_index.en.md

---
title: "Write messages"
date: 2020-07-15T18:10:07+02:00
draft: false
chapter: true
weight: 30
---

## Find people and send direct messages

To write to individual persons and thus create a 1:1 chat, first click on the + in the category "Direct messages":

![Click on the Start Chat button](/images/01_Start-Chat_en.png)

Now type in the search field and start typing the email address of the person you want to find:

People who already have an account in Matrix can also be found by their display name (usually "first name last name"). Please wait 5 seconds after each last entered character until the search results are displayed. Persons who have not yet logged in can only be found via their e-mail address or their ZIH login. The link button "Show More" will display further search results. Please also note on which server your searched person is displayed.

{{% notice note %}}
Inserting e-mail addresses (e.g. via Ctrl+V) is not enough to find people! Please enter the characters of the e-mail address by hand, character by character and wait 5 seconds until the hits are displayed.
{{% /notice %}}

![Result added to the people invited to the chat](/images/99_Find-Neo_de.gif)

For the mass invitation of persons (up to 100 at once, then repeatable) the matrix names are necessary, which should be in the form @University-Login:matrix.fbi.h-da.de. Collect them e.g. in a text editor line by line and then paste them into the search field in Matrix/Element using the clipboard (copy & paste).

If you cannot find anyone, ask for their username or share their username (@University-Login:matrix.fbi.h-da.de) or https://matrix.to/#/@_Your_University-Login_:matrix.fbi.h-da.de, so that the person addressed can contact you within Matrix.

An invitation e-mail is not sent by Matrix.

Note that Matrix accounts may not be checked by University function logins. Due to the novelty of the medium for many and the missing multi-account functionality of the Matrix client element, Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences employees may prefer to use their personal ZIH login.

In the search result, click on the target person and then on Go:

![A search result for the search query entered](/images/04_Found-and-Go_en.png)

The conversation opens, which can begin after the connected person accepts the invitation [end-to-end encrypted]({{< relref "encryption" >}}) (meanwhile standard). The connection to the server at the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences is of course also transport-encrypted. If you explicitly do not want end-to-end encryption for a special reason, an unencrypted room and invite the conversation partners to it.

Further: [formatting messages]({{< relref "formatting.en.md" >}})

A room with itself is also possible and can be used as clipboard / notebook and for tests, e.g. whether formatting and hyperlinks look correct.