BasicOps is designed to make communication between team members easy. The key feature which makes this possible is Messages.
Messages are used throughout BasicOps. They are used in chat, group chat, and task and project discussions - anywhere communication between team members is warranted.
This article will show you how to:
- Write and post a message and communicate with your team
- Create a task from within a message
- Add reactions to a message
- Mention a user or the whole team
- Add a reference to a task in your text message
- Add files to your discussion
- Add text formatting to your message
- Use the More Actions menu
- Reply to a text message
How to write a Message
When you are entering a new message in a discussion or chat thread, or replying to an existing message, you will see the following dialog box. You can add to the discussion by simply entering your text here and clicking Post.
Below the text entry area there are some special icons:
- Add task from selected area
- Emojis
- Mention a user or team
- Add reference to task or project
- Add files
- Add formatting
Add a task directly from a text message
You can create a new task in your message and have it automatically added to your project. In the text entry field, simply enter the name of the new task you wish to create, highlight it, and click on the checkbox in the formatting menu.
When you click on Post, it will become a task and get added to your task list.
Emojis
Emojis are small, fun, light-hearted images, which can be used to convey a broad range of emotions. When you click on the emoji menu item you will be shown a list of available emojis.
When a team member clicks an emoji, it will be attached to the message with an emoji count as shown below. A popup window will appear displaying the name of the team member who attached the emoji.
If you hover your cursor over the emoji, you will see the name of the emoji and all team members who clicked it.
Mention a user or team
You can mention a team member in a discussion by preceding his team member name with the ampersand. The mentioned user will then get a direct email notification of your message.
The mentioned user will also get notified in My Feed that he has an important message. The message will be displayed in My Feed as well as the discussion.
Add reference to a task or a project
You can add a direct link to a task or project within a discussion by selecting the # menu item.
A list of your workspace’s tasks and projects will be displayed. Select a reference item and click on the post button.
Add files
Click on the paper clip icon to attach files to your discussion.
You can attach files stored on your local drive, or if your admin has enabled integrations, you can attach files from a cloud based drive such as Google Drive,
Add formatting
The add formatting menu item expands into a group of general text editing formatting items. These items allow you to change the style of the text in your message to suit your liking. You can do things like, add boldface text, italicize, or underline text. You can also add hyperlinks, and introduce lists in your messages.
The More Action menu
When you hover over an existing message, you will see the More Actions menu.
This menu allows you to respond to a message in different ways.
Here you can:
- Reply with text
- Like a message
- Add emojis
- Edit or delete a message
Replying to messages
If you hover your cursor over a message, the message will become highlighted and you will be given 3 options in the upper right corner. (4 if you are the creator of the message.)
These options are:
- Like
- Emojis
- Reply
- Action items
A message can be “Liked” by clicking the Like button. A “Liked” message will be designated by the thumbs up icon. For every team member that clicks on the Like button, your message’s “Like” count will increase by 1 as shown below.
Note: If a team member clicks the Like button for a second time, the “Like” count will decrease by 1.
Hovering your cursor over the thumbs up icon will show all of those on your team who liked your message.
You can also insert other emojis in your messages. By clicking on the emoji menu item you will be shown a list of available emojis.
When a team member clicks on an emoji, it will be attached to the message with an emoji count as shown below.
If you hover the cursor over the emoji, you will see who clicked the emoji.
The 3rd option in the reply menu is for verbally replying to the selected message. Clicking the button will pop the reply dialog. When the reply is posted, it will become the newest highlighted message in focus. It will also become indented.
Clicking on the 3 dots action menu will allow you to edit or delete the highlighted message.
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