Team Chat gives your practice a built-in way to communicate without leaving Tacklit. You can send direct messages one-to-one, pull two or three people into a circle for a quick discussion, or set up channels for broadcast-style announcements across the whole team. Permissions are fully configurable so you can decide who can start conversations, who can reply only, and who participates in each channel.
Setting Up Team Chat Permissions
Team Chat permissions are managed in the Control Panel under Team Chat. For each role type — including any custom roles you've created — you can decide what they're allowed to do:
Direct message and create circles — the role can start new conversations with other users and pull people into group circles.
Reply only — the role can respond to messages they receive but cannot start new conversations themselves.
Permissions are set per role pair, so you can be quite granular. For example, you might allow Superusers to message everyone and create all circles, while your Practitioners can direct message Admins and Superusers but only reply to other role types.
Custom role types you've created in Roles & Permissions appear here automatically, so you can apply the same granular control to them.
Direct Messages
Direct messages are one-to-one conversations between two team members. To start one:
Click the Team Chat bar at the bottom of your screen.
Open a new conversation and choose the person you want to message.
Type your message. You can also add attachments.
Existing conversations sit in your Team Chat bar so you can pick them up again later, collaborate, or close them when you're done.
Circles
A circle is a small group conversation — useful when you need a quick discussion with two or three people rather than messaging them individually. Think of it as a focused, ad-hoc chat for a specific topic.
To create a circle:
In the Team Chat bar, click the circle icon.
Select Create a new circle.
Give the circle a name (for example, Admin Get Together).
Add the team members you want in the circle.
Start your discussion.
Any circles you've been part of previously stay accessible in the Team Chat bar so you can return to them whenever you need to.
Channel Management
Channels are designed for broadcast-style communication — for example, a Company Announcements channel where leaders share updates with the whole team. Each channel can have a mix of participants and read-only members, giving you control over who can post and who simply receives the messages.
To create a channel:
Go to Control Panel > Team Chat > Channel Management.
Click to create a new channel and give it a name.
Add team members and set each one as either:
Participate — can send messages in the channel.
Read-only — receives all messages but cannot post.
Save the channel.
A common setup is to add Superusers (or a specific group of leaders) as participants and add the rest of the team as read-only so they receive every announcement without the channel turning into a discussion thread.
Using the Team Chat Bar
The Team Chat bar lives permanently at the bottom of your screen — across Superuser, Admin, and Practitioner views — so chat is always one click away. From the bar you can:
Open any of your existing direct messages or circles.
Start a new direct message with a specific person.
Create a new circle for a small group discussion.
Close conversations when you're finished with them.
Add attachments to a message.
Coming Soon: Channels in the Chat Bar
Channel creation and permissions are available now in the Control Panel. The Team Chat bar view of channels is coming very soon — once it's live, channel messages will appear in the chat bar alongside your direct messages and circles, and users with participate access will be able to post directly from there.
Who Can Use This Feature
All team members have access to the Team Chat bar. What each role can do — start direct messages, create circles, participate in channels, or reply only — is controlled by the permissions a Superuser sets in Control Panel > Team Chat. Channel creation and channel permissions are managed by Superusers.
Good to Know
Permissions apply to every role type on your account, including custom roles created in Roles & Permissions.
Circles are best for ad-hoc small group discussions; channels are better for ongoing or broadcast communication to a wider audience.
Read-only members of a channel still receive every message — they just can't reply within the channel itself.
The Team Chat bar sits at the bottom of the screen in every role view, so anyone with access can reach their conversations from anywhere in Tacklit.