go - try selecting a couple of messages by clicking the ticky box next to them and then selecting to download them as text (but remember where your computer is going to place the downloaded messages!)

Mark

[Astoria]

Thank you Mark,

Off to the ticky boxes for me ;)