The Conversation tab is your starting point for every project. Its purpose is to store your entire project conversation and project activity as well as it serves as a tool for all participants in the project to type messages and store them in one place.

In this guide, you'll learn everything you need to know about the Conversation tab and how to use it efficiently.

When you create a new project, you will always have the Conversation tab added to the project in advance. This tab cannot be removed as it serves to store your main project communication.

Your initial project tab is the Conversation tab, as it stores your entire project conversation and project activity. It serves as a tool for all participants in the project to type messages and store them in one place.

In terms of structure, the Conversation tab has the following elements:

Your main project tab is the Conversation tab. Its tab action bar consists of three active icons:

The first action allows you to close or reopen your conversation.

Click the checkmark icon to close the conversation.

Once you close the conversation, the checkmark icon will be replaced by an inbox icon.

When a client or a teammate replies, this will automatically reopen the conversation. You can also manually reopen it by clicking the inbox icon.

This option is very useful especially when you handle multiple projects at once. If you close a conversation, it won't appear in the All Project Listing in Conversation view, which allows you to monitor all the ongoing conversations that you still haven't replied to.

For example, here are your ongoing projects with open conversations in Conversation view:

Once you close a project, you won't see it in the list with this tag, so you'll know which conversations from projects you still haven't replied to:

The second option in the Tab Actions menu is to Collapse and Expand messages.

The active icon that looks like arrows facing outwards allows you to expand all the messages within a conversation to view their entire content.

When you start a new project, your conversation messages will be expanded by default, allowing you to browse through the conversation in its entirety.

Once you click on the active icon for expanding your messages, it will be replaced by another active icon that looks like two arrows facing inwards. This is the Collapse All Messages icon.

Clicking on that icon will collapse your entire conversation into a simplified view that shows only a preview of each message.

You can manually click on any message preview to expand it without the need to expand your entire conversation.

Starred messages appear expanded when the entire conversation is collapsed.

The third action on the Tab Actions Bar allows you to move the conversation to another project.

This active icon looks like two arrows in opposite directions. Click on that icon to move all the messages from your conversation to another project.

Note that this option will move only the messages, not the activity.

The Conversation tab also displays a visibility icon. The visibility icon show who can see the particular tab.

There are two types of visibility:

If by any chance you decide to change the visibility of your main conversation, here's how to do it.

Step 1. Click the Visibility Icon on the right corner of the Tabs menu. This will open a modal window with the Tab name and visibility.

Step 2. Go to the visibility section of the modal window and click on the drop-down menu to reveal it. The menu will show you the two visibility options with the current visibility highlighted in blue.

Step 3. Select Private to Our Team to hide the tab from your clients and then click Save Changes.

Step 4. This tab is now set to Private to Our Team, so the visibility icon is now a padlock.

To set the visibility back to Shared with Clients, click on the visibility icon once again, then go to the Visibility section in the modal window and select Shared with Clients from the drop-down menu. Hit Save Changes to apply the new visibility to the tab.

If you wish to rename your main Conversation tab, you will need to edit the tab.

Here's how to do it.

Step 1. Go to your Tabs Navigation below the project title and click on the More Menu icon.

Step 2. The More Menu will display a list of all your tabs with a small Edit Icon next to each.

Step 3. Click on the Edit icon next to the name of the tab you wish to edit. This will open the edit Tab modal window.

Step 4. Type a new name for your main Conversation tab and hit the Save Changes button.

Your changes will now be applied to the tab's title.

The main purpose of the Conversation tab is to write messages. To do so, the tab offers a message box that contains the following elements:

To sum up, this message box can be used to write messages or internal notes, so let's look at both options in more detail.

You can write and send messages to the project conversation only when you're in any Conversation tab (your main or additional Conversation tab).

To write a message, go to the message box at the bottom of your screen.

Step 1. Stay on the Reply Tab to write a message visible for both your team and clients. This option is necessary to talk to clients.

Step 2. Type your message in the text field.

Step 3. Hit Send or Send and Close.

It sometimes happens to get interrupted at work before being able to finish writing your message. You may get distracted, do something else, or even exit the Kitchen window by mistake.

The good news is, the message box keeps your draft and waits for you to finish it.

Let's see how this works.

When you go to the message box to write a message in Conversation, you see the input label "Type your message here..."

Start typing your message.

If you accidentally exit the conversation before finishing and sending your message, it becomes a draft you can come to back later.

This time, the input label will say "Continue writing...", indicating you have an unfished draft.

Click on the text field and it will show you the unfinished draft just as you left it.

Your message box also features a set of message options.

The Attachment icon will open a menu of uploading options.

You can upload files from your computer, or directly from storage apps if you've integrated any into your Kitchen workspace.

The external storage options include Dropbox, Google Drive, and One Drive.

Step 1. Click the Attachment icon and select Upload from your computer.

Step 2. Select a file or multiple files and click Open to add them to your message as attachments.

Step 3. Send your message.

That's it! Your files are now attached to your message.

The second icon in the Select the Saved icon opens a list of reply templates, sorted into two categories:

Having reply templates is useful for repetitive actions such as pinging a client, or asking if they received your message. It can save you time preparing your messages.

You can choose which template to use from the Saved Replies menu.

Simply open the reply box and select the book icon located next to the send button. It opens a list of reply templates, sorted into two categories: all saved replies, and replies only saved by you.

To access these templates, go to Settings and select Saved replies. You will see all reply templates arranged in a list that displays the templates' name, creator, message preview, and date of creation.

Above this list, in the top right corner, you'll also find the Add Saved Reply button. Click on it and you'll open a window where you can create a new reply template.

The third option in the message actions menu allows you to include a custom email signature in your message.

If you don't have one, this is a good opportunity to make it.

Here's how to do it.

Step 1. Select the Email Signature icon and click the Manage signatures option from the menu.

This will redirect you to the Email Signatures tab in your profile settings.

Step 2. Click "Create signature". This will open a modal window where you can create a new signature.

Step 3. Type a name for your signature in the Title input; type a copy for your signature in the text field and use the formatting options if needed.

You can also set your new signature as default by clicking the Set as default checkbox.

Step 4. Click Save.

Your new signature will now appear in your list of email signatures in your profile:

It will also now appear in the list of signatures you can use for your message:

The fourth option in the message actions menu serves to expand/collapse the list of formatting options.

Keep the formatting options menu expanded to easily access your formatting tools.

Depending on your communication, you can use these options for multiple purposes.

For example, the quote formatting option is useful when you need to quote a particular requirement or question by your client so you can bring emphasis on it when you reply.

You can also use the code formatting option to paste a particular piece of code with no concern that the lines would break.

The horizontal rule is useful when you need to visually separate your message into two or multiple parts.

When you start typing a message, you will see a new bin icon right next to the formatting icon. This new option allows you to completely discard your message.

If you click on the Discard message option, it will remove your entire message.

After you're done typing and formatting your message, it's time to send the message.

There are two buttons that allow you to send your message, each giving you a different option:

Send: Click the Send button to send the message and keep the conversation open.

Send and Close: Click the Send and Close button to send the message and close the conversation for the entire team. The conversation will stay closed until a client replies or a team member manually reopens the conversation.

The second option is very useful when you handle multiple projects at once. If you close a conversation, it won't appear in the All Project Listing in Conversation view, which allows you to monitor all the ongoing conversations that you still haven't replied to.

Internal notes are messages that are invisible to clients. They are useful if you want to leave yourself or your teammates some notes regarding the client, meeting notes, project specs, etc. These messages are shown next to the regular messages.

Here's how to write an internal note.

Step 1. Go to the message box and click on the Note tab.

Step 2. Type your message in the text field.

You can also attach files and format your text when writing internal notes.

Step 3. Hit Save.

Your internal note will now appear amongst the regular conversation messages, however, it will only be visible to your teammates.

It will also have two indicators to make it visually distinguishable from the regular messages:

When you start typing a note, you will see a new bin icon right next to the formatting icon. This new option allows you to completely discard your note.

If you click on the Discard option, it will remove your entire message.

Your main Conversation tab is the only conversation tab that displays the conversation activity.

This includes all the activities that all participants in the project do in the main Conversation tab:

All participants in the project can mention other participants. The option is available for both teams and clients.

To mention a teammate or a client directly, simply type @ and choose from the list of participants.

Each participant will receive an email notification when someone replies to a project they're participating in.

Kitchen notifies you when events such as messages from clients, invitations to a project, reminders, or task notifications occur, by sending you a message to your email and to your Kitchen inbox.

This works both ways.

To make things easier, when you receive a notification that someone has replied to you in the project conversation, you can actually reply directly to the email without the need to log in to Kitchen.

This option is available for all participants: teammates and clients.

Let's see how this works.

--

When someone sends you a message, you will receive an email notification with the entire message, including attached files.

Step 1. Open your email notification.

Here's the exact same message in your email:

Step 2. You can reply to that message directly in your email.

Step 3. Send your email reply.

That's it. Your email reply will now appear as a regular message reply in the project conversation.

In addition to statuses, posted messages also have message actions.

Go to the top right corner of the message box and click on the More Menu.

This will open a drop-down menu with all the actions you can apply to the message:

To edit a conversation message in a project, go to any message posted by you that you wish to edit and click the More Menu on top of the message to see the options.

Step 1. Select the Edit option to open the modal window where you can modify your conversation message.

Step 2. Modify your message.

The editor itself has the same formatting features as the regular message form where you write your everyday conversation messages.

You can add bold and italics, insert links, code, bullets, numbered lists, quotes, a horizontal rule, and a heading.

Keep in mind, that the edit option does not apply to the message attachments. You can edit the text, however, you can't add or remove attached files when you edit a message that's already been posted.

Step 3. Click the Save Changes button.

To mark a conversation message as unread, go to any message in a project and click the More Menu on top of the message to see the options.

Select the Mark as Unread option to open the modal window where you can modify your conversation message.

Your message will now be successfully marked as unread and get highlighted as such, with a blue dot and a bolded date of posting.

Note that once you mark a message as unread, the option disappears from the More Menu.

To copy a message permalink, go to any message in a project and click the More Menu on top of the message to see the options.

Select the Copy permalink option.

You can now send that link to any participant in the project. Clicking on the link will open the project where the message originates from and will scroll down to the exact location of the message, highlighting it.

To move a conversation message, go to any message in a project and click the More Menu on top of the message to see the options.

Step 1. Select the Move message option.

This will open a modal with the option to choose a particular project where you wish to move the message.

Step 2. Select a new project for your message and hit Save Changes.

Any message in the project conversation can become a task. This is especially useful when a client gives additional requests for the project.

To convert a message into a task, open the More Menu located in the top right corner of the message.

Step 1. Select the Create Task option.

A new window will open with three inputs.

Step 2. You only need to fill in the Title for the task. The task's description already contains the client message.

Step 3. If the message has attached files, they will also appear in this window.

Select the attachments you wish to include in the task.

Step 4. Hit Save.

Step 5. Once you're done, you'll see the task window where you can select an assignee, due date, section, milestone, and more.

Step 6. You've successfully created a task from a message and you'll be able to see it in the Tasks tab, on the exact board you assigned it to.

To remove a conversation message, go to any message in a project and click the More Menu on top of the message to see the options.

Step 1. Select the Remove option. This will open a confirmation window.

Step 2. Confirm you wish to delete the message.

Conversation messages have statuses depending on whether they've been read, where they originate from or if there's a particular action applied to them.

When there's a new message you haven't read or responded to yet, it gets highlighted.

The highlight for a new unread message includes a blue dot and a bolded time of posting.

It's important to mention that the blue dot and the bolded time of posting highlight new unread messages even when the conversation is collapsed:

Additionally, new unread messages have another property: if a client responds while you're in the Conversation tab (if you're reading conversation messages or replying to a message), you will receive an instant on-screen notification.

This notification appears as a button that indicates the number of new messages posted into the Conversation. If you click that button, it will scroll down to these new unread messages.

You can star important messages that you wish to be viewable at all times, even in collapsed view.

To do so, go to your message and click the star icon in the top right corner of the message box.

The star will get a golden fill color, indicating the message is starred.

When a message is starred, you can see its entire content even in collapsed view.

Unread messages refer to messages that you haven't read yet.

These unread messages get highlighted with a blue dot and a bolded time of posting.

A read message refers to a message that has been read by at least one conversation participant other than the person who posted it.

For Kitchen Agency and Ultimate Plans, you can see the delivery status of your message.

This means, when a message is read, you will see an open envelope icon that indicates its status as read.

That icon also shows the number of participants who have read the message. Additionally, you can also click the icon to see their names.

Every message that has attached files receives an Attachment icon in the top right corner of the message box. This icon indicates the message has attachments.

The icon also shows the number of attached files in that particular message.

Email replies will appear as regular message replies in the project conversation with one little exception: they have an email icon that indicates they have been sent via email.

In some cases, you may need a couple of tabs for your Conversations For example, if you need another Conversation where you can communicate privately with your team.

You can add a Conversation tab as many times as you like. This has a lot of advantages on itself, as you can use each tab's visibility settings to divide content from the same tab type into visible only to your team, and shared with clients.

Here's how to do it.

To do so, simply select the same Conversation module again when you add a new tab and give it a different name.

Step 1. Go to your Tabs Navigation below the project title and click on the active Plus icon to open the Add Tab modal window.

Step 2. Select the Conversation module.

Step 3. Give it a name. We advise you to type a different one so you would easily distinguish it from the main Conversation tab. (for example, Conversation 2; Design Notes; Coding Standards; General Feedback, or whatever suits your needs. )

Step 4. Go to the visibility section of the modal window and click on the drop-down menu to reveal it. The menu will show you the two visibility options with the current visibility highlighted in blue.

Step 5. Select Private to Our Team to hide the tab from your clients if you need your new Conversation tab to be invisible for Clients.

Step 6. Click the Add to Project button.

Now you have two Conversation tabs and both of them will have the same action menus.

The Conversation tab serves as a starting point for every project as it stores your entire project conversation and project activity. It serves as a tool for all participants in the project to type messages and store them in one place.

By the end of this guide, you should be able to know how to collapse/expand your conversations; move them to another project, close/reopen conversations, send messages in the conversation tab or from your email; send internal notes; create tasks from messages; mention project participants directly; change conversation visibility; create multiple conversation tabs; change your signature and even customize the email notifications your clients receive when project events happen in the Kitchen workspace.