Channels, groups and files
Available onBuilder
Starting a conversation
Section titled “Starting a conversation”New chat creates a group or a direct message.
Give a group a name people will recognise — Frame crew, 18 Beach Rd — client,
Site managers. Search your team finds the people to add.
A conversation can be linked to a job or carry no job. Link it when the conversation is about one project; leave it unlinked for anything company-wide.
Edit group changes the name and membership later.
Linked to a job
Section titled “Linked to a job”A linked conversation appears with the job, which is what makes it findable a year later by someone who was not part of it.
It also means the right people are obvious. A channel on 18 Beach Road is for people working on 18 Beach Road, rather than a group somebody assembled once and never updated.
Files and photos
Section titled “Files and photos”Attach a file or photo, or drag one onto the conversation.
Attachments stay with the job. A photo of the flashing detail sent in March is still there in October when somebody asks how it was done — which is not true of the same photo in a text message.
People and files shows who is in a conversation and what has been shared in it, which is usually the fastest way back to a document somebody sent.
Searching
Section titled “Searching”Search messages, people and files covers all three.
This is the feature that justifies the module over a group chat. Questions like “what did the engineer say about the footing depth?” or “who did we use for the waterproofing on Ridge Street?” have answers, and finding them takes seconds rather than scrolling.
Search is also why it is worth writing slightly more than you would in a text. A message that says “Barwon confirmed the pour for Thursday 7am” is findable; “yep all good” is not.
Pinning and muting
Section titled “Pinning and muting”Pin keeps a conversation at the top — useful for the job you are on this week.
Mute stops notifications from one you do not need to follow minute by minute. It does not leave the conversation; you still see it when you look.
Muting is the pressure valve. Without it, people leave noisy channels entirely and then miss the message that mattered.
Who can see what
Section titled “Who can see what”A conversation is visible to the people in it. For a job-linked channel, that follows who is working on the job.
Before posting anything commercial — margin, a subcontractor’s performance, a view about the client — check who is in the conversation. Project access is often broader than people assume: consultants, client representatives and subcontractor supervisors are sometimes given access so they can see documents or the schedule.
If in doubt, use a direct message or a named group rather than the job channel.
Message removed
Section titled “Message removed”A message can be removed, and shows as Message removed rather than vanishing.
That is deliberate — a conversation with silent gaps is not a record. Removing a message deals with the mistake without pretending it never happened.
Imported from Feeds
Section titled “Imported from Feeds”Older material carried over from the Feeds module is marked Imported from Feeds.
It is read-only history. Everything new happens in Messages.