To the admins, I did find the PM button and did get the private message I had received. I see now that they are associated with each thread, but my PM button is on the right Inot on the left) of my screen.
Yes, I found it and it was like you described. But, I don't think I can back to the directory on the left you described. When I tried to reply the system did not work. I will keep trying to figure it out.
I've been messing around with it since they did the upgrade last week. As I said, it's taking some getting used to. Fortunately we run another board just set up with this exact same software, so I get an opportunity to futz with it elsewhere, when no one else is looking.
Email me if you're still having problems. The PM system is very similar to our old one, so everything that you were used to should still be available. It's just you have more functional options now (sending attachments in PMs, forwarding, cc'ing, bcc'ing PMs, etc.). But the basic functions are all still there and should be readily accessible. I've received and sent a lot of PMs in this new system without any problems.