Messaging

A team chat is the shared conversation for one team. Membership is automatic -- as soon as someone joins the team they appear in the chat, and when they leave they drop out. You cannot create or delete a team chat by hand.

What a team chat is

There is exactly one team chat per team. The chat carries the team name and the team picture, and every current member of the team can read and post in it. Use a team chat for things the whole team needs to see: announcements, daily updates, kit shortages.

Because membership is tied to the team, you cannot leave a team chat or add an outsider to it. To change who can see a team chat, add or remove people from the team itself.

Opening a team chat on the web app

1. Open the Workflow runs view and tap the speech-bubble (chat) icon in the top-right of the header. The view switches to Chats.
2. Use the All Types filter (which can show Teams, DMs and Groups) to show only Teams if you want to narrow the list.
3. Click the team chat row. The chat panel opens on the right.

The chat panel shows the team picture and name at the top, the message history in the middle, and the message input at the bottom. Newest messages are at the bottom. Scroll up to load older messages -- Pilla fetches more in batches as you reach the top.

Sending a message on the web app

1. Click into the message box at the bottom of the chat panel.
2. Type your message. You can attach images and files with the paperclip and image buttons, and use @ to mention a specific teammate or @everyone to ping the whole team.
3. Press Send.

You can reply to a specific earlier message by hovering over it and clicking the reply icon -- a small reply bar appears above the input showing the name of the person you are replying to, with an X to clear it. The bar stays until you send the reply or click the X.

Reactions on the web app

Hover any message to reveal a small action bar. Click the smiley face to open the emoji picker, then click the emoji you want to add. The emoji appears as a chip under the message with a count.

• Click the same chip again to remove your reaction.
• Hover over a chip to see who reacted -- the tooltip lists everyone if three or fewer people reacted, otherwise it shows two names then "and {n} others".

Read receipts on the web app

The chat panel itself does not show a "Seen by" indicator next to each message. To gauge how much a chat has been read, look at the chats list in the Chats view -- each row shows a "{n} unread" count when you have messages you have not opened yet.

For a more detailed view of who has read what, use the mobile app's message info screen (see below).

Opening a team chat on the mobile app

1. Tap the chat bubble icon on the floating action bar at the bottom of the screen. The chats popup opens.
2. Tap the Teams pill at the top to show only team chats.
3. Tap the team chat you want.

The team chat opens with the team name at the top. The empty state reads "No messages in this team channel yet" if no one has posted before.

Sending a message on the mobile app

1. Tap the message input at the bottom of the screen.
2. Type your message. Use the paperclip icon for files, the image icon for photos from your gallery, and the camera icon to take a new photo.
3. Use @ to mention a teammate or @everyone to ping the whole team.
4. Tap the Send button.

To reply to a specific message, long-press it and tap Reply in the action sheet that appears. A small reply bar appears above the input showing the name of the person you are replying to, with an X to clear it.

Reactions on the mobile app

To react to a message, long-press it and pick an emoji from the row at the top of the action sheet.

• Long-press a message to open the action sheet.
• Tap an emoji from the scrollable row at the top to add it. The sheet closes and your reaction appears as a chip under the message.
• Tap a chip to open a popup that lists exactly which teammates reacted with that emoji.
• In that popup, your own row reads "You" with a bin (trash) icon next to it. Tap the bin icon to remove your reaction. Tap Done to close the popup.

Read receipts on the mobile app

Long-press a message and tap the Info action. A read receipts screen opens listing the teammates who have read the message. Each name has a double-tick next to it and the time they read it (for example "5m ago"). People who have not read the message yet are not listed. If no one has read it, the screen reads "No reads yet".

This screen pulls from the same data as the unread counts you see in the chats list.

Tips

• A quick way to find a team chat is to filter the chats list by Teams (on the web app this is in the All Types filter; on the mobile app it is the Teams pill).
• A plain message with no mentions sends a push notification to every team member. Adding @everyone does the same thing. Mention specific people with @ if you only want to notify them.
• The team chat picture comes from the team picture. To change it, edit the team, not the chat.
• If someone is on more than one team, they are in more than one team chat -- one per team.
• The web chat panel has no read receipts. To see exactly who has read a message, open the same chat in the mobile app, long-press the message and tap Info.

A direct message (DM) is a private 1-on-1 conversation between you and one other person in your Pilla account. Only the two of you can read or post in it.

What a DM is

DMs are intentionally simple: two people, no extras. If you want a private chat with more than one other person (you plus at least two others), use a group chat instead.

Pilla only ever keeps one DM thread per pair of people. If you start a "new" DM with someone you have already messaged before, Pilla opens the existing thread rather than creating a fresh one. This means your message history with anyone in the account is always in the same place.

Starting a DM on the web app

1. Tap the chat bubble icon in the top bar, near the top-right corner. The view switches to the Chats tab, where the title reads Chats.
2. Tap the blue New Chat button at the right end of the filter row, next to the search box. A side panel titled New conversation opens.
3. A user picker is shown:
   • Search (text, optional) -- a search box with placeholder Search. It matches on name, email, and job title as you type.
   • User list -- every active person in your account, listed by name, with avatar, name, and a circle tick on the right. Your own row is marked (You), pre-ticked, and cannot be unticked.
4. Tap the person you want to DM. A filled tick appears next to their name.
5. Tap Create at the top of the panel.

If you already have a DM with that person, Pilla opens it and briefly shows "Opening existing conversation". Otherwise it creates the new DM and opens it.

Starting a DM on the mobile app

1. Tap the chat bubble icon on the left of the floating action bar at the bottom of the screen. The Chats screen opens.
2. Tap the blue + button in the top-right corner of the Chats screen. The New conversation screen opens.
3. Type in the Search box to find the person you want, then tap their row. A filled tick appears on the right of their row.
4. Tap Create in the top-right corner.

As on web, if a DM with that person already exists Pilla opens it instead of creating a duplicate.

Reading and sending messages

A DM works the same as any other chat:

• Newest message at the bottom. Scroll up to load older messages.
• Type into the message input at the bottom (placeholder Type a message...) and tap the Send button.
• Attach photos and files using the icons on the input bar. On mobile you can also take a photo with the camera icon.
• Reply to an earlier message by hovering it on web and tapping the reply arrow, or long-pressing it on mobile and tapping Reply.

Reactions in DMs

Reactions work the same as in team chats. On web, hover over a message and click the smiley face, then pick an emoji. On mobile, long-press the message to open the actions sheet, then tap an emoji from the row at the top.

The actions you get differ slightly by device. On web, hovering a message shows Reply, the smiley face, and Copy. On mobile, long-pressing shows the emoji row plus Reply, Copy, and Info.

Read receipts in DMs

To see whether the other person has read a message, long-press it on mobile and tap Info. The screen lists the other person with a double-tick and how long ago they read it, once they have read your message. Until then it reads "No reads yet".

On the web app there is no per-message read receipt in a DM. Instead, the chat row in the Chats tab shows an unread count when the other person has sent you messages you haven't opened.

When a DM is blocked

If you have blocked the other person, or they have blocked you, the message input is replaced with the text "You can't send messages in this conversation." You can still read the existing history, but you cannot send anything new until the block is lifted.

See Chat settings and read receipts for how blocking works.

Tips

• The user picker only shows active people in your account, listed by name. People who have been removed do not appear. Your own row is marked (You) and sits in its place in the list, not at the top.
• On web, the New Chat button only appears on wider screens. If you don't see it, widen the window or use a larger device.
• Want to message someone about a specific workflow run? On mobile, swipe a work card to the left to start a DM about that run (swiping right messages the team instead), or use the work card's menu -- see Adding workflow context to messages.
• DMs are private to the two participants for day-to-day use: other people can't open or post in your DMs. A manager or admin can read a DM's messages through admin tools, so don't treat a DM as fully confidential from account admins.
• You can mute a DM the same way as any other chat. On mobile, tap the bell icon on the chat row in the Chats screen. Muting stops push notifications but keeps the chat in your list.

A group chat is a custom chat with two or more teammates that you pick yourself. Unlike team chats, you choose the members, the name, and the picture. Use group chats for cross-team groups, project-specific chats, or any conversation where the team chat is the wrong scope.

What a group chat is

Group chats live alongside team chats and DMs in your chats list. Each one needs a name and a picture when it is created. Membership is fixed only at the moment of creation -- after that, any member can edit the group: change the name, swap the picture, add new people, or remove existing ones.

Creating a group chat on the web app

1. Open the Workflow runs view and tap the speech-bubble (chat) icon in the top-right of the header. The view switches to Chats.
2. Tap the blue New Chat button next to the "Search chats..." box. A side panel titled New conversation opens.
3. In the side panel, tick the teammates you want to add. As soon as you select two or more other people, the button at the top changes to Next.
4. Tap Next. The panel switches to a Group info stage.
5. Fill in the group fields:
   • Group name (text, required, placeholder: "Kitchen Team") -- the display name for the group, marked with a *.
   • Group image (picture upload, required) -- tap the square image button on the left to pick a picture from your computer.
   • Participants (list, read-only at this stage) -- the people you picked. Tap the red X next to any name to remove them. You cannot remove yourself here.
6. Tap Create at the top right.

A brief message confirms "Group Created" with the line "{group name}" has been created., and the new chat opens. The Create button only turns on once you have entered a name and chosen a picture.

Creating a group chat on the mobile app

1. Tap the chat bubble icon on the floating action bar to open the Chats screen, then tap the + button in the top-right corner.
2. On the New conversation screen, pick two or more other people from the list. The button at the top right changes to Next.
3. Tap Next. The Group info screen opens.
4. Fill in the same three fields:
   • Group name (text, required, placeholder: "Kitchen Team") -- the display name for the group.
   • Group image (picture upload, required) -- tap the square image button and pick a photo from your gallery.
   • Participants (list) -- tap the red X next to any name to remove them. You cannot remove yourself here.
5. Tap Create at the top right.

The chat opens immediately after creation. The Create button only turns on once the group has a name and a picture.

Editing a group chat on the web app

Any member of a group can edit it.

1. On the Chats screen, find the group chat row.
2. Open the row menu (the three dots) and pick Edit Group. The edit panel opens.
3. Stage one (Edit participants) lets you change who is in the group:
   • Search (text, optional, placeholder: "Search") -- filter the user list.
   • User list -- tick people to add, untick to remove. You can untick anyone here, including yourself.
4. Tap Next when at least two people are selected.
5. Stage two (Edit group) lets you change the name and picture:
   • Group image (picture upload, optional) -- tap the square image button to upload a new photo. The existing photo is shown if you do not change it.
   • Group name (text, required) -- edit the current name.
   • Participants (list, read-only at this stage) -- the people you picked. The X is hidden next to your own name here.
6. Tap Save at the top right.

The Save button only turns on once you have made at least one change and the group still has a name and at least two members in total.

Editing a group chat on the mobile app

When you open a group chat on mobile, an edit icon (the pencil square) appears in the top-right of the header. The icon only shows for group chats, not for team chats or direct messages. Tap it to open the Edit group screen. Everything is on one screen here:

• Group image (picture upload, optional) -- tap the square image button to pick a new photo from your gallery. The existing photo is shown until you change it.
• Group name (text, required, placeholder: "Kitchen Team") -- edit the current name.
• Search (text, optional, placeholder: "Search") -- filter the user list below.
• Participants (tickable list) -- tap people to add or remove them. You can untick anyone here, including yourself.

Tap Save at the top right when you are done. The Save button only turns on once you have made a change and the group still has a name and at least two members. The screen closes back to the group chat.

Leaving a group chat

To leave a group chat, edit it and remove yourself. On the web app, open the row menu on the Chats screen and pick Edit Group, then untick your own name in the Edit participants list. On the mobile app, open the group chat, tap the pencil-square edit icon, then untick your own name. Tap Save (or Next then Save on the web app) to confirm. A group must keep at least two members, so you can only leave if there will still be two or more people left after you go. You can also ask another member to remove you instead.

Tips

• Group chats need a picture as well as a name -- the Create button stays off until you have both.
• Anyone in the group can edit it. There is no "owner" or admin role for group chats.
• To start a new group you need at least three people in total (you plus two others). For a 1-on-1, use a direct message instead.
• When editing a group you can drop it down to two members, but no smaller -- the Save button stays off if fewer than two would be left.
• The group picture and name show in the chats list and at the top of the chat. Keep names short and the picture recognisable.

This page covers the controls that change how chats behave for you: read receipts, muting, and blocking. Two of these (mute and block) need to be turned on by an admin for your whole Pilla account before anyone can use them.

Read receipts

Pilla shows read receipts on a per-message basis. There is no global on-or-off toggle -- everyone sees the same information.

On the web app

The web chat panel does not display a per-message "Seen by" line. Instead, each chat row in the Chats tab shows how many messages are still unread for you in that chat as a "X unread" count on the right of the row.

On the mobile app

Long-press any message in a chat. An action sheet appears with a row of emoji reactions and three buttons: Reply, Copy, and Info. Tap Info. A read receipts screen opens listing the people who have read the message. Each name has a double-tick next to it and the time they read it (for example "5m ago"). People who have not read the message yet are not shown, and if no one has read it the screen reads "No reads yet".

The same long-press action sheet and read receipts screen are used for team chats, group chats, and DMs.

Muting a chat

Muting a chat stops push notifications for it, but the chat stays in your list and you still receive messages -- they just arrive silently. Mute is per-user; muting a chat only mutes it for you.

This option is only available if your account admin has switched it on for the whole account (see "Admin: turning mute and block on or off" below). If it is off, the mute control does not appear.

On the web app

Open the Workflow runs view and pick the Chats tab. Each chat row has a three-dot menu on the right.

1. Open the three-dot menu on the chat you want to mute.
2. Pick Mute.

A confirmation reads "Chat muted" and a bell-off icon appears next to the chat name. To unmute, open the same menu and pick Unmute. The menu mutes or unmutes one chat at a time -- there is no bulk mute on the web app.

On the mobile app

Tap the chat bubble icon to open the Chats screen. Each row has a bell icon on the right. Tap it to toggle mute. The icon switches between a bell (not muted) and a bell-off (muted).

Blocking a user

Blocking is one-way: when you block someone, they cannot send you DMs and their messages in your DM with them are hidden from you. They still appear in any team chats or group chats you share.

Blocking is only available in DMs and only if your account admin has switched it on for the whole account (see "Admin: turning mute and block on or off" below).

On the web app

1. Open the Workflow runs view, pick the Chats tab, and find the DM with the person you want to block.
2. Open the three-dot menu on that row.
3. Pick Block User.

A confirmation reads "User blocked" and a ban icon appears next to the chat name. To unblock, open the same menu and pick Unblock User.

While a DM is blocked, the message input in the chat panel is replaced with "You can't send messages in this conversation."

On the mobile app

Blocking and unblocking is done from the web app. The mobile app respects the block state -- if a DM is blocked, the input is replaced with "You can't send messages in this conversation." -- but does not currently show a block control in the Chats screen.

Filtering chats by mute and block state on the web app

The filter bar above the Chats tab lets you focus on muted or blocked chats:

• Your Mute Status -- pick "Muted" to see only your muted chats, "Not Muted" to hide them, or leave it on the default to see everything.
• Your Block Status -- pick "Blocked" to see only chats with blocked users, "Not Blocked" to hide them, or leave on the default to see everything.

These filters are useful for spring-cleaning: filter to "Muted" to remind yourself which chats are silenced, or to "Blocked" to find DMs you may want to unblock.

Admin: turning mute and block on or off

Mute and block are both off until an admin switches them on for the whole account. Two account-wide settings control whether they are available at all:

• Should everyone be allowed to mute individual chats? -- if off, no one in the account can mute a chat.
• Should everyone be allowed to block other users from DMs? -- if off, no one in the account can block another user in a DM.

Both live on the Settings screen, which only admins can open. They are not something you pick on an individual chat row -- they switch the feature on or off for everyone.

On the web app

1. Tap the Settings gear icon in the top-right corner of the header. The Settings screen opens.
2. Find the rows "Should everyone be allowed to mute individual chats?" and "Should everyone be allowed to block other users from DMs?". Each has an Info icon you can hover for a plain-English explanation.
3. Use the switch on the right of each row to turn it on or off.
4. Tap the Save button above the settings card.

On the mobile app

1. Open the mobile menu and tap Adjust Settings (admins only). The Settings screen opens with the title "Settings".
2. Find the same two rows: "Should everyone be allowed to mute individual chats?" and "Should everyone be allowed to block other users from DMs?".
3. Tap the switch on the right of each row to turn it on or off.
4. Tap Save in the top-right corner.

Changes apply to everyone in the account. If an admin turns "Adjust Settings" off in the mobile menu settings, admins can still change these on the web app.

Tips

• Mute is the right tool for chats you want to keep but don't want pinging your phone. Block is the right tool for stopping someone from messaging you.
• Block only works on DMs. To stop someone seeing your messages in a team chat or group chat, they have to be removed from the team or group instead.
• If mute or block buttons aren't showing up, ask your admin whether the account-wide settings are switched on.
• The mobile bell icon and the web Mute/Unmute menu item are the same toggle -- if you mute on one, the other reflects it instantly.

When you want to chat about a specific workflow run -- "we missed step 3 on this morning's open", "the photo on this safety check is wrong" -- Pilla can attach the run to your message so there is no ambiguity about which one you mean. The reader sees the run name as a tappable card inside the chat and can tap through to the run itself.

What workflow context is

A normal chat message is just text. A message with workflow context has the workflow run pinned to it, shown as a small card under the message bubble with a tick-square icon and the run's name. Tap or click the card to open the run.

Workflow context can be attached to:

• A chat about the run (the whole team sees your message tied to that run), or
• A direct message (one teammate sees your message tied to that run).

The context is set when you start the message. You cannot add it to a message you have already sent.

Starting a message with workflow context on the mobile app

There are two ways to start a message about a run on mobile, both from the Work Items tab where every run shows as a card.

By swiping a work card

Swiping a card sends you straight into a chat about that run, so you never have to retype which run you mean:

• Swipe right -- opens the chat for that run. The header shows the run's team at the top and About {run name} underneath, and every message you send here stays pinned to the run. The swipe indicator on the left reads Team.
• Swipe left -- opens a user picker. Tick one or more teammates and tap Next, then write your message on the Compose DM screen (its subtitle reads Will send separately) and tap Send. Each person gets a single direct message with the run attached. The swipe indicator on the right reads DM.

From inside the workflow run

When you have a run open on mobile, a floating action bar sits at the bottom of the screen. Tap the chat bubble icon on the left to open the chat for that run, the same chat you reach by swiping right on the card. Every message in it carries the run as context.

What the recipient sees

Whichever way you started the message, the result looks the same to the reader:

• The message bubble shows your text as normal.
• Underneath the text, a card with a tick-square icon shows the workflow run's name.
• Tapping or clicking the card opens the workflow run directly. On mobile this opens the work details screen; on the web app the run's panel slides open on the right.

In a run's own chat, every message stays anchored to the run automatically. In a general team chat, you can also reply to a message that already carries a run and your reply keeps the same run attached -- so that one reply stays tied to it.

Starting a message with workflow context on the web app

In the Workflow runs view, each run in the table has a menu button at the end of its row. Open it for these two messaging actions:

• Message team about this -- opens a chat panel on the right for that run. Every message you send in this panel stays pinned to the run.
• DM user about this -- opens a two-step panel. On Select Recipients tick one or more teammates and tap Next, then write your message on Compose Message and send. Each person gets a direct message with the run attached.

Both actions appear for any run that has been scheduled into the table, including runs due in the next few days that have not started yet. They are hidden for runs scheduled far enough ahead that they have not been added to the table yet -- those rows are placeholders for future occurrences, and the menu does not offer the messaging actions until the run is in place.

Tips

• The context card always links to the workflow run, so anyone joining the chat later can tap straight through to the run for full detail.
• Swipe-to-chat on mobile is the fastest way to ask about a specific run -- you skip opening a chat and describing which run you mean.
• A run's own chat keeps every message tied to that run, so you do not need to re-attach it each time. A direct message about a run carries the run on the one message you compose.
• When you swipe right or use the chat bubble inside a run, Pilla uses the run's own team for the chat -- you do not need to choose a team.