Not every conversation requires a public Post. Sometimes a personal direct message is more appropriate. Learn how to do this here.
From a single direct message to a big group chat, you can achieve it all in the messaging section of the platform. Many of its functions are closely tied in to our moderation features, as user safety has been at the forefront of our thinking especially for direct messaging – you can read more about this here.
For now, let's go through how you and your users can get the most out of our messaging system.
Initiating a Message:
Please note, "connecting" between members as a requirement for messaging has now been removed.
Whether it's a single direct message or a brand new group chat, starting a new message chat follows the same steps:
- Tap the speech bubble icon in the bottom menu.
- To start a new message, tap the + icon.
- At this point, if you want to start a new group chat, press New Group Chat.
- Type out a members name to find them or scroll to search for them.
- Select the member(s) you want to chat to.
- If you are making a group chat, you can name the chat here.
- Start messaging.
User Control and Moderation:
In Chat:
There are a whole host of tools at a users disposal to control their messaging experience and keep it enjoyable, safe and happy.
Your Messages:
As a user, here are some actions they can take on their own messages by pressing and holding on a message they have sent (iOS and Android) and by pressing the three dots on a message in the Web platform:
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Edit and amend a message they've sent.
- This can only be done within 10 minutes of sending the original message.
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Delete their message for everyone.
- This can only be done within 10 minutes of sending the original message.
- Thread their next message to a new one to keep the conversation on track.
Messages you Receive:
As a user, here are some actions they can take on someone else's messages to themselves by pressing and holding on a message the other user has sent (iOS and Android) and by pressing the three dots on a message in the Web platform:
- Thread their next message to a new one to keep the conversation on track.
- Report the member.
The Chat Itself:
As a user, here are the actions they can take to manage their chat experience. These actions can be taken by tapping the three dots icon in the top right of the chat screen:
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Block a member.
- Blocking a member also allows a user to leave and delete a chat.
- The blocked member will only see that the user has left the chat.
- Report a member.
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Archive a chat.
- This will hide away the whole chat.
- If a member does this, they will automatically leave the chat and the other user will be notified.
- Leave a chat.
- Check the members in a group chat.
Some of these features relate to the platform moderation tools and you can find out more about them here.
Out of the Chat:
There are further tools a user has to further control their messaging experience and their platform experience too.
Tapping the Three Dots:
If a user taps the three dots icon at the top right of the messaging screen, they will be presented with the following options:
- Mark all chats as read.
- Visit archived chats.
- Visit their blocked users list.
Press & Hold a Specific Chat (3 dots on Web):
- Mark a chat as read/unread.
- Leave a chat.
Archived Chats:
Users have the option to archive a chat, which will automatically remove them from the chat and hide it away in the archives folder of messaging.
If a user later chooses to unarchive a chat, they will be re-added to the chat and it will show again in the main messaging page.
A user can archive a specific chat by tapping the three dots icon at the top right of a chat and selecting archive chat.
When a user wants to unarchive a chat, they will:
- Tap the three dots icon at the top right of the messages page.
- Select the Archived chats option.
- Select the chat they're interested in.
- They will be presented with the option to unarchive the chat.
- Selecting this will re-open the chat and start the conversation from the last point it stopped.
Blocked Members List:
A user has full control over their blocked members and can even access the list directly from the messages page.
Blocking a member will:
- Remove them from view in the platform.
- The user will not see any Posts/comments/messages/likes from the blocked user.
- Remove them from any one-to-one chat with the blocked member.
- The member will stay in a group chat with the blocked member and have the option to leave the chat if they wish.
- Unfollow the blocked member (if followed).
To access the blocked members list via the messaging page, the user can:
- Tap the three dots icon in the top right of the messages page.
- Select the Blocked users option.
- Click on the user they wish to unblock.
- Select Unblock.
Unblocking will restore the chat they had with the user. However, if the member had previously selected the option to leave and delete the chat at the time of blocking, the chat will not be restored when unblocked and they will have to begin a new chat.
Tips:
- As a Host, you have the power to enable/disable messaging for a specific account via the Console.
- It is not currently possible to send or receive images or videos via direct messaging.
- These messaging features are available on:
- iOS version 4.72
- Android version 4.132
- They are already live on the Web platform
- If a user who is on the latest version, messages a user who is not, then the following will occur:
- Then the message will go through to the user and they will be able to converse without the need to connect.
- If a user who is not on the latest version, attempts to connect to a user who is on the latest version, then the following will occur:
- The connection will not go through and the member will not be able to instigate a message with that user.
- The member on the old messaging system will be able to receive messages from members on the new messaging system and message normally from there.