Collaboration

Comments

Comments

Two kinds: the page’s chat, a conversation about the whole page, and inline comments, each a small chat pinned to a specific run of text.

Open the tray with the speech-bubble button in the right rail, or press Cmd+Shift+L (Ctrl+Shift+L on Windows and Linux). It has two tabs, Chat and Inline, and opens on Chat. Close it with the X. On a phone the tray covers the page; close it to go back to reading. Reading mode hides the tray, and leaving reading mode brings it back.

The page’s chat

The Chat tab is the page’s own channel. Anyone who can view the page can read it and write in it, and it belongs to the page: it moves, goes to the trash and comes back with the page, and it is not listed among your channels.

Type in the box at the foot and press Enter to send. Shift+Enter starts a new line; on a touch screen, Return adds a line and the send button sends. The newest message is at the bottom. The box is a small editor: see Formatting a message.

A page nobody has written under yet shows “No messages yet.” The chat is made by the first message.

Threads

Hover a message and choose Reply in thread. The thread takes the tray’s column: the message, its replies and a box of its own for answering. The back arrow at the top returns to the chat where you left it. A message with replies shows how many (“2 replies”); click that to open its thread again. Replies stay in their thread and do not appear in the main list.

Every message reads the same way, yours included: on the left, under the sender’s picture, name and the time, with several messages in a row from one person under one name. Point at an action’s icon to see its name.

When somebody replies in a thread you started or replied in, you are told in your notifications.

Mentions

Press the @ button beside the box and type a name, username or email. Only people who can open the page are offered; picking one puts @Name in your message, and they are told in their notifications when you send it. If you type the exact username or email of someone who cannot open the page, the picker says so and does not offer them.

Reactions and pins

Hover a message and choose React to add an emoji: the picker opens beside the button. Click a reaction under a message to add yours or take it back. Point at a reaction to see the emoji’s name and who reacted with it, up to ten people by name and a count of the rest.

Pin keeps a message in the list at the top of the tab: “1 pinned” opens it, and choosing a pinned message scrolls to it. Unpin takes it out. Anyone who can write in the chat can pin.

Resolving

A thread can be resolved when its point has been dealt with. Hover the first message of the thread and choose Resolve. The thread moves from Open to Resolved, the two filters at the top of the tab, and still takes replies. Choose Reopen to move it back.

The person who started the thread, or anyone who can edit the page, can resolve or reopen it.

Editing and deleting

You can edit and delete your own messages.

• Edit turns the message into a text box; the check saves and the X cancels. An edited message is marked (edited) after its words, for everyone reading the page as soon as you save. A message without files cannot be saved with no words: to remove it, use Delete.
• Delete asks first, then shows “Message deleted” in its place. Its replies stay.

A message an instance administrator removed shows “Removed by an administrator”.

What you are told

The bell at the top of the tray sets what reaches your Notifications from this chat. Choose one of three:

If you watch the page or its space, the chat starts at All new messages; otherwise it starts at Mentions and threads you follow. A mention of you always reaches you, whatever you choose. The bell shows once the chat has its first message.

Confluence

On a page synced with Confluence, comments made in Confluence arrive in the chat. A comment by someone with an account here shows as theirs; anyone else shows by the name Confluence gave, with a “Confluence” tag. Edits and deletes in Confluence follow.

Formatting a message

The bar under the box formats what you write: Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, Inline code, Link, Bulleted list, Numbered list, Quote and Code block. Select some words and press one, or press it and type. Each has a key as well:

Markdown typed into the box turns into formatting as you write: **bold**, *italic*, `code`, - or 1. at the start of a line for a list, > for a quote, # at the start of a line for a heading, --- on a line of its own for a rule, and three backticks at the start of a line for a code block, which appears as the third one lands; three more on a line of their own end it (Backspace straight after puts them back as code). In a list, Shift+Enter starts the next item.

Link asks for the address. On Linux with the IBus input method, Ctrl+Shift+U starts Unicode entry instead, so use the Link button in the bar there. Addresses starting http, https or mailto are kept; a bare address such as example.com gets https://. A page’s or a channel’s own address is kept too, such as /page/ or /chat/ followed by its id, and readers see it as a chip that opens the page or channel; any other address starting / is not taken.

Beside Send are the @ button, to mention someone, the smiley, which opens the emoji picker and puts the emoji where your cursor is, and the paperclip, to attach files. Each file you attach waits above the box until you send it, a picture as a small preview of itself and any other file with an icon for its kind; the x on one takes it off. Once sent, click a picture to see it full size, and press Escape to close it. Emoji can also be typed as :name:.

To change a message you sent, hover it and press Edit: it opens in the same editor with its formatting. Save keeps the change; Cancel or Escape leaves it as it was. A message that holds a table opens as its markdown in a plain box instead, so the table is kept.

Length

A message holds up to 8,000 characters. Formatting counts towards that, so a long formatted message reaches the limit a little sooner; past it, the box says by how much and Send waits. Raw HTML is never rendered.

Inline comments

An inline comment is a small chat of its own, about one passage of the page. Each highlighted passage has one.

Inline comments are made while reading, not while editing. Leave edit mode first.

1. Select the text you want to talk about.
2. A small Comment bubble appears above the selection. Click it.
3. The tray opens on its Inline tab with your quoted text and a box to write in.
4. Type and press Enter to send. Cancel goes back without saving anything.

The text you selected is now highlighted. Hover it to see who started the comment; click it to open the tray on that comment.

The Inline tab

The tab lists every inline comment on the page, each with its quoted text, the first message and how many more there are. Choosing one opens it and scrolls the page to the highlight, which pulses briefly. All inline comments goes back to the list.

The list has three groups:

• Open: comments whose passage is on the page.
• Detached: comments whose passage can no longer be found, because the words were deleted or rewritten. They keep their quoted text and their messages, and open like any other.
• Resolved: folded into a “N resolved” row at the bottom; click it to show them.

When the page is edited, or rewritten by an agent, a comment finds its passage again by the quoted words and the words around them, so the highlight follows the text rather than staying where the text used to be.

Talking in it

An open inline comment works like the page’s chat: write in the box at its foot, open threads with Reply in thread, add reactions, pin messages, attach files and mention people with the @ button. You can edit and delete your own messages, as in the chat. Each inline comment has its own bell at the top of the tray, with the same three choices as the page’s chat, and starts the same way: at All new messages if you watch the page or its space.

Resolving

Choose Resolve at the top of an open inline comment when its point has been dealt with. It moves to Resolved, its highlight is hidden and it takes no new messages. Choose Reopen to bring it back, highlight and all.

The person who started the comment, or anyone who can edit the page, can resolve or reopen it.

Length and markdown

A message holds up to 8,000 characters and accepts the same markdown as the chat.

Next: Page History.