Branding & settings
Messages
Direct messages, group channels and org-wide announcements inside the app — with reactions, @mentions, edits, delivery ticks and search, so the important stuff isn’t lost in a personal group chat.
Messages keeps work chat inside WagePilot, next to the rota and the clock-in, instead of scattered across personal WhatsApp groups. Post a whole-team announcement, spin up a group channel, or send a direct message — and staff read it in the same app they clock in with. On desktop it’s a two-pane inbox (list on the left, conversation on the right); on a phone it’s a full-screen chat.
The conversation list
- New
- The button top-right opens the New conversation modal (see below).
- Unread badge
- A count pill on the right of a row, with the name in bold, marks unread messages. It clears when you open the conversation.
- Preview line
- The last message, prefixed You: if you sent it, or shown in italics as *Message deleted*.
- “All” chip
- Marks the org-wide Announcements channel.
- Enable (employer)
- A “Turn on push notifications” card sits above the list until you enable them (or the device can’t do push). Tap Enable to get pinged when a message lands, even with the app closed.
Start a new conversation
- 1
Tap New
Opens the modal. Managers see three modes across the top — Direct, Group, Announcement. Staff only get Direct.
- 2
Direct
Choose a person from the dropdown. Opening a DM you already have simply reopens it rather than duplicating it.
- 3
Group (managers)
Give the group a name (e.g. “Kitchen team”) and tap teammates’ chips to add them. Add at least one.
- 4
Announcement (managers)
Opens the single org-wide Announcements channel — everyone receives your posts, and only managers can write.
- 5
Start
Press Start to open the new conversation. Cancel backs out with nothing created.
Inside a conversation
- Header
- The channel name plus a sub-line: “Everyone · read-only for staff”, “N people”, or “Direct message”.
- Back arrow
- Returns to the list on a phone. On the desktop two-pane it’s hidden — the list is always there.
- Search (magnifier)
- Toggles an in-thread search box that filters the conversation to matching messages, with a live match count. Escape closes it.
- Date separators
- A pill (“Today”, “Yesterday”, a date) opens each new day.
- Typing line
- Animated dots and names show when someone else is typing.
- Jump-to-latest pill
- Appears when you scroll up into history; if messages arrived meanwhile it reads “N new”. Tap it to smooth-scroll back to the newest.
Write and send
- 1
Type and send
Type in the box and press the send arrow, or hit Enter. Shift+Enter inserts a line break instead of sending. The arrow is disabled until you’ve typed something.
- 2
Mention someone
Type @ then a name. An autocomplete lists matches — use ↑ / ↓ to move, Enter, Tab or a click to pick, Escape to dismiss. The person you pick gets a mention notification, and their name is highlighted in the sent message.
- 3
Links become tappable
Paste a URL and it’s turned into a real link automatically — a trailing full stop is left out of the link.
React, edit, delete
- React
- Hover (desktop) or long-press (touch) a message, then tap one of 👍 ❤️ 😂 🎉 ✅. Reaction chips sit under the bubble with a count; tap a chip to toggle your reaction. Your own reactions are highlighted.
- Edit
- On your own message, the action bar shows a pencil. It loads the text back into the composer with an “Editing message” banner — change it and send, or tap the ✕ to cancel. Edited messages show a small “edited” label.
- Delete
- The bin on your own message removes it; the bubble becomes “This message was deleted”, and the list preview says the same.
- Delivery ticks
- On messages you send: a clock while sending, one tick when sent, a double tick when read. A failed send rings red with a Retry link.