Chat Plugin

The Chat plugin lets you build a chat feature in the app so users can send messages to each other. It supports both open channels for group discussions and private channels for selected recipients.

When to use this

• Users should be able to send and receive messages in the app
• You need topic-based channels — for example "Shift handovers", "Urgent", or team channels
• Some conversations should only be visible to specific users
• You want likes, comments, and reading receipts on messages

How it works

A chat has three levels:

1. Chat — a named container you create in the plugin. An applet can have several chats.
2. Channels — topic-based conversation spaces inside a chat. Each channel has its own settings and permissions.
3. Messages — what users write in a channel.

To show a chat in the app, add the Chat widget to a page and point it at a chat you've created.

TIP

Chat and Newsfeed share the same engine under the hood, but are managed as separate plugins in AppStudio. Chat is optimized for dialog between users; Newsfeed is optimized for posts published from a few to many.

Enable Chat

1. Open your applet.
2. Go to Plugin Settings.
3. Turn on the Chat plugin.
4. Save.

Create a chat

1. Enable the Chat plugin in the applet.
2. Open the plugin's dashboard from the side menu.
3. Click Create chat.
4. Enter a name.
5. Save.

Once the chat is created, you can add channels and manage users and permissions.

Channels

Channels are the conversation spaces where messages are sent. Each channel has its own settings.

Create a channel

1. Open the chat in the plugin's dashboard.
2. Click Create channel.
3. Enter a name and configure the settings (see below).
4. Save.

Channel settings

Private

Setting	Description
Private	When on, the channel is only visible to users with explicit permission. When off, the channel is open to all users in the chat.

Comments

Setting	Description
Allow comments	Turn on to let users reply to messages.
Allow disable comments per post	When on, the sender can disable comments on individual messages.
Comments depth	How many levels of replies are allowed. 1 = direct replies only, 2 = replies to replies.

Reactions

Setting	Description
Allow like	Turn on to let users react to messages.
Allow disable likes per post	The sender can disable likes on individual messages.

Reading receipts

Setting	Description
Allow reading receipts	When on, the system records which users have read each message.

Notifications

Setting	Description
Allow disable notifications	Users can choose to mute notifications from the channel.

Style

Setting	Description
Icon	Icon representing the channel in the channel picker.

Advanced

Setting	Description
Permissions for this channel	Opens the permissions view where you control which users and groups can see, post, comment, and react in the channel.

Delete a channel

Click Delete at the bottom of the channel's settings. This removes the channel and all its messages permanently.

WARNING

Deleting a channel cannot be undone. All messages and comments are gone.

Users and permissions

Permissions are controlled at two levels:

• On the chat — who can use the chat at all.
• On each channel — who sees the channel, who can post, comment, and react.

To manage users in a chat, open the chat and select Users in chat or User groups in chat.

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Use user groups rather than individual users when possible — that way you don't have to update permissions when teams change.

Show the chat in the app

Add a Chat widget to a page in the applet. See Chat Widget for the widget's settings.

Example

Scenario: You want an internal chat with two channels — General (open to everyone) and Leadership (private).

1. Enable the Chat plugin.
2. Create the chat Internal.
3. Create the General channel — open, allow comments (depth 1), allow likes, allow reading receipts.
4. Create the Leadership channel — turn on Private, give the leadership group read and post permissions.
5. Add a Chat widget to the Chat page, point it at the Internal chat.

Everyone sees General, but only the leadership group sees Leadership.

Tips

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Set Comments depth to 1 to keep threads flat. It simplifies the overview and makes the conversation easier to follow.

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Turn off Allow reading receipts for informal channels — some users find it intrusive that everyone can see when they've read a message.

Common mistakes

WARNING

If a user can see a channel but can't post in it, they probably lack post permission — check the channel's Permissions.

WARNING

Allow disable comments per post requires Allow comments to be on. If comments are off for the channel, there's nothing to disable per message.