# Message Center

{{< glossary_definition "message_center" >}}

## About Message Center

In reporting and other areas of Airship, a Message Center message may be referred to as a **rich page**.

![A Message Center inbox](https://www.airship.com/docs/images/message-center-inbox_hu_399ca730f9d244be.webp)

*A Message Center inbox*

* **Reach opted-out users** — Message Center messages are not push notifications, but you can use push notifications to alert users that new rich content is available. Because Message Center messages do not require a user to opt in to push notifications, you can reach your opted-out audience with Message Center.

* **More opportunities to engage** — When users interact with Message Center, e.g., read, delete, tap a button, Airship tracks the interactions and makes them available via our analytics offerings, [Real-Time Data Streaming](https://www.airship.com/docs/reference/glossary/#rtds) and [Performance Analytics](https://www.airship.com/docs/reference/glossary/#pa).<p>By providing engaging content and facilitating interactions via Message Center, you can also trigger other [Actions](https://www.airship.com/docs/reference/glossary/#action) such as adding a tag, or triggering a follow-up notification.

* **Theming** — Change your Message Center colors, fonts, backgrounds, and icons to match your branding. 

* **Airship hosting** — Your message content is hosted by Airship.

* **More benefits**:
   * Persistent inbox
   * Customized per user, according to how you target individual users
   * Tracking of message state per user: Read, unread, deleted, etc.
   * Customize UI, or use out-of-the-box
   * Data/Reporting
   * JavaScript Bridge <!-- still need to mention? -->

You can combine a Message Center message with a [Push Notification](https://www.airship.com/docs/reference/glossary/#push_notification) and/or [In-App Message](https://www.airship.com/docs/reference/glossary/#in_app_message) message.

<p>When combining a push notification and Message Center, Airship sends the Message Center message to both opted-in and opted-out devices.</p>

## Appearance and behavior

![Message Center messages](https://www.airship.com/docs/images/content-message-center.webp)

*Message Center messages*

Users access Message Center messages from the Message Center inbox in your app. Messages are **fullscreen**, with navigation back to the inbox at the top of the screen. You can configure a push notification or in-app message to open a Message Center message.

* Inboxes are limited to 250 messages. Exceeding the limit deletes the oldest messages first.
* Messages remain in the inbox until expired or deleted. 
* Messages expire after one year or according to individual message expiration setting. 

To create the message content, you can either upload your own HTML or design using our WYSIWYG editor. Airship supplies several default layouts. You can also create and save your own layouts for use in new messages.

* **Inbox preview** — The inbox supports a message *preview* of a thumbnail image and one or two lines of text

* **Expiration** and you can specify an expiration date, when the message is removed from the inbox.

* **Custom templates** — Airship can create and add custom message templates for you. Contact your Airship account manager if you are interested in adding custom templates to your project.

Theming your Message Center requires changes to the configuration file in your iOS or Android/Fire OS project. See [Message Center](https://www.airship.com/docs/developer/sdk-integration/apple/message-center/getting-started/) for iOS and [Message Center](https://www.airship.com/docs/developer/sdk-integration/android/message-center/getting-started/) for Android.

## Getting started with Message Center

Follow these steps to start using Message Center with Airship:

* <span style="font-size: 1.25em;"></span> **Configure  mobile channels in your project settings**  See [Configuring Mobile Channels](https://www.airship.com/docs/guides/getting-started/developers/configure-channels/) in the Getting Started guide.
* <span style="font-size: 1.25em;"></span> **Integrate the Mobile SDK with your app**  See [SDK setup](https://www.airship.com/docs/sdk-topics/setup/) for mobile apps in our developer documentation.
* <span style="font-size: 1.25em;"></span> **Install and theme your Message Center**  See [Message Center](https://www.airship.com/docs/sdk-topics/message-center/) in our developer documentation.

Once your project is set up, you can start creating <span style="font-size: 1.25em;"></span> [Message Center content](https://www.airship.com/docs/guides/messaging/messages/content/app/message-center/).