Conversations
The list of conversations is on the left, and the one you open is on the right. Newest activity is at the top. Each row shows:- who sent the latest message, and when
- the subject, and the first line of the latest message
- which mailbox it arrived in, and how many messages it holds
- closed, spam or archived when it is one of those
- the name of the person it is assigned to
Filters
The panel beside the list filters by Mailbox, Assigned to and Status, with a count beside each choice.
Changing a filter closes the conversation you had open.
Saved views
Under Views, press + Save current view and give it a name to keep the filters you have set. Press the name later to put them back. Your saved views are yours alone; nobody else sees them.Which mailboxes you see
Each mailbox is either open to everyone who can See Communications, or restricted to named people and roles. Organization admins can always read every mailbox. A mailbox you cannot read does not appear anywhere for you: it is not offered as a filter, its conversations are not listed or counted, and they do not appear on a person’s record either. Two colleagues can open the same person and see a different number of conversations. Who can read which mailbox is set on Inboxes.Unread and read
Opening a conversation marks it read, if you can Change Communications. If you can only See it, it stays bold, so your colleagues can still tell that nobody has dealt with it. Mark unread puts it back in bold. A new message arriving in a conversation marks it unread again, and sending a reply marks it read.Reading a message
Each message shows who sent it (with their address), and when. Messages you and your colleagues sent show as You. A message with formatting shows in a box that you can make taller by dragging its corner. Show plain text shows the words alone, and Show the formatted version goes back. Pictures from the internet are hidden until you press Show images, because loading them tells the sender that you opened the message. Attachments are listed under the message by file name and type. When the checks mail servers run on a sender fail, the message carries the line We could not verify this came from who it says it did. Treat it with care: the From address may be forged.Replying
You need Change on Communications to reply. The box under the conversation is Your reply, with buttons for bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, links, headings, quotes, lists, a divider and a table. Your own email signature is already in the box when it opens. You set it on your account. Send reply becomes available once you have written something besides the signature. Your reply goes to whoever wrote the last message. When the last message was yours, it goes to the same people as that one. You cannot change who a reply goes to; to write to somebody else, start a new message in Compose. A reply cannot carry attachments. After it is sent, the page says Sent to and the address, and the box is ready for another reply.Inserting a template
Insert a template… lists your active message templates. The template goes in above your signature, filled in from the people and records this conversation is linked to. Suggested links do not count until someone confirms them. Anything the template asks for that the conversation cannot supply stays in the reply as it was written, and the page lists it: Still to fill in: followed by the placeholders. When no person is linked, it adds Linking a person to this thread fills their details.When a reply is not sent
- This organization cannot send email yet. Outgoing mail is paused. See Sending.
- The address is on the do-not-send list. The message names the address. See Compose for what puts an address there.
- Your reply was saved but not sent, followed by the reason the email provider gave. The reply is kept in the conversation so you can see what you wrote.
What the other person receives
Your reply comes from the address shown on Sending, and answers to it come back to this mailbox. The subject ends with a short reference in square brackets, and the bottom of the message carries the line##- Please type your reply above this line -## with the same reference. That is how their answer finds its way back into this conversation. Neither is shown in the conversation here.
Assigning, closing and archiving
These controls sit above the messages, for people who can Change Communications.Merging two conversations
Sometimes an answer arrives as a conversation of its own. Merge joins it to the one it belongs to.1
Open the conversation that should not be on its own
Merge is offered only when there are other conversations in the list you are looking at.
2
Choose the conversation it belongs to
Pick from Choose a conversation…, then press Merge.
How mail finds its conversation
When a message arrives, it joins an existing conversation only on firm evidence, tried in this order:- The reference carried in the subject or at the bottom of every message you send. An answer carrying it joins that conversation, however old.
- The reply details that mail programs add, matched to a message in the same mailbox.
- A message that says it is a reply (its subject starts with “Re:” or it carries reply details), from an address that has exactly one conversation in this mailbox with activity in the last 30 days.
How mail is matched to a record
The names under a conversation’s subject are the records it is linked to: people, animals, organizations, adoption applications and form submissions. Press a name to open that record.
Press the tick beside a suggestion to confirm it, or the cross to drop it. When two people share the sender’s address, nobody is suggested, because either could be the one writing.
When no person is linked yet:
- Add (the sender’s name) as a person makes a new person with the sender’s name and address, and links them.
- Link a person finds someone already on file and links them. Check here first: most people who write in are already on file, perhaps under another address.