MESSAGES                      

The SOIN message system is an internal messaging system which allows students, parents, teachers and administrators to communicate within the SOIN system.

CLICK HERE to download the complete SOIN Messages help file with screen shots.

On the user’s homepage, you will see the ‘MESSAGES’ icon at the top of the page.  When the messages icon blinks, that means that there is a new message.  You may also see the animated “Message Click Here” link, which will also take you to the messages page.
 
When the Messages page opens, the messages will be displayed.  

View a Message

To open the message, click on the title of the Message (in red).  To use the menu buttons ‘Reply’, ‘Forward’, ‘Delete’, ‘Print’ and ‘View’, you will need to first check the select box next to the desired Message. 

• • The ‘New’ button will open the message editor to create a new message for more details. 
  • ‘Reply’ will reply to the sender of the selected message.  ‘
  • Forward’ will send a copy of the selected message to other recipients. 
  • The ‘Delete’ button will delete selected messages
  • ‘Print’ will print selected messages
  • ‘View’ will open the selected message to read.

Search for Messages

When you click on the ‘Find’ button, it will open up a search screen to search through the messages for a word or phrase.

1. In the ‘Find:’ field, enter the text you are searching for, such as a keyword or he sender’s name
2. Click on the dropdown menu next to the ‘in the’ field to select where you want to search:  ‘
   • Message’ searches message bodies
   • ‘Subject’ searches the subject lines
   • ‘To’ searches for the user names of the recipients
   • ‘From’ searches for the user name of the sender. 
   • Then select either ‘Inbox’ to search for incoming messages or ‘Sent’ to search in outgoing messages. 
   • You can choose both by checking the ‘Search All Folders’ check box.

Sent Messages

To review messages that you created and sent, click on the ‘Go To:’ dropdown located on the left side of the page.  Click on ‘Sent’ on the dropdown menu to open the sent folder and view the messages you sent to other users.  The Sent folder opens.

Please note the buttons on this page and the addition of ‘Re-Send’ and ‘Stats’ buttons.  The ‘Re-Send’ button will re-send selected messages.
 

Stats

Clicking on the ‘Stats’ button will display statistics about the message.  The Statistics page opens, showing an overview:  total recipients; users who read the message and those who have not.

• Click on the blue link ‘Total # of Recipients:’ to view a list of recipients.
• Click on the blue link ‘# of Users Viewed:’ to view of users who have read the message.
• Click on the blue link ‘# of Users Not Viewed:’ to view of users who have not read the message.
• Click on the ‘Show’ link to view all the statistics on one page.

Create a New Message

To create a new message, click on the ‘New’ button.   This will open a page where you will select the recipients of the message.  You can search by last name by entering the name in the field and clicking on ‘Go’.
 
To send a message to the students (and\or their parents) of a class or classes

• Click on the ‘My Classes’ radio button
• Select the class or classes from the list and by placing a check in the box next to your selections
• To send the message to all the students of the selected classes, click on the ‘Send Message’ button
• To send a message to students and\or parents, click on the ‘Show User List’ button.  The Show User List page opens.
• When the desired recipients are selected, click on the ‘Send Message to Selected Users’ button.  

The Message Editor opens.  The SOIN message editor features tools similar to those found in any email program such as cut, paste, copy, undo and  re-do, spell check, insert hyperlink, find, insert tables and other formatting tools.

• At the bottom of the Message editor, you can attach files by clicking on the ‘Browse’ button in the Attachments sections. 
• Once selected, you must then click on the ‘Attach’ button to complete the process.
• The attached file will appear in the attached window. 
• When the files are attached and the message is complete, click on the ‘Send’ button.

Saving a Draft

When creating a new message, you have the ability to save it as a draft to complete and send at a later time. 

• Click on the ‘Save as Draft’ button to save the message as a draft, without sending it.
• To access the saved draft message, on the main messages page, click on the folders dropdown menu and then select the ‘Drafts’ folder. 
• To edit the draft, click on the message title or check the select box and click on the ‘Modify Message’ button.   The message editor will open.  NOTE:  If you edit a draft and then save it again as a draft, it will appear with two red asterisks (**), indicating that it has been edited.
• Click on the ‘Review and Send Message’ to open the message to review, and then send it.  

Add a Signature

Users can enter a signature that will automatically display on every outgoing message the user sends.  This can be done by clicking go on the drop-down menu located at the top right corner of the page.  The My Signature page opens.

Enter an appropriate signature for your outgoing mail (usually your name and position), and select the style of font then hit save.  The signature will print at the end of each message automatically.

Make a New Folder

1. To make a new folder to file messages
   • Click on the dropdown menu located at the top right corner of the message page
   • The ‘My Folders’ window opens.  Enter the name of the new folder
   • Click ‘Create’.  
2. To change the name of a folder
   • Highlight the folder on the folder on the list at right
   • Enter the new name in the text box
   • Then click on the ‘Rename’ button
   • Click on the ‘Close’ button to close the My Folders page. 

Move Messages to Another Folder

To move messages to another folder:

• Select the desired messages
• Go to the dropdown ‘Move Selected Messages to:’ menu on the right side of the page and select the folder where you want to move the messages.
• When the folder is selected from the drop down menu, the selected messages are moved to that folder. 
• To view those messages, select the folder from the ‘Go To:’ dropdown menu.