Messages lets you talk to colleagues inside Read + Respond. A conversation with two or more other people is a group: it can have a name, and everyone in it sees every message. This walkthrough starts a group conversation and shares a file in it.
Messages opens from the chat icon at the top of the page, next to the notification bell. If you don't see the icon, messaging isn't turned on for your account.
Step 1
Open Messages
Click the chat icon at the top of the page, next to the bell. A red number on it shows how many unread messages you have.
Step 2
Start a new conversation
Click the + above your conversation list. The New Conversation window opens.
Step 3
Choose who's in it
Click each person you want to include; a tick shows they're selected, and the count beside Select Contacts goes up. Click a person again to take them off. Search contacts... matches names, email addresses and roles.
Step 4
Name the group
Once two or more people are selected, Group Name (optional) appears. A name makes the conversation easy to find in your list later. You can leave it blank.
Step 5
Start the conversation
Click Start Conversation. It opens straight away and shows as Draft in your list. Nobody else sees it until you send the first message, and you can discard a draft from the conversation's menu.
Step 6
Attach a file
Click the paperclip beside the message box and choose a file from your computer. You can share photos, videos, PDFs, Word, Excel and PowerPoint files, and plain text or CSV files.
Step 7
Add a message
The file waits above the message box; the × on it removes it before you send. Type a message to go with it if you like.
Step 8
Send it
Press Enter to send (Shift+Enter starts a new line). The conversation stops being a draft, and everyone in the group can now see it.
Step 9
Opening a shared file
A document arrives as a button with the file's name; clicking it downloads the file. Photos and videos show a preview in the conversation instead.
Step 10
Managing the group later
From a conversation's ⋮ menu you can rename a group, mute it, mark it as unread, archive it or leave it, and Add Members brings more people into an existing group.
Keep reading
Tutorial
Message your team
Open a conversation, send a message, and reply to a particular one so the thread still reads clearly later.
Web dashboardTutorial
Set who a team can message
Use teams to decide who can message whom: managers reach their whole team, and members reach each other only when the team allows it.
Web dashboardTutorial
Approve a form response
Review a pending response against its submitted evidence, record a decision, and check its status history.
Web dashboard