We’re updating Message Reports to make conversations easier to follow, reduce duplicate content, and provide more control over how messages and conversation history appear in a downloaded report.
Please note! The Message Report redesign is coming soon! Continue reading to learn more about what has changed and what you can expect from the updated experience when it is released. For a tutorial of the current report experience, please review: How do I print/download a Message report?
Why are Messages Reports changing?
Previously, when message replies were included in a report, replies would be nested beneath individual messages. This could cause the same messages and replies to appear multiple times throughout a report.
For reports containing longer conversations or a large number of messages, this could result in duplicate content, conversations that were difficult to follow, messages appearing in a confusing reading order, unnecessarily large reports, and, in some cases, reports that were too large to generate successfully.
The redesigned Message Report is intended to make message history easier to read and navigate while improving the reliability of larger reports.
What's changing?
The update introduces new options for determining how messages are organized and how much conversation context is included. The existing Include message replies checkbox is being replaced by new Message formatting and Message context options. The report itself is also receiving an updated header, updated message formatting, and conversation-based organization.
1. Choose how messages are formatted
When creating a report of all messages in a folder, you’ll be able to choose how messages are organized.
- Individual messages displays messages individually in the order they were sent without grouping them by conversation.
- Group by conversation organizes related messages and replies together so you can follow each conversation as a complete thread.
This gives you more control over how your message history is presented depending on how you intend to review or share the report.
2. Choose how much conversation context to include
You’ll also have more control over the amount of conversation history included in your report.
When creating a report within a date range, you can:
- Include only messages within your selected dates.
- Include the full conversation history, including messages outside the selected date range when they’re part of a conversation containing a message within that range.
For example, if you select a September date range and one of those messages is part of a conversation that began in August, Full conversation history can include the earlier messages needed to show the complete conversation.
What if I select specific messages?
If you’re creating a report from messages you’ve selected individually, you’ll have similar options.
- Selected messages only includes only the individual messages you selected.
- Full conversation history also includes other messages belonging to the same conversations as your selected messages.
This allows you to decide whether you need only particular messages or the broader conversation surrounding them.
How will conversations appear in the new report?
When conversation history is included, related messages are visually grouped together and displayed in the order they were sent.
The redesigned report identifies each conversation and numbers the messages within it—for example, Message 1 of 3, Message 2 of 3, and Message 3 of 3. Each message displays information such as the sender, recipient, sent date and time, First Viewed information, subject, and message content.
Example: When messages are grouped by conversation, related messages are displayed together in chronological order, making it easier to follow the complete conversation.
What information appears at the beginning of the report?
The redesigned report includes a Report Details section that makes it easier to understand what information was included when the report was generated.
Depending on your selections, this section can identify the report’s date range, the number of selected messages, how many are shown as full conversation history, and the report’s sort order. The report details also notes that messages within conversations are shown from oldest to newest.
Example: The Report Details section provides information about the contents and organization of the downloaded report.
Will replies still be included?
Yes. Replies aren’t being removed from Message Reports.
What’s changing is how you choose to include them and how they’re organized. Rather than relying on a single Include message replies checkbox, the redesigned report provides options for individual messages, conversation grouping, and full conversation history.
When you choose to include the complete conversation, messages within that conversation are displayed from oldest to newest, making it easier to follow the exchange in the order it occurred.
The redesign changes the organization and presentation of the report; it does not change the underlying message history.
Do I need to do anything differently?
You’ll continue to create Messages Reports from the Messages section of OurFamilyWizard.
Once the redesigned options are available, pay particular attention to Message formatting and Message context. These selections determine whether your report contains individual messages or grouped conversations and whether additional messages are included to provide the full conversation history.
If you need the surrounding discussion for context, Full conversation history allows you to include the other messages belonging to that conversation. If you need only the messages you’ve specifically selected or messages within a particular date range, you can choose the corresponding limited option.