Messages

The Messages tab

Messages is where a project talks. Each message is a thread with a title, and people reply underneath it, so a decision or a question stays in one place instead of being scattered across chat.

Messages are grouped by day. A blue dot marks one you have not read yet; a padlock marks a private message; a coloured chip marks a weekly status update. The toggle at the top switches between newest and oldest first, and the filter box finds a message by title or author.

Posting a message

Click + Add a message, give it a title and write the body. Anyone who can post on the project (collaborators and above) can add a message. Everyone on the project is told about it, following their own notification settings.

Replying

Open a message and reply at the foot of the thread. Replies keep the order they were posted in (switch to newest first with the toggle once there are several).

• Follow a thread to be told about every reply, even if you have not posted in it. You follow automatically when you reply.
• Edit or Delete your own messages and replies. Administrators can edit anyone's.
• Archive a message to tuck it away without deleting it — it moves to the Archived list and is closed to new replies.

Mentions

Type @ and start a name to mention someone. They get a notification in their Inbox and, if they have chosen to, a pop-up or an email. Only people on the project can be mentioned.

Reactions

Under every message and reply there are eight quick reactions: 👍 🎉 ❤️ 😄 👀 🚀 ✅ 🙏. Hover one to see who reacted.

The editor

The same editor is used for messages, replies, comments and notes:

• Bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, bulleted and numbered lists, quotes.
• Images — paste, drag in, or use the picture button. Click an image to resize it.
• Emoji and GIFs (GIFs can be turned off by an administrator).
• Links — select some words first, then press the link button or ⌘K.
• Attach files with the button at the foot. Up to ten per post, 25 MB each.
• Press ⌘ Enter / Ctrl Enter to send.

Pasting from email or Word brings the words in as plain text, so their styling does not come with them. A pasted Google Docs, Sheets or Slides link turns into a link with the document's real title.

Related items

Under a message you can attach items from the project's Library — the brief, the contract, the design file — with Add related, so anyone reading the thread has what they need to hand. See Files and Library.

Exporting a conversation

A thread can leave the app whole — for a client who is not on the project, for the record, or to become a document of its own. Open the thread and click Export:

• PDF — to read, print or send. Pictures pasted into the thread are included; attachments are listed with links.
• Markdown — for a document, a wiki or a notes app.
• Plain text — just the words.
• Copy to clipboard — paste the whole conversation into an email, a document or a note; the formatting comes with it.
• Google Doc — a new document in your own Google Drive, ready to edit and share.

The first time you choose Google Doc you are sent to Google to allow it. Think Projects asks only for permission to create documents — it can never see the rest of your Drive — and you can disconnect it at any time under My settings → Sign-in & security. After that, each export makes a new Doc straight away.

Every format carries the title, the project, who wrote each post and when, the replies in order, and a link back to the thread. Anyone who can see the project can export its conversations.

Reply by email

When you receive a notification email about a message, you can simply reply to the email. Your reply is posted to the thread as you. Quoted text and signatures are stripped automatically. Reply from the same email address the notification went to.