If there is a message waiting for a Moodle forum user, you have the optino to read it or ignore it.

If you read it, the browser tab you are in is replaced by the message screen. If you ignore it, then eventually you will be forced to read it in order to ignore it.

I think two things ought to be improved in this system:

1. If I decide to read a message, it should open in a new browser tab, so that I do not have to figure out where I was in Moodle. Having a separate tab to read messages would allow me to stay on the page I am on in Moodle and have another tab for message reading. This seems like a simple fix.

2. If I ignore a message, I should be able to decide if I EVER want to read the message and ignore it permanently or shelve it for later without having to actually read the message. Many times in Moodle, messages are auto-generated, and as a teacher, I might want to read some, but not all of the messages that are waiting. Currently, I have to open the messages and read them all in order to dismiss the popups.