On the left-hand side of the chat app is a list of your recent chats, including event chats. Select a chat from the list to view it, or to continue the conversation. Use the filter option to quickly locate a specific chat in the list. A red dot alongside the chat’s name indicates that there are unread messages in that chat.

Each chat offers a text chat channel, a file library, and the option to launch a video chat with the other participants.

Text chat

The text chat works in much the same way that chats and comments work throughout TIMU. The chat history is preserved, and you can scroll through it to review the conversation. You can react to individual chat messages by clicking the thumbs-up emoji icon, and selecting a reaction from the pop-up that appears. If you want to delete one of your own chat messages, click the triple-dot icon that appears when you hover over a chat message and select “Delete”.

To send a chat message, type your message in the reply box at the bottom of the chat feed and press Enter or click the “Send” button. As with all chat features in TIMU, you can attach files, share external links, and mention other users in the chat with the @mention feature. Note that while @mentioning is supported in the chat app, all users in the chat will receive notifications for every chat message, regardless of whether they were mentioned in the message.

If any users are currently viewing this chat, their profile pictures will appear to the left of the “Send” button.

Video chat

TIMU supports high-quality video and voice chat in all private chat channels. To launch a video chat call, click the “Open Video Chat Room” button. Other users who belong to that chat will receive pop-up and push notifications letting them know that you’ve joined the video call.

Note that video chat time in private chats counts against the network’s overall video chat time limits.

File library

You can switch between the text chat channel and the chat’s file library using the “Chat” and “Files” tabs at the top of the chat interface.

Whenever a user attaches a file to a chat message, that file is automatically added to the chat’s file library. These files can be previewed, downloaded, and, in some cases, edited directly from the file library. Hovering over a file will cause the triple-dot icon to appear, and clicking on this icon allows you to rename, delete, or share the file.

Files in libraries support some bulk actions. To take a bulk action on a group of files (e.g., to delete more than one file at a time), click the checkbox to the left of the file name for each file you would like to select, then perform the action you want to take on the files as normal.

File libraries support organization into folders and sub-folders. To create a new folder, click the “New Folder” button and specify a name for the folder. You can navigate between folder levels using the folder breadcrumbs that appears whenever you are viewing a folder’s contents.

To add files directly to a file library, click the “Upload Files” button and select the files you want to attach from your computer. To create a brand new file (e.g., a new Microsoft Word document), click the “New File” button and select the type of file you would like to create. You will be asked to provide a name for the file. When the file is created, you will be immediately taken to the preview page for that file.

To view a file’s preview, or to edit files (for file types supporting online editing), click the file’s name.