Messages

Coaches reach each other through Messages in Wrestling Aide, so nobody has to publish an email address or phone number. Each message is also emailed to the people it’s for, and replies come back the same way.

Write to a host or a team

Open the event, or the team’s post on Teams Looking.
Choose Message the host (or Message this team on a post). On an event it’s in the row of buttons under the title, and also in the Contact section when the host keeps their email and phone private. On a phone, Message also stays at the bottom of the screen.
If you post for more than one organization, pick who you’re Writing for, or Just me. With one organization, the dialog says which one you’re writing for.
Write your message, up to 4,000 characters. Leave Share my email and phone with them checked if you’d like them to be able to call or email you directly. Either way, they can reply in Wrestling Aide.
Choose Send message. The conversation opens in Messages.

You need to be logged in. Logged out, the button reads Log in to message the host; after you log in you come back to the same page with the message box open. Parents and fans can message hosts too; they just don’t pick a team.

Writing to the same host about the same event again continues the conversation you already have.

Who reads it

A conversation is between you and the organization. Everyone who posts for that organization (contributors and admins) can read and answer it in their Messages. The email goes to the person who posted the event or post and to the organization’s admins.

When anyone at the organization replies, you get an email and the conversation shows as unread in Messages.

How coaches reach you

Each event and team post chooses How coaches reach you, in the Contact part of the event form and the post form:

Through Wrestling Aide messages (your email and phone stay private): the default. Coaches see the contact’s name and a Message the host (or Message this team) button.
Show my email and phone on the event page (or on the post): the email and phone show to everyone, as tap-to-call and tap-to-email links, and the message button is still there.

With the private choice, the email and phone are hidden from everyone outside your organization: on the page, in the List view, and in the CSV download. Calendar files and calendar feeds leave them out for everyone and say “message through the event page” instead. Your organization’s members still see them on the page, with the note “Only your organization sees these; other coaches message you.”

Message the teams that fit your event

Hosts can write to every team whose post fits their event at once.

On your event’s page, choose Teams Looking in the menu on the left, or use the Your event is posted panel right after posting.
Choose Message teams (or Message the teams that fit). The dialog lists each fitting team, all checked; uncheck any you don’t want.
Edit the message. It starts with the event’s name, dates, city, and link.
Leave Share my email and phone with them checked if you’d like them to call or email you.
Choose Send to N teams.

The page confirms “Sent to N teams. Their replies arrive in Messages.” Each team gets its own conversation and an email, sent to the coach who made the post and the team’s admins. Replies come back to you.

The Messages page

Messages is a tab at the top when you’re logged in. The number next to it counts conversations with messages you haven’t read.

The list on the left shows every conversation, newest first, with unread ones in bold: who it’s with, when the last message came, what it’s about, and the start of the last message.
Choose one to open it. It shows what the conversation is about, with a link to the event and to the team’s post when there is one. Opening it marks it read.
Each message shows who wrote it and when. When someone shared their contact, it shows under their message as “Shared contact:” with their email and phone.
Type in Reply and choose Send. The bar above the box makes text bold or italic, starts a bulleted or numbered list, or adds a link; the message keeps that formatting in Messages and in emails. Check Share my email and phone first if you want to share them; it starts unchecked for replies.

On a phone, the list and the open conversation take turns; All messages goes back to the list.

Emails

Every new message is emailed, with a Read and reply button that opens the conversation. The subject names the writer, their team, and the event or post, like “Pat Lee (Pierz Wrestling) wrote about Pierz Invitational”. The email shows the whole message with its formatting.

Rules and limits

You can’t message your own organization’s event or post.
Messages can be up to 4,000 characters.
Message teams only reaches posts that are still open and whose dates haven’t passed.
Conversations stay in Messages; there’s no delete.