Why doesn't my inbox show messages as unread?

[leora_freedman]

Why doesn't my Inbox show messages as unread?  It shows all messages as "read," even if they've just arrived and I have not opened them.

[Bobby2 · Accepted solution]

Hi  @leora_freedman  Welcome to the Canvas Community.

This is according to the Inbox guide https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-12802-4152719678 : 

All unread messages have an indicator next to the message. Once a conversation has been read, the blue dot changes to a gray circle.

Is that what you are after? Your unread messages should have blue. Is that the case?

Sing out if you need  a hand. 

[tami]

I have just discovered that when I filter for "Unread" messages, the new messages -- ones I have never seen -- aren't showing up there.

• I filter for "Unread"
• I hit "Reload current page"
• Nothing shows up -- no messages.
• Then when I change the filter to "Inbox" there are brand new messages that I have never seen.
• Some students had been waiting for days.  This is so aggravating!

Previously, I just had my "Inbox" open all the time.

But then I discovered some new messages stuffed down farther in the inbox -- that I hadn't seen and that had been there a while!  Apparently the Inbox doesn't show the messages with the newest new message at the top!

Is there a way to change that?  (So aggravating!)  This is the reason I thought it would help to filter by "Unread."

I'm doing this:

Select Unread Conversations

To view only unread messages, open the the Inbox drop-down menu [1]. Select the Unread link [2].

[Bobby2]

As far as I know the filter drop down options you highlighted are the only options.

I'm wondering if this guide might be helpful https://community.canvaslms.com/docs/DOC-26366-how-do-i-filter-conversations-as-an-instructor 

[tami]

Thank you, Bobby.

I believe that I understand how to "filter conversations." 

My issues are (1)  the "Unread" filter did not show the Unread messages and showed no messages at all, and (2) the Inbox does not put the latest unread messages at the top, but hides them instead 

I don't think it is a matter of my not knowing how to filter messages.  I guess part of the problem is that "filter" does not seem to mean (in Canvas) what I think it means.

[Bobby2]

Oh I see what you mean. 

Frustrating. 

I had assumed that messages came through chronologically as you did. Unfortunately I don't use it enough to test it thoroughly.

Is it working OK for you now?

[tami]

No it is not working ok.

Summary:

• Inbox -- does not have messages sorted chronologically in the order they arrived
• Unread -- When I filter for "Unread" I get no messages at all, even when there is a blue dot in the Inbox
• Sent -- When I filter for "Sent" I do NOT see all the messages that I have sent. 

I *did* assume that "Inbox" would work like email, and apparently I do not understand what the definitions of "Unread" and "Sent" are, I guess.

Another issue: the "Search" field doesn't work!  It will only find current student names -- not any words and not names or messages from students who dropped, even though I can look in the inbox and see that the messages are still there.  (So *I* can find them -- but they can't be found electronically?)

Also, I guess I didn't state this before, but I have had the same problem you describe in your original question.  There have been times that I have found messages in the inbox that I never read and they are NOT marked "unread" with the blue dot.  I have to actually READ the words in the little preview panel to see if a message looks familiar.  I have gotten in the habit of starting off all my replies with the student's name (Bobby -- Thank you...) so that as I scan down the preview, I know it is a message that I have sent to them, rather than one that they sent to me -- though I really expected the messages that I sent to them to be in "Sent" and NOT in "Inbox" so the entire thing is really confusing (and aggravating!), especially because the little message preview area only shows about 4 words and I can't figure out how to make that sidebar wider and even if I reduce the font size on the page, the entire panel gets smaller, so that doesn't help at all.  AAAaarrrggghh!!!!

End of Rant.  (for now).

Don't feel obligated to reply, Bobby.  Thanks, though!