---
title: Messages
description: A message is a single personalized email sent to one subscriber from a campaign. When you send a campaign to 1,000 subscribers, Laravel Mail Platform creates 1,
---

# Messages

## What Are Messages?

A message is a single personalized email sent to one subscriber from a campaign. When you send a campaign to 1,000 subscribers, Laravel Mail Platform creates 1,000 individual messages—one for each recipient.

Think of it this way:
- **Campaign** — The overall mailing (e.g., "Summer Sale Announcement")
- **Messages** — Individual emails created from that campaign (one per subscriber)

Each message contains:
- Personalized subscriber data (name, custom fields)
- Unique tracking identifiers (for opens, clicks)
- Delivery status (sent, pending, failed, bounced)
- Timestamps (created, sent, opened)

---

## Accessing Messages

To view all messages in your system:

1. Click **Messages** in the sidebar
2. You'll see tabs for **Drafts** and **Sent**
3. Filter by date, status, or campaign as needed

![Messages Dashboard](/img/messages.png)

---

## Message Types

### Draft Messages

**When they're created:**
Draft messages are generated when you send a campaign using the **`Queue Draft`** sending behavior. This creates one draft message for each targeted subscriber but doesn't send them immediately.

**Why use Queue Draft?**
- **Review before sending** — Check how each personalized message looks before it goes out
- **Complex templates** — Verify that dynamic content (names, dates, etc.) renders correctly for each recipient
- **Manual control** — Choose exactly when each message sends
- **Quality assurance** — Catch errors or formatting issues before they reach subscribers

**Important:** Queue Draft is only recommended for small subscriber lists (< 1,000). For large lists, manually reviewing thousands of messages is impractical.

**What you can do with drafts:**
- Preview the personalized message
- Edit the message content if needed
- Send now to that specific subscriber
- Delete without sending

**The Drafts Tab**

Click the **Drafts** tab to see all unsent messages:

| Column | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| **Recipient** | Subscriber's email address |
| **Campaign** | Which campaign created this message |
| **Status** | Always "Draft" |
| **Created** | When the message was generated |
| **Actions** | Preview, Send Now, or Delete |

**Actions you can take:**

1. **Preview** — Click the message to see how it will look to the recipient with all personalization applied

2. **Send Now** — Immediately send the message to the subscriber

3. **Delete** — Remove the draft without sending (useful if you change your mind about a subscriber)

4. **Bulk Actions** — Select multiple drafts to send or delete them all at once

**Example workflow:**

1. Create campaign with Queue Draft behavior
2. Drafts are generated for all 500 subscribers
3. Review a few sample drafts to check personalization
4. Send drafts in batches: morning audience, then afternoon audience
5. Or send all at once with bulk select

---

### Sent Messages

**When they're created:**
Sent messages are generated when you send a campaign using the **`Send Automatically`** sending behavior, or when you manually send individual drafts.

**Key differences from drafts:**

| Aspect | Draft | Sent |
|--------|-------|------|
| **When created** | Queue Draft behavior | Send Automatically or manual send |
| **Status** | Draft (not sent yet) | Sent, Bounced, Failed, Delivered |
| **Action required** | Must manually send | Sent automatically |
| **Scalability** | For small lists only | For any size list |
| **Can edit** | Yes, before sending | No, already sent |

**The Sent Tab**

Click the **Sent** tab to view all dispatched messages:

| Column | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| **Recipient** | Subscriber's email address |
| **Campaign** | Source campaign |
| **Status** | Sent, Delivered, Bounced, Failed, etc. |
| **Sent Date** | When the message was dispatched |
| **Actions** | View details, resend, or troubleshoot |

**Message Statuses Explained**

| Status | Meaning | Action |
|--------|---------|--------|
| **Sent** | Email dispatched to provider; awaiting delivery confirmation | Normal state |
| **Delivered** | Email successfully received by mail server | Success |
| **Opened** | Subscriber opened the email | Engagement tracked |
| **Clicked** | Subscriber clicked a link in the email | Engagement tracked |
| **Bounced** | Email couldn't be delivered (hard or soft bounce) | Review bounce reason; remove if hard bounce |
| **Failed** | Sending attempt failed (auth error, invalid address, etc.) | Review error; may retry |
| **Unsubscribed** | Recipient unsubscribed before message sent | Message not sent |
| **Suppressed** | Message suppressed by email service | Check service rules |

**Actions on Sent Messages**

1. **View Details** — See full message content, delivery info, engagement metrics

2. **Resend** — Retry sending to this subscriber (useful for failed messages)

3. **View Subscriber** — Jump to the subscriber's profile to see history

4. **Download** — Export message content if needed

---

## Finding Messages

### Filter by Status

Use status filters to find specific messages:

```
Show: All | Sent | Delivered | Bounced | Failed | Opened | Clicked
```

**Examples:**
- **Bounced messages** — Find addresses that need to be cleaned up
- **Failed messages** — Retry or investigate errors
- **Opened messages** — See who engaged with content
- **Clicked messages** — Track conversions

### Filter by Campaign

See messages from a specific campaign:

```
Campaign: [Select Campaign ▼]
```

### Filter by Date Range

Find messages sent in a specific period:

```
Date: [From] to [To]
```

### Search by Recipient

Find messages sent to a specific email address:

```
Search: user@example.com
```

### Bulk Filter

Combine multiple filters to narrow results:

Example: "All messages from Campaign: Summer Sale, sent in June, with status: Clicked"

---

## Working with Messages

### Preview a Message

To see how a message appears to the recipient:

1. Click **Preview** on any message
2. View the complete email with personalization applied
3. Check formatting, links, and images
4. Close preview to return to list

**For drafts:** Make sure names and custom fields appear correctly before sending.

### Send a Draft Message

To manually send an individual draft:

1. Go to **Drafts** tab
2. Find the message you want to send
3. Click **Send Now**
4. Confirm the action
5. Message moves to **Sent** tab

**Note:** The message is sent using your configured email service.

### Resend a Failed Message

If a message failed to deliver, you can retry:

1. Go to **Sent** tab
2. Filter by **Status: Failed**
3. Click **Resend** on the message
4. System attempts delivery again

**Useful for:** Temporary failures (mailbox full, server timeout) that may succeed on retry.

### Bulk Send Drafts

To send multiple drafts at once:

1. Go to **Drafts** tab
2. Select multiple messages using checkboxes
3. Click **Bulk Actions** → **Send**
4. Confirm batch send
5. All selected messages are sent

**Example:** Send morning batch at 9 AM, afternoon batch at 2 PM.

### Bulk Delete Drafts

Remove multiple drafts without sending:

1. Go to **Drafts** tab
2. Select messages to delete
3. Click **Bulk Actions** → **Delete**
4. Confirm deletion

**Warning:** This cannot be undone. Ensure you're not deleting drafts you intended to send.

### Export Messages

Download message data for analysis or record-keeping:

1. Select messages you want to export
2. Click **Export**
3. Choose format (CSV or JSON)
4. Save file

**Exported data includes:**
- Recipient email
- Campaign name
- Status
- Sent date
- Delivery information
- Engagement metrics

---

## Understanding Message Analytics

Each sent message tracks important engagement metrics:

**Delivery Metrics:**
- **Sent** — Message dispatched to email service
- **Delivered** — Confirmed delivery to recipient's mail server
- **Bounce Rate** — Percentage of messages that bounced

**Engagement Metrics (if tracking enabled):**
- **Open Rate** — Percentage of recipients who opened the email
- **Click Rate** — Percentage of recipients who clicked links
- **Unsubscribe Rate** — Percentage who unsubscribed after opening

**Example:** 1,000 messages sent → 850 delivered → 200 opened (23.5% open rate) → 45 clicked (5.3% click rate)

---

## Common Message Scenarios

### Scenario 1: Checking Draft Quality

**Situation:** You created a campaign with Queue Draft to review before sending.

**Steps:**
1. Go to **Drafts**
2. Click **Preview** on 3-5 sample messages
3. Verify personalization looks correct
4. Check formatting and links
5. If satisfied, click **Bulk Select All** → **Send**

### Scenario 2: Investigating Failed Messages

**Situation:** Some messages failed to deliver. You need to fix and resend.

**Steps:**
1. Go to **Sent** tab
2. Filter by **Status: Failed**
3. Click **View Details** on a failed message
4. Read error message (invalid address? auth error? provider issue?)
5. Click **Resend** if it's a temporary error
6. Or go to **Subscribers** to fix the recipient's email address and resend

### Scenario 3: Following Up with Engaged Users

**Situation:** You want to send a follow-up campaign only to people who clicked your last campaign.

**Steps:**
1. Go to **Sent** tab
2. Filter by **Status: Clicked**
3. View list of engaged subscribers
4. Export subscriber emails
5. Use this list for your next campaign targeting

### Scenario 4: Cleaning Up Bounced Addresses

**Situation:** Multiple emails bounced. You need to remove bad addresses.

**Steps:**
1. Go to **Sent** tab
2. Filter by **Status: Bounced**
3. For each bounce, review the bounce type:
- **Hard Bounce** (invalid address) — Remove subscriber
- **Soft Bounce** (mailbox full) — Keep for now, maybe retry later
4. Go to **Subscribers** and mark/remove bounced addresses
5. Update suppression list

---

## Best Practices

### When to Use Each Sending Method

**Use "Queue Draft" when:**
- Subscriber list is small (< 500 recipients)
- You have complex personalization that needs review
- You want manual control over when each message sends
- Quality assurance is critical (important announcements)

**Use "Send Automatically" when:**
- Subscriber list is large (> 1,000 recipients)
- You want fire-and-forget simplicity
- You've tested the campaign and are confident
- Speed is important (time-sensitive campaigns)

### Monitoring Message Health

Check your messages regularly for:

1. **High bounce rates** (> 5%) — May indicate list quality issues
2. **Failed messages** — Retry or investigate
3. **Undelivered messages** — Review error logs
4. **Low engagement** — Check email content or timing

### Managing Queue Size

If you have thousands of draft messages:

1. Don't use Queue Draft for massive lists
2. Send drafts in batches over time
3. Delete old drafts you won't use
4. Archive sent messages after review period

---

## Troubleshooting Messages

### "Message won't send" or "Send Now button disabled"

**Possible causes:**
- Email service not configured (go to Settings → Email Services)
- Message missing required fields
- Subscriber email invalid
- Campaign deleted (orphaned message)

**Solution:** Check email service is active and subscriber email is valid.

### "Bounced message" with generic error

**Meaning:** The recipient's email provider rejected the message.

**Common reasons:**
- Invalid email address
- Mailbox doesn't exist
- Recipient's mail server rejected sender IP

**Solution:** Verify email address in subscriber profile; remove if hard bounce.

### "Failed message" with authentication error

**Meaning:** Email service rejected sending.

**Causes:**
- Wrong email service credentials
- Email service account suspended
- Rate limit exceeded

**Solution:** Go to Email Services; verify credentials and test connection.

### High bounce rates on a campaign

**Investigation:**
1. Check if subscriber list was recently imported
2. Compare bounce rate to historical campaigns
3. Review email content (may trigger spam filters)
4. Check sender reputation with email service

**Action:**
- Use email validation before importing
- Verify SPF/DKIM/DMARC records
- Consider list cleaning service

### "Cannot resend" old message

**Reason:** Email service may not store message history long-term.

**Solution:** Recreate the campaign and send again to the subscriber.

---

## Advanced Message Operations

### Segmented Sending

Send the same campaign in waves:

1. Create campaign with **Queue Draft**
2. Tag subscribers by segment (morning people, evening people, etc.)
3. Create separate messages for each segment using campaign targeting
4. Review a sample from each segment
5. Send each segment at optimal time of day

### Conditional Resending

Automatically resend to failed recipients:

1. Filter messages by **Status: Failed**
2. Identify the root cause (temporary vs. permanent)
3. Use **Resend** for temporary failures
4. Update subscriber data for permanent failures
5. Retry failed group

### Message Archiving

Keep sent messages but archive old ones:

1. Export sent messages older than 30 days
2. Download CSV for record-keeping
3. Delete old messages to clean up database
4. Repeat monthly

---

## Limits and Performance

**Message limits:**
- No hard limit on total messages
- Display shows 100 messages per page (pagination available)
- Bulk operations limited to 1,000 messages at a time

**For large volumes:**
- Use filters to narrow results
- Export data periodically
- Archive old sent messages
- Use bulk operations instead of individual edits

---

## Related Documentation

- [Campaigns](/docs/features/campaigns) — Create and send campaigns
- [Email Services](/docs/features/email-services) — Configure sending providers
- [Subscribers](/docs/features/subscribers) — Manage recipient lists
- [Analytics](/docs/features/campaigns) — View campaign performance

---

## Quick Reference

**Key Actions:**
- **Preview** — See message as recipient will see it
- **Send Now** — Immediately send a draft
- **Resend** — Retry a failed message
- **Export** — Download message data

**Filters:**
- Status (Sent, Bounced, Failed, Opened, Clicked)
- Campaign name
- Date range
- Recipient email

**Common Statuses:**
- **Draft** — Not sent yet
- **Sent** — Dispatched successfully
- **Delivered** — Confirmed receipt
- **Bounced** — Rejected by recipient's mail server
- **Failed** — Sending attempt failed
- **Opened** — Recipient opened email
- **Clicked** — Recipient clicked a link

**Tabs:**
- **Drafts** — Messages queued for manual sending
- **Sent** — Messages already dispatched