Most leader teams talk in a WhatsApp group. The messages mix with family chats, new leaders miss the history, and nobody can find last month's decision. Team Chat gives your leader team its own place to talk, inside Scoutworks, next to your events, tasks and files.
This feature is currently in beta. A group admin turns it on in Settings → Beta Programme.
Who can use it
Team Chat is for your leader team only:
| Role | Access |
|---|---|
| Group admins | Use chat, and manage every channel |
| Leaders, trustees and network members | Use chat |
| Young Leaders, parents and young people | No access |
A direct message never includes anyone under 18. If a private channel or a group message includes someone under 18, it must also include at least 2 adults.
Where to find it
Open Chat under Comms & Insights in the left-hand navigation. A number on Chat shows how many messages you have not read.
On a laptop, the list of channels is on the left and the open conversation is on the right. On a phone, the list and the conversation are separate screens. Tap the back arrow to go back to the list.
Channels
Scoutworks makes these channels for you:
- General, for the whole leader team.
- One channel for each section, such as Beavers or Cubs.
To make your own channel, click the + next to Channels. Give it a name, and choose who can see it:
- Public: anyone in your leader team can find and join it.
- Private: only the people you add can see it.
To find a public channel, click Browse channels at the top of the sidebar.
To see a channel's topic, description, people and pins, open the channel's details from its header. The person who made a channel, and any group admin, can archive it. An archived channel keeps its messages under Archived, but nobody can post in it. Only a group admin can delete a channel.
Direct messages
To message one person or a small group, click New message. Choose from 1 to 8 people. If you message the same people again, Scoutworks opens your earlier conversation. You cannot add or remove people later. Start a new conversation instead.
You can also click a person's name on any message, then click Message.
Writing a message
Type in the box at the bottom of the conversation, and press Enter to send. The formatting bar lets you add bold, italics, links, lists, quotes, code and emoji.
- Mention a person: type @ and choose their name. They see the mention in their unread count.
- Mention everyone: use @channel for everyone in the channel, or @here for the people who are active now. In a channel with more than 10 people, only the person who made the channel and group admins can do this.
- Edit or delete: open the menu on your own message. A group admin can delete any message.
If you stop writing part-way through, Scoutworks keeps your draft. Go to Chat → Drafts and sent to find your drafts and every message you sent.
Threads, reactions, pins and saved messages
Point at a message, or press and hold it on a phone, to see its actions:
| Action | What it does |
|---|---|
| React | Adds an emoji under the message |
| Reply in thread | Opens the thread beside the conversation, so a side discussion does not fill the channel |
| Pin to channel | Keeps the message under Pins in the channel's details |
| Save for later | Adds the message to Chat → Saved. Only you can see what you save |
When you reply in a thread, you follow it. Tick Also send to the conversation if everyone in the channel needs to see your reply.
Keeping your sidebar tidy
Open the menu on any channel to:
- Star it, so it shows at the top under Starred.
- Mute it for 1 hour, 8 hours, 24 hours, or until you turn it back on. A muted channel only counts your mentions.
- Move to section: put it in a section of your own, or drag it there. Click New section at the top of the sidebar to make one. Nobody else sees your sections.
To find an older message in a long conversation, click a date divider, and pick a date.
Notifications
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What's next?
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