The discussion chat offers a convenient place for all participants in a discussion with Writer permissions and higher to chat about the discussion. The chat can be opened and closed by clicking the ‘two speech bubbles’ icon at the top-right of a discussion, located to the left of your profile avatar.
Type your message in the text box located at the bottom of the Chat window. Clicking on the ‘+’ symbol will allow you to either paste the claim in the Kialo Clipboard (which can also be dragged and dropped into place; see Moving/Linking a Claim) into the message or mention another user (which can also be done by typing ‘@’ on your keyboard followed by the user’s name; see Mentioning Other Users). To send your message, press ‘Enter’ on your keyboard or click the blue arrow in the text box.
If you wish to edit or delete a chat message after sending it, open the Chat and click the three vertical dots to the bottom-right of your message. You can then choose to either edit the chat message by clicking the ‘pencil’ icon, or delete it by clicking the ‘bin’ icon. Note that deleting a message cannot be undone.
Near the top of the window, you will find the avatars of all users currently active in the discussion – clicking on this will open an ‘Online Participants’ window where usernames will appear next to their avatars. Click the left-pointing arrow at the top-left of the window to return to the Chat.
The Chat is a good place for:
- Discussing structural changes which can be large in scope and require coordination between 2 or more people.
- Discussing inviting new users or promoting users to Editor/Admin, as getting the opinions of other existing users can lead to a more informed decision.
- Announcing changes to existing users (such as demoting a user) which can occur if a user has been problematic.
- Bringing up problems between users as a mediator. If you notice two existing users on a debate are having consistent conflicts with one another, broaching the subject in the Chat can be a good way to begin attempting to resolve their issues.
- General chat about the discussion – sharing interesting links you’ve found about the topic, discussing what interests you about it, or even just saying thanks to the Owner for creating the discussion!
Note that messages in the Chat are visible publicly, not just to users with Writer permissions and higher.
