Chat

Instant messaging (or chat) allows users to exchange text messages or files during video calls or group video conferences. You can use chat not only during video calls or conferences, but every time you need to send a message to other users.

If you sign in on a different device, your previous chat history won’t be available.

If your TrueConf Server instance is below v. 5.0, chats will not be synchronised across your devices.

With this messaging platform, you can:

• Send text messages

• Edit, forward, and delete text messages

Please note that you can edit only those messages that were sent less than 48 hours ago.

• [Search for words and phrases] (#search-of-message) within chat messages

• [share files] [#send-files]

• Create a conference

All chat messages can be edited. To do it, right-click on a message and select the Edit option. An edited message will be marked as edited (the date of editing will also be specified).

If you right-click on a message, the following options will be available:

• Reply

• Edit

• Forward

• Copy

• Delete

• Select messages (e.g., you can select multiple messages and delete, copy or forward them in bulk).

Multiple messages can be selected in the same way the text is selected. To do it, left-click on a message and drag the mouse up or down.

Click on the button in the upper right corner of the application to access additional features:

• View additional information about a user or a group chat

• Check the list of all sent files

• Clear chat history

• Delete a chat (you can also delete it for the other user by marking the corresponding checkbox)

• Block a contact.

Please be careful when clearing chat history or deleting a chat. This action cannot be reversed. Even if you are added to this chat afterwards, you will not be able to view previous messages because all chat history has been removed.

The same group chat will be used for a virtual room or a recurring conference. It will be synced with the conference.

Message formatting

To format a message, right-click on the selected text in the input field and in the Formatting option select the correct format: bold, italic, underline, strike-through or use Markdown (opens new window). The following special characters are supported:

**text**— bold

__text__ — italic

~~text~~ — strike-through.

You can also format the selected text via the context menu which can be opened up by right-clicking on the chat line:

You can also use hotkeys to quickly format a chat message.

Searching for messages

To find a chat message click the button which will open an input field. Enter the text in the input field and, as you type, the messages matching your query will be highlighted.

If multiple messages have been found, you can switch between them with these buttons: and . Right next to these buttons, there is a counter indicating the number of messages that match your query.

If you double-click on a chat in the list, it will be scrolled down to the very bottom.

Sending files to a chat

To send files simply drag and drop them to the chat panel (you can also send a folder with files, including a nested folder). Alternatively, you can click on the paperclip icon on the left side of the input field.

You can select multiple files by pressing CTRL or clicking on the Add button in the preview window.

By default any image you send will be compressed. To send the image in the original quality, uncheck the box Compress image.

You can also type an additional message in the Description field. This message will be sent together with the files.

If users are not currently online, you can send them an offline message, they will get it immediately when they are online.

The default location of downloaded files is:

• %USERPROFILE%/Downloads for Windows

• /home/$USER/Downloads for Linux

• ~/Downloads/ for macOS

To change the download folder, go to Settings → Preferences → Tools menu in the application window. Then click the button in the File Transfer section and specify the required folder.

A subfolder named TrueConf, which will store all chat attachments, will be automatically created in the folder selected for downloaded files.

If you want to open the files sent to the chat, click on the button and choose Files.

If needed, you can configure automatic downloading of chat files or disable it. To do it, go to the Tools section and navigate to the Media auto download block. Here, you can configure automatic file downloading for private and group chats; to do it, click the Change button and select the necessary options in the context menu.

Working with PDF files

You can use the built-in viewer to open PDF files sent to you; however, to do it, you will need to have the Ghostscript plugin installed on your computer.

To learn more about the configuration of this plugin, check the "Content sharing" section.

Chat "Favorites"

If you need to save any messages and files from private or group chats, you can use the Favorites chat.

To forward messages to this chat:

1. Right-click on the message you want to save.

2. Select Forward in the context menu.

3. Select Favorites in the list of participants. It will always be at the very top of the list.

You can also write any messages or upload files to the Favorites chat, so they are saved as your notes.

To jump to the Favorites chat, click the button above the chat list.

In the Favorites chat, you are not only able to view messages or files. You can also open the original message in the chat where it was sent. To do it, click the button on the right side of the message.

How to disable notifications

You can disable notifications about chat messages (for both group and private chats). To do it, right-click on a chat and select the Disable notifications option in the context menu.

To activate this feature, you can also click on the button in the upper right corner of the chat window and select the same option in the menu:

The notifications from the selected chat will no longer be displayed. You can enable these notifications in a similar way.

This configuration is local which means that it applies only to the selected instance of the application without being bound to the user account. For example, if you disable notifications for a chat in a desktop application, they will still be displayed in a mobile application or in a desktop app installed on a different computer.

Group chats

To create a group chat, select the Chats option. Then, click on the button, enter the chat name, and upload the chat avatar (optional). Then click on the Create button. In the pop-up window you can select and add participants to the chat from your address book.

The owner of a group chat can change its title (1) and avatar (2). To do it, click the button and go to the Information section.

In the Information menu, you can configure additional chat settings:

1. Display of system messages

2. Visibility of chat history for new participants. If you check the box before inviting new participants to the chat, they will see all messages sent previously. If you add a new participant first and then check the box, this user will not see previous chat messages.

The owner of a group chat can give moderator rights to other chat participants; it is also possible to fully transfer chat ownership. To do it, click on the button and right-click on the selected participant. Choose Appoint as moderator or Appoint as owner. The moderator can add or delete participants, appoint new moderators, delete messages, change the chat name and select a new chat avatar. The chat owner will be marked with this icon . The moderators (if there are any) will be marked with .

Only the owner can delete a group chat for all its participants.

Mentioning a contact in the chat

You can mention a user in a message by specifying their TrueConf ID prefixed with the @ character. As a result, the user's name, which links to their profile, will be displayed in the message.

List of users who have read the message

The sender of messages in a group chat can see the names of the participants who have already read each message at any given time.

This feature has a number of specific restrictions:

1. It is applicable for chats with up to 20 participants.

2. A message cannot be older than 7 days.

Hotkeys

These hotkeys are available only in the Chats window. To view other hotkeys, please check the settings.

Up and down arrows will later be referred to as ↓ and ↑.

If you are using macOS, press ⌘ (Command) instead of Ctrl .

Formatting selected text

• Ctrl + B — bold

• Ctrl + I — italic

• Ctrl + U — underline

• Ctrl + Shift + X — strike-through

• Ctrl + Shift + N — clear formatting

For chats

• Alt + ↓, Ctrl + Tab, Ctrl + PageDown — switch to the previous chat

• Alt + ↑, Ctrl + Shift + Tab, Ctrl + PageUp — switch to the next chat

• Esc — leave the chat or undo the current action.

For messages

• Ctrl + ↑ and Ctrl + ↓ — select a message for a quick reply

• Ctrl + ↓ — cancel the reply

• ↑ — edit the last message

• Del — delete selected messages.

In the chat list

These hotkeys work only if no chats are opened.

• ↑ and ↓ — navigation

• Enter — open the selected chat.