Excuse me for this very basic question. I have been using Discourse for a private group and it works very well, though my only frustration is with DMs. If I receive a DM, it seems to get lost in my notifications. Frankly, I can’t easily discern what my recent notifications are under the after clicking my profile photo.
The Inbox is confusing. I find it difficult to compose a direct message from blank.
I’m sure I’m missing something basic. Can anyone shed light on this for me? I need to review posts and DMs exhaustively and missing one is not ideal.
I personally would recommend that instead of using group inboxes, you create a secure category that only the group can access. Group inboxes are handy if you want to add a support email inbox to your site, but otherwise secure categories will be more feature rich and user friendly.
Is it possible you don’t know how to get to your inbox? One way to get there is to select your user picture/avatar in the top right corner, then click on the messages envelope to see your recent messages, then click on the messages envelope a second time and you will be in your inbox. You can also go to your own profile page and then select MESSAGES from the menu.
Your messages inbox has a big blue button to start a new personal message to anyone (or to a group). You can also start a new personal message to someone by selecting their picture or @ mention in discussions to pop up their user card, which also has a big blue button to start a new message.
The search button in top right corner offers up contextual filters. If you are in your messages it will show the in:personal you can then select to search just your personal messages.
Clicking twice is the thing I was missing. It seems an “Inbox” link in the menu would make sense for those not so familiar with Discourse. Thank you for the help!
after clicking my profile photo.
to see your recent messages, then click on the messages envelope a second time and you will be in your inbox. You can also go to your own profile page and then select 
search button in top right corner offers up contextual filters. If you are in your messages it will show the