Private Messaging

When your users can only talk in public

In a forum or a community, not everything can be said in front of everyone. If you don't give users a place to talk privately, they swap email addresses and the conversation leaves your site. When that happens, you lose the thread that kept the community alive. Private Messaging puts a direct-message inbox inside your site, so those conversations stay on it.

The Private Messaging inbox lives on the front-end

Each user opens their inbox from the mail icon in the admin toolbar, wherever they are on your site. Writing a message opens a pop-up window: the recipient field autocompletes usernames, so nobody needs to know anyone's email address. You can write a message without leaving the page you are viewing.

The inbox has tabs for read, sent and archived messages. It also lets users search old messages or view only unread ones. In their settings tab, each user turns on email alerts for new messages. Screenshots can also be shared, and if you administer the site, you can restrict by role who can send images.

Initial setup comes down to choosing the page that will act as the inbox, or letting the plugin create it.

Add-ons you activate only if you need them

The basics can be extended with modules you activate from the settings:

• bbPress integration, to use it alongside your forums.
• Block list, so each user can avoid anyone they don't want to read.
• Role-based control over who can send messages.
• Broadcast of one message to all users at once.
• WYSIWYG editor in the message composer.
• Visual alert when a new message arrives (in beta).

Activate only what your community will actually use: the fewer modules, the less you have to explain to your users.

You can read the messages, and your users should know it

Each user only sees the messages they take part in, but as an administrator you can supervise all communications. That is useful for checking that your community rules are respected. Still, reading private conversations is sensitive: the sensible thing is to state it clearly in your terms of use or privacy policy, before a user finds out on their own.

Each site in the Multisite network has its own messaging

Private Messaging works on Multisite, but messaging is specific to each site. Here is what it covers and what you will have to solve elsewhere:

• Solved: front-end inbox, email alerts, user blocking, role-based permissions and broadcast to all users.
• Solved: supervision of messages by the administrator.
• On your own: messages between users of different sites in the network.
• On your own: the forum. For the integration you need bbPress installed.
• On your own: reviewing messages and enforcing your rules. The plugin gives you access, it doesn't moderate for you.

Frequently asked questions about Private Messaging

Do I need bbPress to use it?

No. It works as a standalone inbox. bbPress is only needed if you want to activate the module that integrates it with your forums.

Can I decide who sends messages?

Yes, with the capability module you limit sending to specific WordPress roles. You can also restrict by role who shares images.

Can I write to all users at once?

Yes, with the broadcast module one message goes to all users.

Can users avoid someone who bothers them?

Yes, with the block list each user decides who they don't want to communicate with.

Does it work for messages between all the sites in a Multisite network?

No: messaging is specific to each site in the network.