Working with Messages

This section describes how to work with messages from your desktop:

How do I post a message?

  1. Open the Conversation or wall. For more information see How do I open an item?

    A Conversation has the message text box at the bottom of the window. A wall has the message text box at the top of the window.

    Note: If you don't see a text box at the top of someone's wall, you aren't following the person or the person doesn't allow other people to post to his or her wall.

  2. In the text box, enter your message.

    Tip: When you type a hashtag (#) and at least one letter, you see suggestions of hashtags that other people have used. For more information on hashtags, see What are hashtags (#) and how do I use them?

    Controls below the text box offer more options:

    • Select text and click Bold button to format your selection as bold.

    • Select text and click Italic button to format your selection as italic.

    • Select text and click Underline button to underline your selection.

    • Select text and click Remove Formatting button to remove formatting.

      For example, when you cut-and-paste content, it can carry over undesirable formatting from the source. You can easily remove that formatting by selecting it and clicking Remove Formatting button.

    • Click Rich Text Editor button to enter your message in the Rich Text Editor.

      The Rich Text Editor offers a richer set of text formatting tools—for example, bullets and numbering options—to post a more formally formatted message.

    • Click Insert Reference button to add a link to an Oracle Social Network Conversation, wall, or document.

      For more information, see How do I post a link to a Conversation, wall, or document?

    • Click Grab Snapshot button to take a screen shot of your desktop and post it.

      For more information, see How do I post a snapshot of my screen?

    • Click Upload Document button to add a document.

      For more information, see How do I add documents from the Messages or Wall tab?

Note: Under the text box there's also a control to create a new Conversation, split off from the existing item (New Conversation button). For more information, see How do I split a Conversation off from an existing Conversation or wall?

How do I check for unread messages?

  1. Click the appropriate icon in the sidebar to open the object panel. For example, click Conversations tab to open the Conversations panel.

    For a description of the icons in the sidebar, see What is the sidebar?

    The number of unread messages in each object appears in a blue box (Unread messages count) next to the object name.

  2. Filter the view to show only items with unread messages. Click Conversation Options icon, select Only Unread.
  3. Optionally, sort the objects by the number of unread posts. Click Conversation Options icon, select Sort By, then select Unread Posts.

    By default, the list is sorted in descending order (objects with the most unread posts are listed first).

    Note: Your sort settings are saved and applied whenever you view the Conversations panel.

How do I quickly navigate through the messages in a Conversation or wall?

While viewing a Conversation or wall, you can scroll up or down but you can also use a couple features to quickly navigate a Conversation or wall.

  • To jump directly to the previous or next unread message, click the unread messages count in the tab bar, and use the up and down arrows to navigate through the unread messages.

    Find unread messages controls

  • To jump to the top or bottom of a Conversation or wall:

    • On Microsoft Windows, press Ctrl+Home (top) or Ctrl+End (bottom).

    • On Macintosh, press Cmd+Ctrl+Up (top) or Cmd+Ctrl+Down (bottom).

How do I mark messages as read or unread?

In an object panel you can mark all messages for a particular object as read by clicking the number of unread messages in the blue box (Unread messages count) next to the object.

Open the Conversation or wall, use the following methods to mark messages as read or unread:

  • To mark a message as read, click the Unread icon to the left of it, right-click the message and select Mark Message as Read, or click More icon More and select Mark Message as Read.

  • To mark all messages as read, click Unread messages count in the header.

    This number shows how many unread messages there are in the current Conversation. Once you click this number, it resets to zero and all messages in the current Conversation are marked as read.

    You can also click Conversation Options icon, and select Mark All as Read.

  • If you want a message status to be unread, but you've already marked it as read, you can right-click the message and select Mark Message as Unread, or click More icon More and select Mark Message as Unread. This works only with messages others have posted and not your own posts.

Tip: For information on marking messages as read automatically when you view them, see How do I set up when to mark messages as read?

How do I like or unlike a message?

Open the Conversation or wall, click Like icon Like under the message to like it. Click the like icon again to unlike it.

You can also like an item from the Overview panel (click Overview tab in the sidebar).

Tip: To see who has liked a message, click the link that shows the number of people who have liked it.

How do I mark or remove a message as a favorite?

Open the Conversation or wall, click Add to Favorites icon next to the message to mark it as a favorite. Click the star icon again to unmark it.

For information on viewing your favorites, see How do I view my favorites?

How do I flag a message for someone?

Open the Conversation or wall, click the flag icon next to the message to manage flags. For more information, see How do I assign or clear flags?

For information on viewing your flags, see Where can I see all my flags?

How do I reply to a message?

  1. Open the Conversation or wall. For more information see How do I open an item?

    You can also reply to an item from the Overview panel (click Overview tab in the sidebar).

  2. Click Reply icon Reply under the message (or right-click the message, then click Reply) to open a reply entry field.
  3. Add your reply.

    Tip: When you type a hashtag (#) and at least one letter, you see suggestions of hashtags that other people have used. For more information on hashtags, see What are hashtags (#) and how do I use them?

Note: If you don't see Reply button Reply under a post on a person's wall, the person doesn't allow other people to reply to his or her wall posts.

How do I edit a message I posted?

Right-click the message you posted (you can edit only your own messages) and click Edit, or click More icon More and select Edit, to open a text editor and revise the message.

All edited messages show View Changes icon at the bottom of the message. You can click this to see the earlier versions of that message and to open the message for editing.

Notes: For information about the message text editor, see How do I post a message?

How do I delete a message?

You can delete messages you posted or messages on your profile wall.

Note: If you are a service administrator, you can delete any message.

Right-click the message, then click Delete, or click More icon More and select Delete.

To restore a deleted message, locate the deleted message icon (Deleted Message icon) where the message used to be, click Deleted Message icon, then confirm that you want to restore the message.

Note: Only a service administrator, the person who posted the message, or the person who deleted the message can restore the deleted message.

How do I post a link to a Conversation, wall, or document?

  1. Open the Conversation or wall. For more information see How do I open an item?
  2. Under the text box, click Insert Reference button.
  3. In the resulting dialog, select a source for the Conversation, wall, or document.

    • Recent Items—Select from a list of items you have recently interacted with.

    • Recent Documents—Select from a list of documents you have recently viewed.

    • Favorites—Select from the items you have marked as a favorite.

    • Search Results—Enter a search term in the Search field at the top of the dialog; results appear on the Search Results tab.

  4. Select the item you want to link to, and click OK.
  5. Optionally, add your own text to the message.

    Tip: You can add text before you add the link and after.

How do I post a snapshot of my screen?

You can take a picture of your screen and post it to a Conversation or wall.

  1. Open the Conversation or wall. For more information see How do I open an item?
  2. Bring the windows that you want to capture forward.
  3. Under the text box, click Grab Snapshot button to open an image of your entire desktop in the Snapshot Editor.

    This minimizes all Oracle Social Network Desktop windows, and provides you with, by default, five seconds to arrange your desktop for the snapshot. You can configure the waiting period in your settings. For more information, see How do I set the time to delay before a snapshot is taken?

    To skip the waiting period, click Grab Now.

  4. Select the region to snapshot by clicking and dragging over the area you want to use.
  5. Optionally, in the text box at the bottom of the Snapshot Editor, enter a message to include with the image.

    Tip: When you type a hashtag (#) and at least one letter, you see suggestions of hashtags that other people have used. For more information on hashtags, see What are hashtags (#) and how do I use them?

How do I add documents from the Messages or Wall tab?

You can add files from your local file systems. For instructions, see How do I add documents?

How do I split a Conversation off from an existing Conversation or wall?

If your messages start going off-topic or a new question or idea is raised, you might want to split that discussion into a new Conversation.

Open the Conversation or wall, click New Conversation button (under the text box), then complete the information in the dialog. For more information, see How do I split a Conversation off from an existing Conversation or wall?

When you create the new Conversation, messages are posted in both the new and the original Conversations showing a link to the other Conversation.

How do I select the language for system messages for a Conversation or wall?

Imagine that you and your colleagues post messages and documents in one language, but system messages keep appearing in another. You can easily change the language for these messages.

  1. Open the Conversation or wall. For more information see How do I open an item?
  2. Click the Options menu (Conversation Options icon), click <Object> Settings, click Change <Object> Language, then select a new language.

When you change the language for an item, new system messages appear in the new language. System messages posted before the language change remain in the language they were in when posted. Messages, files, button labels, and links are not affected by an item language change.

Note: Selecting a language for system messages affects all members' views of the item.