I have one classmate who has posted several boasting messages to the whole class and I cannot figure out how he is doing it! I thought only the admins could send a message to everyone! I have it set up that "announcements" have to be approved. Can I do the same for messages?

It's fine for classmates to send messages to each other, but I want to have control of what they post to everyone!

Thanks!

When a classmate posts a "message" in their own profile, it's treated as a "Message To The Class". In fact, the prompt in that field used to say "Post a message to the class" but now says "Share your thoughts with classmates" since anyone who views your profile can read it.

Maybe Scott can confirm whether posting a message in your own profile will send a notify email to everyone (as it used to suggest), or just to those who are subscribed to your own profile. The notify email I get says it was a "Message to the Class", but I'm subscribed to everyone and that title may be a holdover from the original prompt's wording - and perhaps the design intent at that time.

In any case, it may be after the fact, but if those messages don't meet your site's guidelines or are not appropriate, you always have the option of going to that profile and editing or deleting them.

This topic was recently explored in-depth.

Besides the method John Ralph discusses, there's another way a classmate may be able to send a message to the entire class.

Under Member Functions, if a classmate selects "Message Center," then "Compose Message," he/she can then select "Display all Classmates" and then click on a name to add the member to the recipient list. It's unclear if there is a limitation on how many classmates' names may be selected. If all names can be selected (one by one), then everyone in the class would receive the message.

It appears there's nothing you as an admin can do to prevent a classmate from sending a message in this fashion.

Actually Scott, that method you mention, I believe we set a max limit of about 15 member to prevent abuse. We do not have a way to block them from sending messages. If the member is abusing the site and you find it necessary, the last option is to block them from the site by removing their email address from their profile. You should follow that up with a call to me so I can do a manual log out of the member. They will no longer be recognized as being logged in and when they go to log in again, they will be unsuccessful.

Scott Mastenbrook, I just did an experiment. Using the method I described, I was able to load 30 classmates, one at a time, after which I quit, but I think I could have loaded the entire class. However, it's very tedious, and I have a feeling no one has ever used this method to email the entire class.

Ann Rogers, I think the method John Ralph described must be the one your classmate used.

You could also disable that feature on the PREFERENCES page.

PROFILE PREFERENCES

Post Message to Classmates
[ X ]   Allow Classmates to post a message for all classmates to read on their Profile.
[ ]   Do not allow Classmates to post messages to other classmates on their Profile.

Wow! That's what I need! I will change that setting. Thanks!