Distance Education : Blackboard Information : Discussion Board Features : View Unread Messages Button

View Unread Messages Button

When you first start finding messages in the discussion board, all messages, both those that you have read (written in black) and those that you have not read yet (written in bold maroon) will be mixed in together.   Click here to see a picture that shows a mix of both read and unread messages.

You can change this view to where those message that you have not read are the only ones that appear on the screen.  Click here to see a picture that shows only unread messages.  Those that you have already read will be hidden from view.  You can view those that you have already read at any time.

There are two benefits of selecting the "View Unread Messages" button:

• Your page loads faster, especially important for those of you who have dial-up or slow connections.
• You don't have to wade through a bunch of messages to find the ones that you have not read yet.  Later when your discussion board has fifty or more messages, you'll appreciate any way to not have to scroll through those that you have already read.

To change the view to where you only see the unread messages, follow these steps:

1. Click on the button.

You are done!  Your page will refresh and you will only see the unread messages.  If you have read all of the messages, then no messages will appear in your view; the part of the screen where you read the messages will be white.  Click here to see a picture that shows only unread messages when you have read all of the messages available.

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