How to send, format and edit a message

The message box sits at the foot of every channel and thread in What is chat?, reading "Message… (type @ to tag anything)". This page covers writing in it, and fixing a message once it has gone.

How do you send a message?

Press Enter to send. Press Shift+Enter for a new line without sending.

On a phone browser the keyboard's return key adds a new line, so tap the coral Send button instead. It works on a computer too.

Your message appears straight away, dimmed, and firms up once it has arrived. You can start typing the next one at once.

How do you write a longer message without sending half of it?

Use Shift+Enter for every line break and press Enter only when you are finished.

Inside a list, a quote or a code block, Enter adds the next bullet, quoted line or line of code instead of sending. Press Enter on an empty bullet to step out of the list.

Is a half-typed message kept if you leave?

Yes. Whatever you have typed stays in the box when you switch channel, open a task or go back. Each channel and each thread keeps its own unsent message in that browser.

Sending the message clears it. So does deleting the text from the box.

What formatting is there?

The row above the box: Bold, Italic, Strikethrough, Link, Bulleted list, Numbered list, Quote, Code and Code block. Each one lights up while it is active.

Use code formatting for anything a person will retype, such as a SKU, a purchase order number or a formula. Code suits a fragment inside a sentence; Code block suits several lines.

How do you add a link?

Select the words, click Link and paste the address. It must start with http:// or https://.

To take a link off, put the cursor in the linked words and click Link again.

Can you dictate a message?

Yes. Click the microphone (Dictate message) beside the paperclip and speak. The button reads Stop dictating while it listens.

Your words appear in lighter italic until you type or click in the box, which is your cue to read them before sending. The microphone shows in browsers with built-in speech recognition, such as Chrome and Safari.

How long can a message be?

Up to 4,000 characters, several screens of text.

If you go over, Tideswell stops the message before it sends and says "Messages can be up to 4,000 characters." with your count. Your text stays in the box so you can trim it. Anything that long usually reads better as a document, so see What are documents?.

What if a message does not send?

It stays on screen marked Not sent, with the reason, and a message saying so pops up too.

Click Retry under it to send exactly the same message again, or Discard to drop it.

How do you edit a message you have sent?

Hover your own message and click Edit (the pencil). The text opens in a box.

Change it, then press Enter or Save. Press Esc or Cancel to leave it as it was.

Shift+Enter adds a new line while you edit. The message then shows (edited) to everyone who reads it.

Only people you newly tag in the edit get an alert. Everyone the message already tagged heard about it when you first sent it. You edit from the web app, and the iPhone app shows the (edited) mark too.

How do you delete a message?

Hover your own message and click Delete (the bin).

Make sure before you click: the message goes for everyone immediately, with no confirmation step.

Replies to it stay, showing "original message unavailable" where the quote was. Anything you made from it, such as a task or a decision, stays too. See How to turn a conversation into work.

What else can go in a message?

• Tags, which turn people, tasks, documents, products, customers and records into live chips. Type @ or click Tag someone or something (@). See How to tag people, tasks, documents and products.
• Files and photos, from the paperclip or pasted in. See How to share files and photos in chat.
• A reply or a thread, from the hover bar on any message or New thread above the box. See How to reply and start a thread.