In This Article:

• Overview
• Accessing the Message Center
  • For Administrators
  • For Learners
• Navigating the Message Center
  • Folders
  • Tags
• Composing a Message
  • Starting a New Message
  • Compose Form Fields
  • Attachments
  • Saving Drafts
• Reading and Replying to Messages
  • Opening a Message
  • Replying
• Managing Messages
  • Starring Messages
  • Tagging Messages
  • Marking as Read or Unread
  • Deleting and Restoring Messages
  • Bulk Actions
• Who Can Message Whom
• Troubleshooting

Overview

The Message Center is an internal messaging system built into Genius. It allows administrators, instructors, and learners to send and receive messages within the platform without relying on external email. Messages support rich text formatting, file attachments, and organizational features like starring, tagging, and folder-based navigation.

The Message Center is available in both the administrator interface and the learner portal. This article covers how to navigate the Message Center, compose and reply to messages, manage your inbox, and understand who can message whom.

Accessing the Message Center

For Administrators

Administrators access the Message Center from the main navigation menu.

Navigation: Message Center

The Message Center appears as its own top-level menu section in the admin sidebar. Within it, you will see three groups of navigation items:

1. Folders - Inbox, Drafts, Sent Email, Starred, and Trash.
2. Tags - Instructor, Affiliation, and Coach.
3. Actions - Compose (to create a new message).

For Learners

Learners access the Message Center from the learner portal navigation. The same folders, tags, and compose functionality are available, though the list of recipients a learner can message is restricted based on their enrollments (see "Who Can Message Whom" below).

Navigating the Message Center

Folders

The Message Center organizes messages into the following folders:

1. Inbox - All received messages that have not been deleted. This is the default view when you open the Message Center.
2. Drafts - Messages you have started composing but have not yet sent.
3. Sent Email - Messages you have sent to other users.
4. Starred - Messages you have starred for quick reference. Starring a message does not move it out of the Inbox - it simply makes it easy to find later.
5. Trash - Messages you have deleted. Messages in the Trash can be restored to the Inbox.

Tags

Tags provide an additional way to categorize messages. Three tags are available:

1. Instructor - For messages related to instructor communication.
2. Affiliation - For messages related to a specific affiliation or organizational unit.
3. Coach - For messages related to coaching relationships.

Clicking a tag in the sidebar shows only messages with that tag applied. You can apply or remove tags from messages individually or in bulk (see "Tagging Messages" below).

Composing a Message

Starting a New Message

To compose a new message:

1. Navigate to the Message Center.
2. Click Compose in the Actions section of the sidebar. The compose form opens.
3. Fill in the recipients, subject, body, and optionally attach files (see below).
4. Click Send to deliver the message, or Save Draft to save it for later.

Compose Form Fields

The compose form includes the following fields:

1. To - A recipient search field. Start typing a name and select from the matching results. You can add multiple recipients. The placeholder text reads "Add Recipients".
2. Subject - A text field for the message subject line. The placeholder text reads "Add Subject". This field is required.
3. Body - A rich text editor that supports formatting (bold, italic, lists, links, etc.). You can compose HTML-formatted messages.

Note: A draft is automatically created in the background the first time you begin typing in the compose form. This ensures your work is saved even if you navigate away accidentally.

Attachments

You can attach files to a message by using the attachment area below the message body:

1. Drag and drop — Drag a file from your computer onto the upload area. The area displays "Drag and Drop a file here or Choose a File".
2. Click to upload — Click "Choose a File" to open a file picker.

You can attach multiple files. Attached files appear in a list below the upload area with their file name and size. To remove an attachment before sending, click the remove icon next to the file.

Saving Drafts

While composing, you have three options at the bottom of the form:

1. Send - Delivers the message to all recipients and redirects you to the Inbox.
2. Save Draft - Saves the current message as a draft without sending. The button briefly displays "Saved" to confirm.
3. Discard Draft - Permanently deletes the draft and redirects you to the Inbox.

Saved drafts appear in the Drafts folder. Click a draft to reopen it in the compose form, where you can continue editing and then send or discard it.

Reading and Replying to Messages

Opening a Message

Click any message in the inbox list to open it. The message detail view shows:

1. From - The sender's name.
2. To - The list of recipients.
3. Subject - The message subject line. If no subject was entered, it displays as "No Subject" in italics.
4. Body - The full message content, rendered with any formatting the sender applied.
5. Attachments - If the message has attachments, they appear as a list with the file name and size in KB. Click an attachment to download it.

Messages are automatically marked as read when you open them.

To return to the message list, click "Back to Inbox" at the top of the message view.

Replying

From the message detail view, you have two reply options:

1. Reply - Opens the compose form addressed to the original sender only.
2. Reply To All - Opens the compose form addressed to all original recipients.

In both cases, the compose form opens with the recipients pre-filled (shown as tags) and the original message quoted in the body. You cannot change the recipients when replying — to message a different set of people, compose a new message instead.

Managing Messages

Starring Messages

Click the star icon on any message to toggle its starred status. Starred messages appear with a yellow star icon and can be viewed by clicking the Starred folder in the sidebar. Starring is useful for marking important messages you want to revisit.

Tagging Messages

To apply a tag to one or more messages:

1. Select the checkbox next to the message(s) you want to tag.
2. Click the Tag button in the toolbar.
3. Select a tag from the menu: Affiliation, Coach, Instructor, or Remove Tag.

Tagged messages display a colored tag badge in the message list. To remove a tag, select the message(s) and choose "Remove Tag" from the tag menu.

Marking as Read or Unread

To change the read status of messages:

1. Select the checkbox next to one or more messages.
2. Click Mark As Read or Mark As Unread in the toolbar. The button label changes based on the current state of the selected messages.

Unread messages appear with bold text in the message list, making them easy to identify.

Deleting and Restoring Messages

To delete messages:

1. Select the checkbox next to one or more messages.
2. Click Move to Trash in the toolbar.

Deleted messages are moved to the Trash folder. They are not permanently deleted.

To restore messages from the Trash:

1. Navigate to the Trash folder.
2. Select the message(s) you want to restore.
3. Click Move to Inbox. The message returns to your Inbox.

Bulk Actions

You can perform actions on multiple messages at once. Use the checkbox at the top of the message list to select all messages on the current page (the checkbox shows a dash when some but not all messages are selected). With messages selected, you can:

1. Mark As Read / Mark As Unread
2. Tag (apply or remove a tag)
3. Move to Trash (or Move to Inbox when viewing the Trash folder)

Who Can Message Whom

The Message Center enforces different recipient rules depending on the user’s role:

1. Administrators - Can search for and message any user in the system.
2. Instructors/Teachers - Can message learners who are enrolled in sections they teach. If affiliation filtering is enabled, the recipient list is further restricted to learners within the instructor’s affiliation(s).
3. Coaches - Can message learners assigned to them through coaching relationships.
4. Learners (Students) - Can message instructors and teachers, as well as other learners enrolled in the same sections. The recipient search is limited to users the learner has a direct enrollment or teaching relationship with.

Troubleshooting

Use the following table to diagnose common Message Center issues:

⚠ Warning: Recipient restrictions are enforced by the system. If a user cannot find a specific person in the recipient search, it means the relationship (enrollment, coaching, or affiliation) required to message that person does not exist.