This window is used to create and send messages to other people working at your feedlot. It is also used to read messages sent to you. You can open this window directly to work with messages. Also, each time you log in to Fusion, it will check to see if you have any new messages and offer to open this window if you do.
There is a menu button bar at the top of the window which has the main functionality of the window.
Below the menu button bar is the mode button bar where you can choose which mode you want the window to be in.
When you are in the received messages mode, the rest of the window will be divided into three areas. On the left there is a list of everyone who has sent you a message along with a count of messages they have sent. This list is affected by the View Options you currently have selected. At the top of this list, there is an entry for All Users which combines all messages in on place. This is usually all you care about since you normally only care to look at unread messages no matter who they are from. But if you are looking for an older message, it may be easier to select a specific person to filter the messages before looking.
If you see a user with the label System (Fusion), these will be messages that Fusion itself sends when trying to get your attention. Usually this means something has gone wrong and it is notifying you of the issue so it can be resolved.
In the upper right pane you will see a list of messages. Before a message is read it will show up in boldface in this list. Once you have read the message, it will show in plain text.
When you select a message, the message content will be shown in the bottom right pane.
In draft mode, the list on the left hand side works similarly to the way it did in received messages mode, except that it will show users you have addressed the messages you are currently working on to.
The upper right pane shows a list of the messages you have started. When you select a message to work on, the bottom panes can be used to decide who the message will be sent to and to enter the message itself.
The left pane on the bottom is where you select the message recipients. This pane can be hidden by clicking the long vertical button that acts as a separator between these two bottom panes. Clicking it again will show this area. To add a person as a recipient, mark the checkbox next to their name. You can use the Select None and Select All buttons to quickly de-select or select all possible recipients.
The right pane on the bottom is where you type in your message. If you are on a touch screen computer, click the Touch Keyboard button to bring up the touch screen keyboard for easier typing. Fusion will use the first line you enter as the subject for the message when it is sent.
In sent messages mode you can view all the messages you have sent. You can also see whether a message has been read by the recipient. Again, the left hand list works the same as before, only it lists the people you have sent messages to. The pane on the top right shows a list of messages that have been sent (or will be sent if they have a future date—you can still change the date one of these messages will be sent on from here.)
When you select a message, the message content will be shown in the bottom right pane. The bottom left pane will show a list of recipients and tell you when each of them viewed the message. This pane can be hidden the same as in draft mode.
You can open this window by going to Fusion Core → Misc → Message Center.
