Chat

 

Chat is where you can text with your teammates in real time.

You can access chat in LoTops by clicking on the light green chat icon that is always present in the lower right corner of your screen.

When you click on the icon, the chat window will expand.  You can collapse the chat window by clicking the ‘X’ button in the top right corner of the chat window.

 

Chat Channels

 

Chats are organized into channels.  Every workspace has a dedicated chat channel.  There is a company-wide channel for your company, and a channel is automatically created for every team and project in your account.

Access to chat channels is exactly the same as access to workspaces.  You must be a member of the Company, Team or Project to access its chat channel.  If you are a member, you’ll automatically be added to the chat channel.

You can also DM (direct message) individuals in your company with whom you have access. Direct messages are only visible to you and the person you sent a direct message to.

 

 

Seeing Who Is Online

 

When you select a chat channel, the icons of all the members of that channel will appear in the top right corner of the chat window.

All user icons will have a small grey dot at the bottom right of their icon.  If they are currently online in LoTops, that dot will be green.

 

 

Inviting Clients

 

If you’ve invited a client to your project, you’ll have the option to make your chat channel for that project either visible and accessible to the client, or to keep the chat only visible and accessible to your teammates.

By default, all project chat channels are private.  The channel will have a grey locked lock icon to the left of its name in the channel menu.  You’ll also see at the top of the chat window a message saying the chat is private.

To change this setting and add a client to the chat channel, select ‘Visibility Settings.’

When a project chat channel has allowed clients to access it, the message at the top of the channel will tell everyone that the channel is now public.  Also, the lock icon will become green and appear unlocked.

 

Chat Notifications

 

The light green chat icon in the lower right corner of your screen will automatically show the number of unread messages you have in channels you belong to.  (Note that you will not be notified if you belong to a channel, but have unfollowed the associated workspace.)

You’ll also receive email, browser and mobile push notifications if you have those enabled.

When you have unread messages and open the chat window, there will be a green circle icon next to each channel with unread messages, showing the number of unread messages in that channel.
 

 

Sending a Text

 

To post a text, enter your message in the text bar at the bottom of the chat window and hit enter.  Chat channels are automatically arranged with the latest texts at the bottom of the screen.

You can attach files (including images) to your message by selecting the paper clip icon to the right.  You can also add emojis by selecting the smiley face icon to the right.
 

 

Editing or Deleting a Text

 

If you want to edit or delete your text, just scroll over it.  Small red pencil and trash buttons will appear above the message.  Select the appropriate icon to either edit or delete your message.