Help:Message Wall

Message Wall is a communication tool that allows you to send public messages to other users.

Leaving messages
To start a new conversation: To reply to an existing conversation: To quote a previous message:
 * Simply go to the profile of the person you want to talk to and click their "Message Wall" tab, or simply type "Message_Wall:Username" in your URL box, but instead of "Username", put the name of the user you want to talk to.
 * Enter a subject line for your message where it says "What's this about?" This will help you identify the conversation when you need to come back to it later.
 * This "title" is not required. You can send a post without a title. A message wall post without a title will automatically show "Message from Username".
 * Enter the text of your message in the area below.
 * Use wikitext or source mode buttons to format your message or add photos or videos.
 * Click "Post."
 * Click on "Post a reply" at the bottom of the conversation
 * Enter your message in the field that appears.
 * Click "Reply."
 * Hover over the message you would like to quote.
 * Click "Quote," and the message will be quoted and added to the reply box. You can then add your response below the quoted text. This is especially helpful when replying to an earlier reply.
 * Quote example.png

Editing messages
You can always edit messages that you've posted. Administrators and discussion moderators have the ability to edit all messages if needed.

To edit a message:
 * Hover over the message and click the "more" button.
 * Click "Edit" in the dropdown menu and then you can edit the message and the title to however you want.
 * If you're happy with the changes you've made to the message, click "Save changes". It will display who made the edit to the thread once the change has been submitted.



Removing messages
On a Message Wall, a user can remove and restore a message that they posted. Admins and discussion moderators can remove and restore messages from any users, which is useful for cleaning up vandalism, sensitive information, or inappropriate comments. Users can also close or remove messages posted on their own message wall.

To remove a message:
 * Hover over the message and click the "more" button.
 * Click "Remove" in the dropdown menu.
 * In the screen that appears, provide an explanation for why you are removing this message.
 * If you need additional help from an admin, click "Notify an admin." (This isn't necessary for every removal.)
 * Click "Remove."

Viewing history and restoring messages
The easiest way to find a message that has been removed is to go to the history. If you're trying to find a removed thread, you can find it listed in the Wall's history. If you're trying to find a removed reply, you need to go to the thread's history.
 * Go to the Message Wall page and click "History" in your toolbar.
 * Scan through the history for the record of the thread being removed. Click on the message.
 * You will be brought to the message page. You can click "Restore" at the top of the page to bring it back.
 * Click the "More" menu at the top of the conversation.
 * Select "History" from the menu that appears. This will take you to the thread history.
 * Scan the history for a record of the reply being removed. Click on the message number.
 * You will be brought to a view of the removal reason, with the option of restoring the reply.
 * Note that users cannot restore messages on their message wall if the messages were removed by an administrator or discussions moderator, unless they themselves have administrator or discussions moderator rights.

Closing and deleting Threads
On a Message Wall, admins and discussions moderators have the option to close a thread to prevent further replies. A user also has this option on their own Message Wall.

To close a thread: Most of the time, simply closing or removing a thread is enough. However, in some cases, admins may also want to delete the thread so other users can no longer view or restore it (as with highly offensive vandalism or sensitive personal information). Only admins have this option available. Note: Prior to deleting a thread, the messages should be edited to remove any links or templates in the message. Otherwise, the thread will still be listed in the "What Links Here" report for the page, category, or template, resulting in unnecessary entries in the Wanted Reports that will not disappear until the thread is undeleted, edited, and re-deleted. This is because deleting a thread only prevents it from being viewed by regular users through the Message Wall; it does not delete the pages containing the messages themselves.
 * Hover over the first message in a thread and click the "More" button.
 * Click "Close this thread" in the dropdown menu.
 * In the screen that appears, provide an explanation for why you are closing the thread.
 * Click "Close".
 * First remove the thread.
 * Then find the removed page through your wall or thread history pages (as described above).
 * When viewing the removed thread, click the "More" link on the thread and choose "Delete".
 * Leave an explanation for why you have deleted it.
 * Click "Delete."

How to enable Message Walls on a community

 * If you're an admin of your community, click the "Admin" link on the toolbar at the bottom of your screen.
 * Click the Wiki Features icon in your Admin Dashboard.
 * Message Wall is found near the bottom of the pages "Features" section.
 * Click the "Disabled" toggle so that it changes to "Enabled".

Special considerations

 * If you enable Message Walls, it will replace user talk pages in your community's user profiles. Your user talk pages will be archived and the User talk namespace will redirect to Message Wall namespace.
 * If you disable Message Walls after it's been running on your community, it will hide from view. This means existing conversations will not be visible until this feature is enabled again. Disabling Message Walls will restore user talk pages.

Extra features

 * Greetings: You can create a welcome message at the top of your wall by adding content to the page " "
 * Example: The page  would contain the greeting for.
 * View Source: If you would like to be able to see the source code of other people's messages, you can enable View Source in your preferences. Just go to the "Under the Hood" tab, and you'll see it under "Advanced Display Options." This will add "Source Mode" to the menu that appears on each message. On wikis where the Message Wall extension is disabled you cannot modify the view source on threads preference.

Next pages

 * Learn about your profile
 * Learn how to work with wikitext

Further help and feedback
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