# Messages

> From FilmScorecard Help: https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/messages

**Messages** is a tab of each project in [Your projects](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/your-projects.md),
and part of [Creator Pro](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/creator-pro.md). It keeps every message visitors
send through your page's contact form in one table, so you can see who wrote,
reply, and archive what is done. This guide covers the table, reading and
replying to a message, the three statuses, and the tab without Pro.

The tab sits in the project's sidebar between **Scorecards** and **Stats**. On
a project with Pro, an amber number beside **Messages** counts the messages
marked **New**; with none, there is no number.

**Each message is still emailed to you, and still in the bell.** The tab is a
place to keep and sort them, not a replacement for either. See
[Messages from visitors](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/public-page.md#messages-from-visitors) and
[The bell](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/your-notifications.md).

The tab opens under the heading **Messages**, with one line:

> Messages from your contact form. Each one is also emailed to *your address*.

where *your address* is the one you log in with.

**Your messages stay with you.** No festival, judge or visitor sees them or
their status, and nothing is sent to anybody when you change one.

## Without Pro

On a project without Pro, **Messages** in the sidebar carries an indigo **Pro**
pill, and the tab is a single card:

> **Keep every message in one place**
>
> Pro adds a contact form to your page. Visitors write to you without seeing
> your address, and every message lands here and in your email, so you can see
> who wrote, reply and archive what is done.

with **Get Pro** and "$4.99 a month or $39.99 a year for this page". **Get
Pro** opens the Get Pro dialog; see [Creator Pro](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/creator-pro.md).

- **Without Pro your page shows no contact form**, so no new messages arrive.
  See [Messages from visitors](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/public-page.md#messages-from-visitors).
- **Messages you received before you had Pro are in the table** once you get
  it. Each one starts as **New**.
- **When Pro ends, the tab goes back to this card.** Nothing is deleted: your
  messages and their statuses come back if you take Pro again.

## Reading the table

Newest first, one row per message, with these columns:

- **From**: the sender's name, which [opens the message](#opening-a-message),
  and under it their organisation, or their email address when they gave no
  organisation.
- **Type**: every message reads **Message**.
- **Message**: the start of what they wrote, on one line.
- **Status**: **New** (amber), **Replied** or **Archived**. See
  [New, Replied and Archived](#new-replied-and-archived). An archived message's
  row is shaded.
- **Received**: the day and time it arrived, such as `Wed 14 Oct 2026, 08:12`,
  on a 24-hour clock in your device's own time zone.
- **⋯**, at the end of the row: [the row menu](#changing-a-status).

Left of the From column, each row shows its number. It turns into a checkbox
when you point at the row, for choosing several messages at once; on a phone
the checkbox is always there. See [Several at once](#several-at-once).

**On a narrow screen the table scrolls sideways.** The header row stays at the
top, and the checkbox and From columns stay pinned on the left, so you always
know whose message a row is.

**What a visitor typed is shown exactly as typed.** A web address in a message
is plain text, not a link: copy it if you want to open it.

### Finding a message

- **Search**, "Search 12 messages", matches the sender's name, organisation and
  email address and what they wrote, ignoring capitals. **Esc** or the **✕** in
  the field clears it. Changing the search clears any rows you had ticked.
- **Sorting.** Choose the **Type**, **Status** or **Received** heading to sort
  by it, and choose it again to reverse. The table starts on **Received, newest
  first**. **Status** sorts New, then Replied, then Archived. Messages that tie
  are ordered by the sender's name, A to Z. **From** and **Message** do not
  sort.

The line under the table says how many messages there are, how many are new,
what the search matches and how they are sorted: "12 messages, 2 new. 3
matching "harbour". Sorted by received, newest first."

When nothing matches, the table gives way to `Nothing matches "harbour"`, with
"Search by name, organization, email or what they wrote." and a **Clear
search** button.

### A message that arrives while you are here

**The table is as it was when you opened the project.** A message sent while
you have it open is not added by itself: reload the page to see it. It is in
your email and the bell straight away.

## Opening a message

Choose the sender's name, or **⋯** then **Open**. The message opens in a
dialog:

- **the sender's name**, and under it "*Organisation*, message", or just
  "message" when they gave no organisation;
- **their email address**;
- **Received**, with the day and time;
- **the whole message**, with its line breaks kept.

At the foot are **Archive** (or **Move to inbox**, for an archived message)
and **Reply by email**. **✕**, **Esc** or a click outside the dialog closes it
and changes nothing.

**Opening a message does not change its status.** A New message stays New
until you reply to it or mark it.

### Replying

1. Open the message and press **Reply by email**.
2. Your email app opens a new email to the sender, with the subject
   "Re: *project title*".
3. The dialog closes, the message is marked **Replied**, and "Opening your
   email. *Name* is marked as replied." appears.

- **It is marked Replied as soon as you press the button**, whether or not you
  send the email. If you did not, **⋯** then **Mark as new** puts it back.
- **Reply by email needs an email app set up on your device.** If none opens,
  copy the address from the dialog and write from wherever you read your email.
- **Replying from the email you were sent does not change the status here.**
  That email's **Reply** goes straight to the visitor, but this tab does not
  know you used it: mark the message replied yourself.

## New, Replied and Archived

| The status | It means |
| --- | --- |
| **New** (amber) | Every message arrives as New. The amber number beside **Messages** in the sidebar counts them. |
| **Replied** | You pressed **Reply by email**, marked it replied, or moved it back from the archive. |
| **Archived** | You are done with it. The row is shaded, and it stays in the table. |

**A status is a note for you alone.** The visitor is not told when you reply,
mark or archive a message.

### Changing a status

**⋯** at the end of a row opens its menu, with the sender's name and email
address at the top, then **Open**, then:

| The message is | The menu offers |
| --- | --- |
| **New** | **Mark as replied** and **Archive** |
| **Replied** | **Mark as new** and **Archive** |
| **Archived** | **Move to inbox** |

**Move to inbox brings an archived message back as Replied**, not New.

In the dialog, **Archive** says "Message archived." and **Move to inbox** says
"Moved to your inbox."

### Several at once

1. Tick the rows you want. The checkbox in the header ticks every row showing,
   or every matching row while you search ("Select all 3 matching").
2. A bar appears at the foot of the screen: "3 selected", **Clear selection**,
   **Mark as replied** and **Archive**.
3. Press **Mark as replied** or **Archive**. "3 marked as replied." or "3
   archived." confirms it, and the ticks clear.

**Every change shows at once**, in the row and in the sidebar's number. If one
cannot be saved, the row goes back to what it was and "That change was not
saved. Try again." appears.

## With no messages yet

The tab shows **No messages yet**, with one of two lines:

- "Messages from your page's contact form land here." — when your published
  page shows a Contact form;
- "Add a Contact form to your page and publish it to get messages here." with
  **Go to Page** — when it does not: the page has never been published, or was
  published without a Contact form, or with it hidden. Adding the block is in
  [Editing your page](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/editing-your-page.md).

## If the tab does not load

The tab reads **Something went wrong** — "This tab didn't load." — with **Try
again**. The rest of the project works as usual; press **Try again**, or come
back to the tab later.

## Related guides

- [Creator Pro](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/creator-pro.md): getting Pro for a project, the plan line,
  billing and what happens when Pro ends.
- [The public film page](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/public-page.md#messages-from-visitors): the contact
  form visitors fill in, its limits, and the email each message sends you.
- [The bell](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/your-notifications.md): where every message also lands, for all
  your projects at once.
- [Stats](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/stats.md): how many messages, views and visitors your page had.
- [Editing your page](https://www.filmscorecard.com/help/editing-your-page.md): adding the Contact form block to
  your page.