Write, react and manage messages

Everything you write in Chat goes through the message box at the bottom of a conversation. Beside it are the buttons that add a file, a voice note, an emoji or a GIF, and start a meeting. Once a message is sent, you and everyone else can react to it, reply to it in a thread, pin it or translate it, and you can edit or delete your own.

Before you start

• Sign in and open a conversation. See PlexiiChat: channels and messages and Direct messages and channels.
• Plans. Writing and managing messages is part of every plan.
• Some extras use the AI member. Translate, Clarify this draft before sending and thread summaries work in your organisation's conversations once an admin has set up the AI member. See Set up the AI member in chat.
• GIFs need a Tenor key. To search GIFs, add a Tenor API key in Settings > AI, under AI · API keys.

Send a message

1. Click in the box marked Write a message… at the bottom of the conversation.
2. Type your message. Press ⇧ Enter on a Mac or Shift Enter on Windows to start a new line.
3. Press Enter, or click the send button at the right.

Your message appears on the right of the conversation. Rest the pointer on any message to see the time it was sent.

Mention someone

1. Type @ and the start of the person's handle or name. A list of matching people in the conversation opens.
2. Press ↓ and ↑ to choose, then Enter or Tab. Or click their name.

The handle goes into your message. Once sent, the mention shows as the person's name, highlighted. Mentions of you stand out in the accent colour.

A mention reaches the person even when they have set the conversation to notify them only about mentions. It also lists the message in their Activity and their Needs you. See Search and catch up in chat.

Add a file, a voice note, an emoji or a GIF

The buttons to the left of the message box add to your message. Rest the pointer on one to see its name.

A message can carry one attachment. Add text too if you want, then send it as usual.

How attachments look in the conversation:

• Images and GIFs show in the message. Click an image to open it on its own.
• Videos and voice notes play in the message.
• Other files show as a chip with the file's name and size. Click it to download the file.

Clarify a draft before you send it

When you have typed something, a magic-wand button appears beside the message box: Clarify this draft before sending.

1. Type your message.
2. Click Clarify this draft before sending. Your words are rewritten into a clearer message in the box.
3. Read it. Send it as it is, change it, or click the button again, now Revert to your original wording, to get your own words back.

Nothing is sent until you send it. This uses your organisation's AI member. See Set up the AI member in chat.

React to a message

1. Rest the pointer on a message and click Add reaction (the smiling face with a plus) beside it.
2. Click one of the six quick reactions.

Reactions sit under the message with how many people chose each. Click a reaction to add yours, or click it again to take yours away.

Reply in a thread

A thread keeps a side conversation under one message, so the main conversation stays easy to follow.

1. Rest the pointer on a message and click Reply in thread under it.
2. The Thread column opens on the right with the message at the top.
3. Type in the box marked Reply… and press Enter.

Once a message has replies, it shows how many, for example 3 replies. Click that to open the thread. Click Close thread (the cross) to close the column.

In a thread with three replies or more, click Summarise at the top for a short summary, with numbered links to the messages it came from. This uses your organisation's AI member.

In the stream view, a thread opens under its message instead, with a box marked Reply in thread….

Pin a message

Pin the messages people need to find again, such as an agreed date or a link.

1. Rest the pointer on a message and click the pin under it, Pin message.
2. The message appears in the pinned bar at the top of the conversation, for example 2 pinned.

To unpin, click the cross beside it in the pinned bar, or click the pin under the message again, Unpin message. Pins are shared, so everyone in the conversation sees the same ones.

Translate a message

1. Above the conversation, choose a language in the list. Its tooltip reads Translate messages to. PlexiDesk remembers your choice on this computer.
2. Rest the pointer on a message, click Message actions (the three dots) and click Translate to and your language, for example Translate to Spanish.

The translation replaces the text, and · translated shows beside the time. Open Message actions again and click Show original to switch back. Translations are only for you; nobody else's view changes.

Edit or delete your message

1. Rest the pointer on your message and click Message actions (the three dots).
2. Click Edit or Delete.

• Edit puts the text in a box. Change it and press Enter or click Save. Press Esc or click Cancel to stop without saving. An edited message shows · edited beside its time.
• Delete removes the message straight away, for everyone. In its place, everyone sees This message was deleted.

You can only edit and delete your own messages.

Add a message to Attention

When a message needs an answer or some work from you, rest the pointer on it and click the bell beside it, Add to Attention — you choose how it's filed (Respond by default). The bell stays filled while the item is open. See Capture something into Attention.

When Plexii drafts a message for you

When you ask Plexii, the assistant, to write to someone in a chat, it offers a Draft message card. Applying it opens Chat on that conversation with the message already in the box. Read it, change anything, and send it yourself. See Review and apply Plexii's changes.

In the Plexii panel

The Plexii panel's Message tab has the same message box, with the microphone inside the box at its right. To start a meeting from there, use Meet above the conversation. See Open, move and resize the Plexii panel.

Tips

• Thread the details. Answer a question in its thread, so the channel stays a list of topics rather than one long scroll.
• Pin decisions. A pinned message is the quickest way back to what was agreed.
• Speak instead of typing. A voice note is faster than a long message when you are explaining something.

Common questions

The GIF picker says it needs a key. It reads GIF search needs a free Tenor API key. Add one in Settings > AI, under AI · API keys, then search again.

My file did not attach. If the message box says Could not upload that file., check the file is no larger than 50 MB and try again.

Recording says Microphone is not available. PlexiDesk could not use your microphone. Check that another app is not using it and that PlexiDesk is allowed to use it in your computer's privacy settings.

Clarify or Translate did nothing. Both use your organisation's AI member and work in the organisation's conversations. Ask an admin to set it up. See Set up the AI member in chat.

Can I edit someone else's message? No. You can react to it, reply in its thread, pin it or translate it.

Can I undo a delete? No. Copy anything you need from a message before you delete it.

Related tasks

• PlexiiChat: channels and messages
• Direct messages and channels
• Search and catch up in chat
• Set up the AI member in chat
• Capture something into Attention
• Keyboard shortcuts