Messages List

Your home base for every conversation, group, and campaign in one place.

The Messages screen brings all of your communication together. It is organized into three lists so you can quickly switch between one-on-one and small Chats, multi-member Group conversations, and broadcast Campaign threads. Each list keeps its own search box, its own unread counter, and its own pinned section. You can pin, mute, rename, recolor, or delete a conversation without leaving the list.

Overview

Control	What it does
Chat tab	Shows one-on-one and small conversations. Carries its own unread badge.
Group tab	Shows multi-member group conversations. Carries its own unread badge.
Campaign tab	Shows campaign (broadcast) threads you belong to.
Tab underline	A red underline and red label mark the list you are looking at.
+ (Add) button	Opens a short menu whose choices change with the current list.
Search field	A search box that slides down under the tabs when you choose Search.
Conversation row	Color bar, initials badge, conversation name, and status icons.
Unread badge	A red counter on a row showing how many unread messages it holds.
Mute icon	Shown on a row when notifications are silenced for that conversation.
Closed icon	Shown on a row when the conversation is closed, removed, or disabled.
Pinned section	Pinned conversations sit in their own block at the top of the list.
Back button	Returns to the previous screen.

What each row shows

Element	Where it comes from
Color bar	The accent color saved for that conversation. Set it with Color or Edit.
Initials badge	The first letter of the first two words of the conversation name, in capitals.
Name	The chat name. For a new one-on-one chat this is the other person's name.
Mute icon	Appears whenever notifications for that conversation are switched off.
Closed icon	Appears when the conversation's state is closed, removed, or disabled.
Unread badge	The count of messages you have not opened yet. Hidden when the count is zero.

note

Row order is automatic. Pinned conversations come first, in the order you pinned them. Everything else is sorted by most recent activity, so the newest traffic rises to the top.

Getting Here

1. From Home, open the Messages module.
2. The screen opens on the Chat list.
3. Tap Group or Campaign along the top to switch lists, or swipe sideways.

Switch Between Lists

The three lists are independent. Each one keeps its own search text, its own pinned block, and its own scroll position.

1. Tap Chat to see direct and small conversations.
2. Tap Group to see group conversations with more than two members.
3. Tap Campaign to see campaign broadcast threads.
4. The active tab's label turns red and gains an underline.

Search a Conversation

The search box is hidden until you ask for it, so the list stays as tall as possible.

1. Tap the + button.
2. Choose Search. A search field slides down and the keyboard opens.
3. Type any part of a conversation name. The list filters as you type, and pinned rows are filtered too.
4. To close search, tap + and choose Search again. The field is cleared and the full list returns.

tip

Search matches the conversation name, not the message text. To find a phrase inside a thread, open the conversation and use its own Search — see Chat View.

Start Something New

The + menu offers different choices depending on which list you are on.

Current list	Menu choices
Chat	Create new chat, Search
Group	Search
Campaign	New Campaign, Search

1. Tap the + button in the top corner.
2. Choose Create new chat to open the people picker — see Start a New Chat.
3. On the Campaign list, choose New Campaign to open the campaign editor — see Create a Campaign.

caution

Creating a campaign needs a live connection. If you are offline the app shows "This feature is available only when internet is available" and the editor does not open.

note

The + button is only shown if your role allows adding conversations in this module. If your agency has not granted that permission, the button is hidden and you can still read and reply in the conversations you belong to.

Manage a Conversation (Long-Press)

Press and hold any row to open an action sheet titled with the conversation's name.

Action	Appears when	What it does
Delete	On the Chat list	Asks to confirm, then removes the conversation from your device and marks it deleted on the server.
Pin	The conversation is not pinned	Moves it into the pinned block at the top of the list.
Unpin	The conversation is pinned	Returns it to the normal, activity-sorted list.
Edit	The conversation has more than two members	Opens the rename popup for the name and color — see Rename a Chat.
Color	The conversation has two members or fewer	Opens the color picker on its own, without the name field.
Mute	Notifications are on	Silences notifications for that conversation.
Unmute	Notifications are off	Turns notifications back on.

1. Press and hold the conversation row until the action sheet appears.
2. Tap the action you want.
3. To close the sheet without doing anything, tap anywhere outside it.

Deleting a conversation

1. Press and hold the row and tap Delete.
2. A second prompt appears: "Delete — Are you sure you want to delete this user?"
3. Tap Delete to confirm, or Cancel to keep the conversation.

caution

Deleting removes the conversation from your list right away. The change is sent to the server in the background, so it will also disappear on your other devices once they sync.

Pinning and muting

Both take effect immediately on your device and are then synced in the background.

• Pinning gives the conversation the next free position at the top, so newly pinned rows land below the ones you pinned earlier.
• Muting hides notifications only. New messages still arrive and still raise the unread badge.

Empty and Loading States

Situation	What you see
First open with a connection	A brief loading indicator while the server list is fetched, then the rows.
First open with no connection	The list is built from the copy stored on your device, with no loading step.
No conversations in a list	The list area is simply empty, and the tab's unread badge is hidden.
A search with no matches	An empty list. Clear the search field or close search to bring the rows back.

How This Connects

The three lists are built from the conversations stored on your device, which are refreshed from the server whenever you open the screen with a connection. When you are offline the same stored copy is used, so you can still read your threads and open any conversation.

• Where the names come from. Group names and colors are whatever your agency saved for that conversation. One-on-one chats are named after the other person, drawn from your agency directory and your Mutual Aid partners — so a directory name change shows up here after the next sync.
• What updates the badges. Unread counts are recalculated every time you return to this screen and whenever a new message arrives, by counting unopened messages per conversation. Opening a conversation clears its count, and the tab badge drops by the same amount.
• Shared with the conversation screens. Tapping a row opens Chat View. The name and color you set here are the same ones shown in the conversation header and in Group Chat Details, so a rename in one place is visible in the other.
• Chats and incidents. Conversations created from an incident's Comms tab belong to that incident. They behave like any other thread here, but the incident is the reason they exist: closing the incident is what puts a conversation into the closed state you see marked with the closed icon.
• Campaigns. Campaign threads are the delivered copies of broadcasts built in Create a Campaign. You read them here; you do not reply into them the way you do a chat.
• Offline and reconnect. Pin, mute, rename, recolor, and delete are all written to your device first and queued for the server. When the connection returns they are sent automatically, so you do not have to redo them.

Troubleshooting

If this happens	What to do
A conversation is missing from the list	Check you are on the right tab. Groups do not appear on the Chat list. Then leave and reopen the screen to force a refresh.
An unread badge will not clear	Open the conversation and scroll to the newest message, then return. The count is recalculated when you come back.
"This feature is available only when internet is available"	Campaign creation needs a connection. Reconnect and try + → New Campaign again.
The + button is not there	Your role does not include adding conversations in this module. Ask an administrator.
A row shows the closed icon and you cannot reply	The conversation has been closed, removed, or disabled. See Chat View for what is still possible.
The search box will not go away	Tap + and choose Search again; that toggles it closed and clears the text.
A rename or pin seems to come back	The change had not reached the server before the next sync. Reconnect, make the change again, and stay online for a moment.

Related Pages

• Start a New Chat
• Chat View
• Group Chat Details
• Rename a Chat
• Create a Campaign

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Next: Start a New Chat ➡️