Chats

Direct message. A conversation with one other person. If you already have one with them, starting a new one opens the existing conversation. You cannot add a third person later.

Group. A private conversation with the people you add. A name is optional. If you leave the name blank, the group is labeled with the members' names.

Feed. A topic for the organization, shown with a # before the name. Use a feed when the conversation is about a subject, not a fixed list of people. A feed can be public, so anyone in the organization can join, or private, so people join only when someone adds them.

Each list is sorted by the latest activity. A row shows the photo or initial, the latest message, and the date. Opening a conversation clears its unread count.

1. Open DMs.

2. Choose New message.

3. Type a name. Recent people appear before you search.

4. Select the person.

If a direct message with that person already exists, that conversation opens. You do not get a second one.

The name on Details is the other person's name. It is not a label you can edit.

1. Open Groups.

2. Choose New group.

3. Search for people and select them. You can add more than one before you send.

4. Add a group name if you want one. You can leave it blank and name it later.

5. Write the first message and send it. The group is created when that message sends.

If you try to send before anyone is selected, Chats asks you to add a person.

Open the group, then open Details.

Name and photo

Group name is the label everyone sees. It can be up to 80 characters. Choose Save after you change it. The photo is the image on the conversation. You can replace it or clear it.

Add people

On Details, choose Add people. Search by name, select everyone you want, then choose Add people again. Anyone in the group can add people. A note appears in the conversation when someone is added.

You can also add someone by mentioning them. If they are not in the group yet, Chats asks whether to add them before the message is sent. Add them if they should be notified. Choose Don't add to mention them without a notification. They will not see the message, because they are not in the group.

Remove someone

If you started the group, Details shows a remove button next to other people. Removing someone posts a note in the conversation. You cannot remove yourself from that list.

1. Open Feeds.

2. Choose New feed.

3. Enter a name. Spaces become hyphens, and the name is saved in lowercase. The feed is shown as #general, for example. The name can be up to 80 characters.

4. Add a description if you want one. It can be up to 500 characters, and it shows under the feed name.

5. Choose who can join.

6. Choose Create feed.

• Public. Anyone in the organization can find and join.

• Private. Invite only. It is not listed for people to join on their own. A member adds them from Details.

You can change the name, description, and visibility later from Details. Choose Save when you are done.

Open the feed and go to Details. If the feed belongs to a project, a Project section shows the project name. If you use Project Management, Open takes you to that project.

A project has one feed. Posts from the project, such as an update that was sent to the feed, show in the conversation as an automated message.

The header says Archived. You can still open messages, links, and files. You cannot send a new message, and you cannot add people. The message box is replaced with:

This feed is archived. You can still read messages, but new messages can't be added.

An archived feed also cannot be joined.

Open the conversation menu, the button with three dots, and choose Leave feed. A note is posted that you left. You stop seeing the feed in your list.

To come back, someone who is still in the feed adds you from Details.

• Messages is the thread. Days are marked as you scroll. Notes, such as someone joining or leaving, appear in the center, separate from regular messages.

• Links lists URLs people have sent, newest first, with who shared each one and when. Open a link to leave the conversation. If nothing has been shared, the tab says No links.

• Files lists attachments the same way. Open one to preview it. If nothing has been attached, the tab says No files.

• Details is the name, photo, notifications, project, and people.

The message box stays on Messages. Links, Files, and Details are for looking, not for typing.

Open Details. Notifications is On or Muted. Turn the switch off to mute.

You stop getting banners for ordinary messages in that conversation. A mention still notifies you, including @everyone. Turn the switch back on to hear from the conversation again.

A direct message says Today with that person. A group says Today with this group. A feed says Today with this feed. The bar shows the event name and the time. An event happening now says Now, until the end time. An all-day event says All day.

If the event has a meeting link, Join opens it. A number on the bar opens the rest of today's events.

Pop out

Open the conversation menu and choose Pop out. The conversation opens in a window over the rest of Base Assist, so you can read and reply without staying on the Chats page. Minimize tucks it to the bottom of the screen on a computer, or to the side on a phone. Close dismisses it. You can keep up to three. On a phone, opening another one tucks the previous one away.

Share a link

Open the + menu under the message box and choose Share Conversation Link. The link is copied. Someone who is already in the conversation can open it and land on this thread.