Chat and Mentions

Chat gives each initiative or project a conversation its team can use to discuss the work, right where the work is. Mentions let you bring a particular person into a conversation: typing @ and their name notifies them, with a link back to where you mentioned them.

This article covers both the Advanced and Simple Models. Chat is only available where it's enabled for the initiative's classification, or for the program — see Enabling chat.

Using chat

To post a message:

1. Click Chat, at the top right of most pages.

   

2. The Chat side sheet opens on the most recent message. Scroll up to read earlier ones.

   

3. Type your message in the box at the bottom, and click Post Comment.

Each message shows who sent it, when, and a link to the page it was sent from, added automatically, so others can go straight to what it's about. Your own messages are green, and other people's are blue.

To see who's in the conversation, open the list of team members in the side sheet. Everyone listed can see the chat, and can be mentioned in it.

Mentioning someone

To mention someone:

1. In a chat message, or a comment on a Timeline, type @. A list of users appears.

   

2. Keep typing to narrow the list, then select the person.
3. Post the message.

Mentions work in Chat, and in the comments on the Timelines of initiatives, projects, benefits, measures, and resource demand — see Activity Timelines.

The person you mention gets a notification in Amplify and, where email notifications are turned on, an email. Both show the message, who sent it, the initiative and page it was sent from, and a link to that page.

Only people who are mentioned are notified — posting a message without a mention doesn't notify anyone. Someone mentioned on a page they can't access is still notified, and their link takes them to the initiative's landing page instead.

Finding earlier messages

Chat messages are kept on the initiative's Timeline, labeled Chat Comment by. To find one:

1. In the Chat side sheet, click Search chat history. The initiative's Timeline opens, showing only comments.
2. Type in the Type to search timeline box to find a particular message.

Enabling chat

Advanced Model

To enable chat on an initiative classification:

1. Navigate to Administration > Classifications, and click Edit next to the initiative classification.
2. On the General Configuration tab, check Enable Chat.

   

3. Click Save.

Simple Model

To enable chat for a program:

1. Navigate to your program, then to Configuration > Features.

   

2. Turn on Enable Chat.

   

Turning on email notifications for mentions

Whether mentions send an email is set for the whole organization, by an administrator. To turn it on:

1. Navigate to Administration > Notifications.
2. Find New Comment.

   

3. Turn on its toggle.

In-app notifications for mentions are sent either way.