Messages and channels

Your Messages list

Tap Messages, next to Home. It’s one list of every channel and direct message you’re in, with the newest activity at the top. Unread conversations stand out, and the number on the tab counts mentions, replies, direct messages, and announcements waiting for you to sign.

• Everyone is the channel for your whole organization. Everyone is in it.
• Each active show you’re on has its own channel, named for the show.
• Managers build other channels from departments, positions, department heads, and people. You join and leave them automatically when you’re placed in or removed from those departments and positions.
• The Announcements row is at the top while there are announcements for you. See Announcements for how they work.
• Use Search channels and people to find a conversation by name.

Channels for shows that have closed, and channels a manager archived, move to the bottom under Read-only. Their history stays.

Send, react and reply

Messages show up for everyone in the conversation right away, with no need to reload. Type in the box at the bottom and tap send. Tap a message to see its time, or tap ••• (or press and hold it on a phone) for everything you can do with it.

• Reactions: pick one of six from the top of the sheet, or tap a reaction that’s already there to add or remove yours.
• @mentions: type @ and choose a name. That person gets a notification.
• Reply quotes the message above yours and lets its sender know.
• Edit changes your own message. Edited messages show Edited.
• Delete message removes your own message for everyone.
• Copy text copies a message so you can paste it somewhere else.

On the Program plan and up, tap the paperclip to add photos and files: up to 4 per message and 10 MB each. Photos (JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF) and PDF, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text, and CSV files work.

Messages can be up to 4,000 characters. If your organization doesn’t allow a word in your message, you’re asked to edit it before it’s sent.

Post channels

Some channels are post channels. Instead of one running conversation, each post gets its own replies, so conversations stay together. A post can have a title, and its card shows its newest replies.

• Start a post at the bottom of the channel to write one, when the channel lets you post. A title is optional.
• Reply to post on a card answers right from the card. Tap the post’s title, or See all replies, to open its thread with every reply.
• You follow the posts you start, reply to, or are @mentioned in, so you get a notice in the bell when someone replies. Open a post’s thread to Follow post or Unfollow post by hand.
• A post with something you haven’t seen, a new post or new replies, shows New.
• In a post channel, Notify me about reads Mentions and posts you follow, Every new post, or Nothing (mute). Muting also quiets the posts you follow there.

In a managers-only post channel only managers start posts, but you can still reply to any post. Messages from before a channel became a post channel show together as Earlier messages, and they’re read-only.

Choose what notifies you

Open a conversation and tap ••• at the top. Under Notify me about, choose:

• Mentions and replies, the starting choice for channels.
• Every message, the starting choice for direct and group messages.
• Nothing (mute), to stop notifications from that channel.

Announcements still reach you either way. Mentions, replies, and direct messages show in the bell only. Chat messages never come by email.

When you can’t post

• Managers-only: some channels, often Everyone, are for managers to post in. You can still read and react.
• Muted: a manager can mute someone in a channel for a while, from an hour to a week. While you’re muted you can still read and react, and the channel says when the mute ends.
• Read-only: when a show closes or a channel is archived, nobody can post or react there. You can still read its history.

Channels are monitored

Every channel says This channel is monitored. Owners can read it, and moderators can remove messages. Owners can read every channel, and managers can remove messages in the channels they look after.

If a message bothers you, report it privately:

1. Tap ••• on the message, or press and hold it.
2. Tap Report message.
3. Add a note if you like, then tap Send report.

Owners see the message and the messages around it. The person who sent it isn’t told who reported it. You can report a message once.

Direct and group messages

Direct messages are something an owner may turn on for your organization, on the Program plan and up. When they’re off, you talk in channels only.

• When they’re on, tap New message and choose one person, or up to 9 others for a group. Groups can have up to 10 people, including you.
• Give a group a name if you like. Anyone in it can use Rename group.
• Leave group stops its messages for you. You can’t rejoin unless someone starts a new group with you.
• If direct messages are turned off, they’re hidden for everyone, not deleted. They come back if they’re turned on again.

Direct messages can always be reported to owners. Your organization’s owners can also turn on owner review. While it’s on, every direct and group message shows Messages in this org can be reviewed by its owners. Owners can then read direct messages sent from that moment on, and the originals of messages edited or deleted while it’s on. Owners can’t read messages sent before review was turned on.

When owner review is off, direct messages say Messages here can be reported to owners. instead.