CONTACT USBack to MinistryPlatform Site
Your Knowledge Base has moved to the new Help Center.  Check out the release notes for details. And don't forget to update your bookmarks and in-house documentation before May 28.

Group Chat

 

The Group Chat tool allows your Groups to communicate right in the app! Any group in MinistryPlatform can be enabled for Group Chat, and then the currently active group members can create conversations and send each other messages without relying on third party tools.

Bonus: All Group Chat messages are recorded in the Platform, providing both security and transparency. And speaking of security, sending attachments is not supported, so stick to text-only messages.

Enabling Group Chat

  1. Go to PocketPlatform > Group Messages Groups.
  2. Add a new Group Messages Group.
  3. Select the Group you're enabling Group Chat for. Note: The Last Message and Last Message Date fields will be automatically populated as the Group chats.
  4. Set "Group Enabled" to Yes.
  5. Save.
Disabling Group Chat
Do not remove a Group Messages Groups record to disable a Group Chat.
  1. Go to PocketPlatform > Group Messages Groups.
  2. Select the Group that will no longer be allowed to chat.
  3. Edit.
  4. Set "Group Enabled" to No.
  5. Save.
Using Group Chat in the App

After a user belongs to a group with Group Chat enabled, they can easily interact with their fellow group members! Note: Group Chat displays the user's Nickname, if available, instead of the first name.

  1. Tap your picture to access the User Menu.
  2. Select My Group Chat.
  3. Select the Group you'd like to chat with, if you're in multiple Groups with Group Chat enabled.
  4. Select the conversation, if the select group has multiple conversations or select Create New Conversation.
  5. Type your message, and select Post Message.
When your Groups chat, conversations are recorded in the Platform. Navigate to PocketPlatform > Group Messages to review these as needed.
Deleting a Message or Conversation
Warning: Once you delete a message or conversation, you can never retrieve it. Keep in mind that you may need a record of conversations that occur between church members. In fact, you may be required by law to maintain such records.

Rather than delete these, we recommend reassigning a conversation to a hidden group. This way, the conversation and messages no longer display to anyone, but they are not lost forever in case you need them later.

Reassign a Conversation

  1. Make sure you've added a hidden group where you can keep old conversations.
  2. Go to PocketPlatform Lookups > Group Messages Conversations.
  3. Locate and open the record of the relevant Conversation and Group.
  4. Edit the record, and set the Group to the hidden group.
  5. Click Save.

If you're really sure you need to permanently delete a message or conversation, you can follow these steps. But remember, you can't get it back after this.

Delete a Message

  1. Go to PocketPlatform Lookups > Group Messages Conversations.
  2. Locate and open the record of the relevant Conversation and Group.
  3. Click the Messages tab.
  4. Search for the message you want to delete.
  5. Select the message(s) you want to permanently delete.
  6. In the Actions menu, select Delete, and confirm your deletion.

Delete a Conversation

  1. Go to PocketPlatform > Group Messages Groups.
  2. Locate and open the record of the relevant Group.
    1. If the Last Message field is a message in the conversation that you want to delete, you must assign a message in a different conversation for this group.
    2. If there are no other conversations for the group, clear the Last Message field.
  3. Go to PocketPlatform Lookups > Group Messages Conversations.
  4. Locate and open the record of the relevant Conversation and Group.
    1. Edit the record, clear the Last Message field, and click Save.
    2. Click the Messages tab, and select all the messages you want to permanently delete. In the Actions menu, select Delete, and confirm your selection.
    3. Click the General tab. In the Actions menu, select Delete. You're warned about related records in the Group Messages Meta page. Select Delete All for this.
    4. If any other related records display, start the process over to ensure you remove all relationships before deleting the conversation.