PaperBackSwap :: Help Item - How do I contact another member?

PBS has a Personal Message (PM) system to allow members to communicate with one another. Clicking a or button will open an empty (new) PM text box. Type into the text box and click Send Personal Message. Personal Messages can be read in My Account (as below). You can also communicate with other members in the Discussion Forums or in PBS Chat.

To get to your PMs:

Click Personal Messages in the dropdown menu under My Account at the top of the page OR
Click the Personal Messages tab on the My Account page OR
Click the Personal Message item in the 'To Do List' checkmark on the upper right of any page on the site. (if you don't have a checkmark there, then you have no active items, including no unread PMs.)

To read a PM:

click the title of the PM in the list, and the page with the message (and the reply box) will come up.
If this is a PM "conversation" all PMs will show on the page that comes up; the latest will be at the bottom.

To Reply to a PM:

Type into the Reply box below the PM message and click Send.

To Delete a PM:

Click the Delete button on the open PM message, or check the box to the left of the PM in the list and click Delete at the top of the list.

If you are trying to contact a member you are swapping with (or have swapped with):

Click on the active transaction on My Account (on the Books to mail or En Route to Me or Books I've Mailed or Requested From Me tabs, which are under the Message from the Librarian).
- if you are the requestor, sending a PM from a request "waives" the 1-hr delay in request submission, and submits your request to the sender immediately.
Click on the past transaction (canceled, completed, "received with a Problem" or Lost) on your Transaction Archive page (accessible from the dropdown menu under My Account in the toolbar)

If you are trying to contact a member from a Discussion Forum posting:

Click under the name of the member on his or her Forum Post.

If you are trying to contact a Buddy:

Click beside his or her name in your Buddy List

Your Buddy List is a tab in the My Account view; it is also an item in the dropdown menu from My Account in the toolbar at the top of any page on the site.

If you are trying to contact a member from a PBS Profile:

Click at the top of the PBS Profile
You can find profiles in the Member Directory OR by clicking a member's highlighted Nickname on her Discussion Forum post OR by clicking her highlighted name in the To or From field of a PM (if the member does not have a PBS Profile, clicking her highlighted name in a PM will take you to her bookshelf)

If you are trying to contact a member from the Member Directory:

You must search there by Nickname to be sure you are finding the correct member
Members who do not have PBS Nicknames do not appear in the Directory
The Member Directory is in the dropdown menu under Community in the toolbar at the top of any page on the site
Click beside the member's name in the search result that comes up.

Note: the Personal message system may not be used for obscene, rude or harassing messages, or sending multiple unsolicited messages to members (this is considered spam). If you spam by PM and we receive a complaint, you will be warned. If you repeat the offense after being warned, your membership will be terminated permanently.

Note: It is not all right to contact a member by means outside of the Personal Message system, unless he or she has given you permission.