Support Messages

Support messages are a private way for members to contact the moderator. Only those with moderator access can view these messages in the backend. Members can initiate new messages by starting a new issue from the member Support inbox.

There is only one support thread per member so that moderators can easily scroll back and view all communication with a member.

A moderator initiates a response to members' messages from the Communication Center > Support tab.  The Support tab displays details on the status of each incoming message from members including new (not viewed by a moderator), viewed by a moderator, and replied. You will always know the latest status of each message based on all moderator activity.

Search for support tickets via the member's email address or username using the search bar in the upper right.

Each moderator can customize the frequency of their email notifications by going to Account Settings > Notifications on the moderator side of the platform:

Create Support Topics and Message Assignments

Use topics to easily organize incoming messages. Members and moderators must select a Topic for each new message.

Support topics may be assigned to a specific moderator for resolution. For example, you might want all "Technical Issue" messages to be handled by moderator1.  Whenever a message with that topic is received, moderator1 will receive an email notification.

Go to Communication Center > Settings > Support Topics & Assignments. From here, you’ll create topics that members can choose from when they submit support messages.

If you already had existing support topic fields, those are still available, but will not be given an Assigned To or Follow-up Action value. If you want to add an assignment or follow-up action, you will need to delete the previous topic from the list and create a new one with the correct assignment values.

To create a new topic...

1. Enter the Topic name in the first field.
2. You can also choose to assign the topic to a moderator and add a follow-up action. Both Assign To and Follow-up actions are optional.
3. The order of the topics will be the same order the member will see when they are prompted to choose a topic. You can reorder the topics by using the arrows.
4. When done creating and editing topics, make sure to click the Save button.

Support Inbox

Moderators can view all support messages by going to Communication Center > Support. From here, you can see the status of all support messages.

Unread messages are in bold. The message list includes the following details:

• Topic: This hyperlink links to viewing all messages in the thread.
• Member: Username of the member with whom the conversation thread is taking place.
• Last Message: Date and time when the last message in the conversation thread was sent.
• Status: The status column shows the last moderator action. The possible actions include:
  • New: Message received from the member, but has not been viewed by any moderator.
  • Last Viewed: If a moderator has viewed the message (but no reply has been made), the moderator username and date/time stamp will display.
  • Last Replied: If the message has been replied to, this status will show the username of the moderator and the date/time when the reply was sent.
• Assigned To: Username of the moderator that is assigned the message. If not assigned, the column will be blank.
• Follow-up Action: Follow-up actions help all moderators keep track of what needs to be done with the message. The following actions can be applied from the list view:
  • In Progress
  • Pending
  • Review Later
  • Reply Required
  • Client Attention
  • Awaiting Member Reply
• Actions
  • Archive—When archived, the message thread is moved to the Archived list, which can be accessed by clicking Archived next to Viewing at the top of the message list.
    

    Note: Message threads are never deleted. Archiving allows you to move threads to Archived if the conversation is no longer active. If a member submits a new message, the thread will automatically return to the Active list. You can also manually move Archived threads back to Active by clicking “Unarchive” from the archived actions dropdown.

  • Mark as Unread—Change a message back to an unread status. If a moderator needs to reassign a ticket to another moderator, they can reassign the ticket, then mark it as unread so that the second moderator will get notified that they have a support ticket to respond to.
    

    Note: the unread messages count on your Communications Center icon or Support tab will not update until you've logged out and logged back in again.

View/Reply to Support Threads

When viewing a new message, you’ll see the Search by Topic option at the top. This allows you to search a member’s thread by Topic. For example, you can search by “Technical Issues” and view all messages with that Topic in the member’s history of communication with moderators.

Below that, you’ll see the conversation thread with the member with the most recent message at the bottom. If the conversation history is long, you can scroll back to view all older messages.

To reply to the last message using the same Topic...

1. Click the Reply to the last message button and use the text area to compose your reply.
   

   You can also click Start a new thread to add a new Topic and create a new message to the member.

2. Attach one file to a message by clicking the Attachment button and either dragging the file into the box or clicking to select the file from your computer.
   
3. When done composing your reply click the Reply button and the message will be sent to the member. The member will see a new message indicator when they next log in to the community.

Members will receive an email notification when a new reply from a moderator has been sent depending on their notification settings.

Below the message thread, you’ll see the Assigned To and Follow-Up Actions. You can change those options if needed from here. For example, if you need to reassign the message, simply change the Assigned dropdown to another moderator user. If the Follow-up Action is “Replied Required,” the status will automatically change to “None” after a moderator replies. All other action changes must be done manually.

Send a New Message to Members

In most cases, the Support section is used for members who have support issues, but moderators can write private support messages to members as well.

1. From Communication Center > Support, click the + button at the top.
   
2. Enter the username of the member you want to send a message to. As you type, matching usernames display. Select the username and click the + button to add the user. Continue for all members you want to message. You can send the same message to multiple members. This doesn’t create a group message but sends the same message to each member’s support thread, where it becomes an individual message between the member and moderators. The ability to send the same message to multiple members can be helpful if you need to remind 10 members to take a survey, for example.
   
3. Select a Topic. You can choose from existing Topics created in the Settings tab or you can create a custom Topic.
   

   The custom Topic does not create a new general topic in the Communication Center > Settings tab. This new topic is more for your moderation purposes, but it does display to the member, so make sure to keep the wording appropriate. For example, you could call the topic, “Summer Survey Reminder” if you are reminding a member to take a survey.

4. Continue to the Message text area to compose your message. You can also choose to add a Follow-Up Action or Assign message replies to a moderator.
   When these options are selected, replies from a member to this message will be assigned to the selected moderator with the follow-up action selected as well.
5. When ready to send the message, click the Post button. The message will be sent to the members. Members will receive an email notification when a new message from a moderator has been sent depending on their notification settings.