Messages

The Message tab shows direct message threads between students and staff (teacher/admin) — separate from Discussions, which are group/channel conversations. A thread is always started by a student; staff can only reply to existing threads, not initiate new ones.

Accessing Messages

1. Click the inbox icon in the top navigation to open your notifications panel.
2. Click Full Inbox at the bottom of that panel.
3. Select the Message tab.

There’s no direct “Inbox” nav link — you always go through the notification icon first. See Inbox for the full access flow.

What the Messages List Shows

Column	Description
Student	The student who started the thread
Subject	The topic/subject line
Status	Open or Resolved
Last activity	Timestamp of the most recent reply
Replies	Total number of replies in the thread

Filtering & Searching

Filter	Shows
All	Every thread regardless of status
Open	Active threads awaiting a response
Resolved	Threads marked as resolved

Note

There is no “Closed” status — a thread only ever exists as Open or Resolved.

The search bar filters by subject line only — it doesn’t search message body content.

Opening a Thread

Clicking a thread opens the full conversation, shown oldest-to-newest. The student’s first message appears at the top of the same list as all later replies — there’s no visually separate “original message” block, it’s just reply #1.

Replying to a Thread

A text box is always visible at the bottom of the thread — there’s no button to click to reveal it first.

1. Type your reply, or click the mic icon to dictate it via speech-to-text.
2. Optionally attach a single image.
3. Press Enter, or click the up-arrow icon that appears once you’ve typed something. There’s no button labeled “Send.”

The student is notified automatically only when staff replies. If a student replies to their own thread, no notification is generated — there’s no one else to notify.

Note

If a thread is marked Resolved and the student replies again, it automatically flips back to Open.

Editing & Deleting Messages

Action	Own message	Someone else’s message
Edit	✅ Anyone can edit their own reply	❌ Nobody can edit another person’s reply — not even an admin editing a student’s message
Delete	✅ Anyone can delete their own reply	✅ Teacher/admin can delete a student’s reply. ❌ A student cannot delete a staff member’s reply
Delete whole thread	The student who started it, or a teacher/admin, can delete the entire thread	A student who didn’t start the thread cannot delete it

In short: editing is strictly “your own only” for everyone, but deleting gives staff broader rights than students.

Student’s message, from the admin side — admin can delete it, but not edit it:

Admin’s own message, from the admin side — admin can edit and update it:

Managing Thread Status

Caution

Not currently available in the live app — there’s no visible control to mark a thread as Resolved or reopen it, even though the underlying capability exists in the codebase.

If this is re-enabled: status only ever toggles between Open and Resolved (never a third “Closed” state), and only teacher/admin roles can change it — students can see the status badge but can’t change it themselves.

Unread Tracking

Threads have a per-staff-member unread indicator, visible to teacher/admin roles only — students don’t see an unread count on their side.

Note

Reaction emoji buttons may appear on replies, but they’re currently visual only — they don’t persist or do anything yet.

Tip

Keep the Open count low — respond to open threads promptly. Since a Resolved thread automatically reopens if the student replies again, “Open” threads represent genuinely pending conversations. A quick response builds trust and engagement.