Activate or Deactivate Private Messaging

Turn the Messaging feature on or off for your entire community. When it’s off, no one — staff or members — can send or receive private messages on your website.

Steps

1. Click on the Account tab on the vertical Dashboard menu at the left side of the screen, then click Settings.
2. Under General Settings, find the Enable Chat toggle. Turn it on to activate Messaging, or off to deactivate it.
3. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the page.

Note: The toggle is labeled Chat Enabled in green underneath it once it’s turned on. This setting lives alongside your other organization-wide switches — Allow Public Registrations, Enable Digest, and Member Portal settings — on the same Settings page.

Important: If your community signed up before September 23, 2024, this toggle may not take effect for you automatically. Contact your Onboarding Specialist or file a Support Desk ticket to have Messaging turned on or off, since it was originally handled through internal controls rather than this switch.

Individual opt-out: Even when Messaging is enabled for the whole community, individual members can separately opt out of it from their own Member Profile.