ocPortal Tutorial: Correspondence between members
Written by Philip Withnall, ocProducts
At times you'll want to know how to talk to your members privately (i.e. not on the public forum). This tutorial only applies to websites using OCF
– if you're running another forum system, you'll have to consult its documentation with reference to "private/personal messaging". This tutorial covers Private Topics and inline personal posts.Table of contents
Private Topics
The link to start a new Private Topic |
Choosing what kind of whisper to use |
Since version 4.0 Private Topics may involve more than 2 people – a topic is initially between 2 members but other members may be invited.
Inline personal posts (whispers)
Typing in a personal post |
A personal post as displayed |
The whispers are like regular posts but marked as only viewable by the sender and receiver, and nobody else (apart from staff).
Using Private Topics
Starting a Private Topic
Starting a Private Topic is rather easy. There are 3 ways to do it:- Simply go to the member page of the person you would like to converse with, and click on the "Start Private Topic" link in the "Actions" box at the bottom of the page [Example ].
- Alternatively, you could click on the "Whisper" button on the bottom of a forum post by the person with whom you would like to converse; then click on the "Quote post to a new Private Topic with this member" option [Example ].
- It is also possible to start a Private Topic with any member without having to find their exact username or member profile. All you need to do now is to visit your own Account, and select to start a Private Topic; you will then be able to type in the username that you wish to send a message to and ocPortal will search for the username for you.
All 3 methods take you to a standard "new topic" page. Fill out all the fields, and hit "Add topic" to create the Private Topic with your chosen conversant [Example and Example ]. Once your input has been processed, you will be redirected to the newly-created Private Topic [Example ]
The new Private Topic will have also appeared in your Private Topics list, so you can easily access it. To get to your Private Topics list, just click on the "Private Topics" link in either the top bar, or the side menu in OCF [Example ]. The page lists all the Private Topics you have ever started, or been a participant in, in much the same way as a normal forum [Example ].
The Private Topics link |
Creating a Private Topic (1) |
Our new Private Topic |
Creating a Private Topic (2) |
Private Topic notifications
An e-mail notification of a new Private Topic |
Notification of a new personal message |
Replying to a Private Topic
Our Private Topic listed on the Private Topics page |
Deleting Private Topics
Most members do not have permission to delete a Private Topic – this is because unlike "personal/private messages" in some software, a Private Topic is shared.However, there is an alternative mechanism that can be used to achieve the same effect. The two primary members involved in a Private Topic may categorise the topic for their own purposes, and there is a 'Trash' category that exists by default.
To 'trash' a topic:
- click its checkbox (tickbox) in the main "Private Topics" screen;
- scroll down and select "Categorise Private Topics" from the "Topic/poll actions" dropdown list of actions;
- click the Proceed button directly adjacent to the dropdown list;
- click 'Trash' in the 'Category' field;
- click 'Categorise Private Topics'.
If you wish to access the topic again, you can do so from under the "Trash" category shown at the top of the main "Private Topics" screen.
Administrating Private Topics
Super administrators may access the Private Topics of any member from that member's Account .As Private Topics behave in a similar fashion to normal topics, they are moderated and administrated in the same way. There are a set of global privileges relating to Private Topics, that define who may moderate/administrate them. Please see the "Basic forum moderation" tutorial for information on forum moderation.
Using whispers
Replying to a Private Topic |
The button to whisper to a poster |
Fill out the posting form as you would for a normal post, and submit it. You will be redirected to the correct topic, and see your whisper highlighted in the topic view.
When somebody sends you a whisper, you would be notified on receipt just as you would be notified of a new post in a Private Topic.