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Chat about a desk, room or document

Give a desk, a room or a document its own conversation, put it on the desk as a Chat widget, or pin any conversation to the desk it is about.

All plansUpdated

A desk, a room or a document can have a conversation of its own in Chat. It is named after the item, so when someone asks "what did we decide about the budget sheet?", the answer is in the conversation called "Budget", not lost in a busy channel.

Use it for the talk that belongs to one piece of work: the questions on a project desk, the feedback on a draft, the plans for everything in a room. And because any conversation can sit on a desk as a Chat widget, you can read and reply without leaving the work.

Before you start

  • Sign in. These conversations live in Chat, which needs you to be signed in. Signed out, the chat buttons do nothing. See Create an account and sign in.
  • Plans. Chatting about desks, rooms and documents is part of every plan.
  • Work in the right workspace. The conversation belongs to the workspace you are in when you start it, so open the organisation the item belongs to first. See Organisation settings and switching workspaces.

Chat about a desk

  1. Open the desk.
  2. In the header, click Chat, the two speech bubbles in the desk's quick actions. Its name appears when you rest the pointer on it.

The first time, PlexiDesk sets up the desk's conversation and adds it to the desk as a Chat widget, named after the desk. Type in the widget's message box and press Enter to send. If the widget is already on the desk, PlexiDesk moves the view to it instead of adding another.

See Desk quick actions in the header and Chat widget.

Chat about a room

  1. In the side menu, click Rooms. All rooms opens.
  2. Right-click the room's card and choose Chat about this room. Or point at the card and click its chat icon.
  3. In the side menu, under Apps, click Chat in the Tools group.

The room's conversation is open in Chat, named after the room. See Create and organise rooms.

Chat about a document

  1. Open the document, sheet, deck, diagram, design or artwork.
  2. In the header, click Chat about this document, the speech bubbles next to the file's name.
  3. In the side menu, under Apps, click Chat in the Tools group.

The document's conversation is open in Chat, named after the file. This works the same in a live document you are editing with others. See The editor header, saving and the File menu and Work together in real time.

Who is in the conversation

The first person to open an item's chat starts its conversation. After that:

  • Everyone who opens the same item's chat joins its conversation, from the desk's Chat button, the room's Chat about this room or the document's Chat about this document.
  • Anyone already in it can add people. Open the conversation in Chat, click Members and type a handle in @handle to add. See Direct messages and channels.

In your list of conversations, it shows with a hash sign and the item's name, like a channel.

Pin any conversation to a desk

You can also put any conversation, such as a channel or a direct message, on a desk.

  1. Open the desk you want the conversation on, so it is your current desk.
  2. Go to Chat and open the conversation.
  3. Click Pin this conversation to your current desk (the pin) above it.

PlexiDesk adds the conversation to the desk as a Chat widget and takes you to the desk. If no desk is open, Chat says Open a desk first, then pin the conversation to it.

You can also add a Chat widget from Add widget on the desk and pick the conversation there. See Chat widget.

When the item is renamed or deleted

  • Renamed. The conversation takes the item's new name the next time someone opens its chat.
  • Deleted. The conversation leaves everyone's list of conversations, and its messages are kept. If the item comes back and someone opens its chat again, the conversation returns with its history.

Good ways to use it

  • A project desk. Click Chat on the desk, so the questions about the project sit beside its tasks and files.
  • A draft for review. Ask reviewers to leave their thoughts in the document's chat, and use comments in the document for remarks on a particular line.
  • A client room. Chat about the room for anything that covers all of the client's desks.

For a walkthrough that puts a client's people, mail and chat on one desk, see Keep a client's people, mail and chat on their desk.

Common questions

I clicked Chat about this room and nothing seemed to happen. The conversation is ready in Chat. Open Chat from the side menu and it is the open conversation. If it is not there, check that you are signed in.

My teammate does not see the desk's conversation. They join it when they open the desk's chat themselves, or when someone in it adds them with Members. Check too that they are working in the same workspace.

Can a desk have more than one conversation? A desk has one conversation of its own. You can pin as many other conversations to it as you like, each as a Chat widget.

Clicking Chat on the desk did not add a second widget. The desk already has a Chat widget for its conversation, so PlexiDesk moved the view to it.

Still need help? Contact support at [email protected].