Setup - Plans

Important!!!

You can archive messages from Messages in MAX Messages only when the application has full disk access AND access to the contacts. If a permission is missing then you will see the following window:

If you have already given a permission then the corresponding button is not active anymore. Click on the button "Grant Permission" to grant the permission. As always you have to restart the application for full disk access. The button with the question mark will show you what to do to give the permission.

A plan allows you to conveniently save frequently-used templates for later use. You must have at least one plan but you can use multiple plans. The list of plans is on the left side of the plan area. Click on the plus icon to create a plan. The minus icon deletes a plan. Each plan has 3 sub-areas:

• Message Info: select applications and conversations for archiving.
• Options: restrict archiving by date.
• Archive Format: select how and where your messages will be saved.

Message Info

By default "Archive all Conversations" is selected. If you want to archive individual conversations, click on "Select Conversations". It is possible to search for conversation names. It's also possible to select and deselect all visible conversations.

If there is a button with an i then the conversation is a group conversation. Clicking on the i button gives a list of all participants in the group:

You can now start archiving by clicking on the icon with the truck. You can either archive the selected plan or all active plans.

Options

The sub area Options gives you options to restrict the archival of messages by date.

With "Archive in Range" the archival of messages can be restricted to a range of dates or ages. In the above screenshot you will archive every message between 01-Jan-2024 and 31-Jan-2024.

You can select if you want to have an upper/lower date or a date range for archival. You can either edit the date directly or with the date picker. For a range of days the interface is similar:

Here you enter an age range. The date belonging to the age is shown next to the age. If you want to archive all messages older than a year you would select Older than and then 365.

You can also select to archive only new messages with "since last archival date". Newly selected conversations will be archived completely. Afterwards only new messages will be added. The date of the last archival date will be shown.

Archive Format

With Archive Format you can select your main format: Internal Database (Valentina - a fast database by Paradigma Software), PDF or Html. For each format click on the grey button to show the archive location in Finder.

Options for Internal Database:

The Internal Database is the default storage option for MAX Messages. The database saves all your messages in 2 files (an additional file is opened when the database is open).

With the Select button you can select an existing archive. The dropdown menu selects from predefined locations like the User or User Documents folder. With the New button you can create a new archive. The archive then will be created as soon as archival starts.

Options for PDF:

PDF is a mostly read-only format from Adobe. The PDF export creates one PDF file for the messages of a single day. With “Select,” you can specify the folder for the PDF files. With the dropdown menu, you can select a subfolder of the Documents folder, the User folder, or the Desktop with a single click. "Add attachments" to archive attachments is selected by default.

MAX Messages does not have the capability to view or search PDFs. But there are enough apps available which can do this. For instance:

• DEVONThink from Devon Technologies
• EagleFiler from C-Command

If you want to learn more about how to use the app with MAX Messages check out the blog and search for the app name.

Options for Html:

The options for Html are identical to the ones for PDF: The Html export creates one Html file for the messages of a single day. With “Select,” you can specify the folder for the Html files. With the dropdown menu, you can select a subfolder of the Documents folder, the User folder, or the Desktop with a single click. "Add attachments" to archive attachments is selected by default.