Model Horse Blab FAQ

Visitor Messages are basically public comments that other members can leave on your Profile Page. You can't control the content of such messages, precisely, but you can control who is capable of leaving them, whether such messages are displayed at all, and/or delete messages that you do not wish to have displayed. Private information should not be left in Visitor Messages, use Private Messages instead.

To disable Visitor Messages, go to My Panel, select "Edit Options" from your left navigation pane, and uncheck the box marked "Enable Visitor Messaging." This will force other members to use PMs ("private messages") or email to contact you, assuming that you have these functions enabled.

If you are concerned that there are a number of people likely to send you unwanted visitor messages, then go to My Panel, select "Options" from the left navigation pane, and then check the box marked "Limit usage of Visitor Messages to Contacts and Moderators." Only mods and people in your contact list will be able to leave you Visitor Messages.

All registered members may send each other private messages (PM's). PM's function like email except that they use Blab's network. You can use Blab usernames to address such messages; and you have the option of decorating your messages just like your posts - with smilies, photos, etc. You can access your Private Messages in your User CP.

You may send a private message to a member of this forum by clicking the 'Send New Message' link in the left navigation pane of your My Panel, or by clicking the username on any post made by that member. When you send a message, you have the option to save a copy of the message in your Sent Items folder.

By default, you will have two folders in your private message area. The Inbox folder contains any new messages you receive, and allows you to view all the messages you have received, along with the name of the person who sent the message to you, and the date and time the message was sent. The Sent Items folder contains a copy of any messages that you have sent, where you have specified that you wish to keep a copy of the message for future reference. You may create additional folders for your messages by clicking the 'Edit Folders' link. Each folder has a set of controls which allow you to select messages, then either move them, or delete them completely.

You will need to periodically delete old messages, as the administrator has set a limit to the number of private messages you can have in your folders. If you exceed the number of messages specified, you will not be able to send or receive new messages until you delete some old ones.

When you send a new private message, you may have the option to request a read-receipt for that message. This will allow you to check whether or not a message has been read by its recipient by viewing the Private Message Tracking page. This page is divided into two sections: unread messages and read messages. When you receive a message with a read-receipt request, you may have the option to read the message while denying the read-receipt request. To do this, simply indicate "no" when prompted to confirm the request, if it appears.

If you want to stop private messages from a particular person, place them on "Ignore." See the Setting Your Ignore List FAQ for instructions. If you are concerned that there are a number of people likely to send you unwanted PMs, go to My Panel, select "Options" from the left navigation pane, and then check the box marked "Receive Private Messages only from Contacts and Moderators." Only mods and people in your contact list will be able to send you PMs.

Blab is not intended to be a replacement for maintaining a list of contacts in your phone book or email client. Keep in mind that if your access to Blab is lost, you will not be able to contact people about pending transactions, if you do not store their contact information somewhere other than Blab. So please do not make Blab your sole means of communicating with individuals about business items.