The composer sits at the bottom of every channel and Private Message. From it you can write text, react with emoji, mention people, reply to a specific message, and attach files.
Sending and length
A message needs either some text or at least one attachment. The character limit is 2,000 on standard chat and 4,000 with the Member Chat Pro add-on.
Tip: If a message is cut off at 2,000 characters, the church is on standard chat. See What is One Church Chat? for the plan comparison.
Editing and deleting
Only the author can edit their own message — there's no time limit, and no one can edit someone else's text. An edited message shows an (edited) marker.
Deleting a message is permanent. Who can delete depends on where the message is:
Private Message - only the author, no one else.
Group chat - the author or a group-chat admin.
Service-plan chat - the author or a plan admin.
Standalone channel - the author, a channel admin, or someone with the church-wide Full Write Chat permission.
Replying to a message
Hover over a message and click the reply icon. Your reply quotes the original as a preview, and it can optionally ping the original author. Click the quoted preview later to jump back to the original.
Your reply quotes the original as a preview, and it can optionally ping the original author. Click the quoted preview later to jump back to the original.
Mentions
Type @ to open the mention picker. Mentions notify people even when a channel is muted or set to mentions only.
@name - notifies that specific person.
@everyone - notifies everyone in the channel.
@here - treated the same as @everyone.
@admin - notifies the channel's admins.
Tip: There is no @channel mention. You can link a channel by typing #channel-name, but that's just a clickable link — it doesn't notify anyone.
Reactions
Anyone in a channel can react to a message with an emoji. Click an emoji to react, and click the same one again to remove your reaction. Reactions group by emoji with a count and the list of who reacted.
Uploading custom emoji requires both the Member Chat Pro add-on and the Full Write Chat permission. Using emoji that already exist is open to everyone.
Custom emoji
Your church can add its own custom emoji to a shared, church-wide library. Once added, anyone can use them.
File types - PNG, GIF, WEBP, or APNG.
Size - about 1 MB, automatically resized to 128 pixels.
Name - 2–32 characters using letters, numbers, and underscores, and unique within your church.
Attaching files
You can attach files and images to a message — up to 10 per message. For size limits, allowed file types, and how to find files later, see How do I use polls, pins, files, and search in Chat?