You control how much Chat notifies you, channel by channel, and what status others see next to your name.
Notification level
Each person sets their own notification level for each channel:
All messages - notified about every message.
Only @mentions - notified only when you're mentioned.
Nothing - no notifications.
You can reach these options — and mute the channel — from the channel's gear menu (shown when you hover over the channel header) or by right-clicking the channel in the sidebar.
Tip: Muting a channel and the Only @mentions level both still let mentions through — @you, @everyone, @here, and @admin always notify. To silence a channel completely, set its level to Nothing.
Away email digest
If you're away — anything other than actively Online — and you have unread messages that would normally notify you, Chat sends a single New chat messages while you were away email about two minutes later, at most once an hour. The email contains only message counts and a link — never the message text — and it follows the same per-channel level and mute settings as your in-app notifications.
Tip: The away email also requires your church's Messaging Center to have email enabled.
Presence and status
A colored dot shows whether someone is around. You can set your own status to one of:
Online - active right now.
Idle - no recent activity.
Do Not Disturb - suppresses notifications.
Appear Offline - hides your presence while you keep using chat.
Set your status from your avatar or profile menu. There is no free-text custom status — only these presets.
Auto-idle
If you're set to Online but don't interact with the page for 10 minutes, Chat automatically switches you to Idle. Moving the mouse or refocusing the tab brings you back to Online. If you choose a status yourself — Idle, Do Not Disturb, or Appear Offline — it sticks and won't auto-change.
Tip: If your status keeps flipping to Idle, that's auto-idle after 10 minutes of inactivity. Any mouse move or refocus restores Online.
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