Use Communications on Mobile and with the Keyboard
Chat is designed to work as a focused, Slack-like workspace on phones and tablets while retaining fast keyboard navigation on desktop, and the Inbox uses the same one-panel-at-a-time approach.
Mobile Layout
On a smaller screen, PawPlacer shows one main panel at a time instead of squeezing the sidebar, message history, thread, and detail panels together.
A common mobile flow is:
- Open Chat and choose a channel or direct message, or open the Inbox and choose a submission or email.
- Read or take action in the full-width detail view.
- Select Back to return to the appropriate list.
Email composition uses the full screen on mobile. The send controls stay reachable above the device's safe area, and long forms scroll within the composer.
Mobile Sidebar
The Activity and Saved buttons form a compact navigation row in the chat sidebar. Channels and direct messages remain touch-friendly, with unread badges, favorite stars, and online indicators preserved.
The All, Unread, and Archived tabs stay above the navigation row. Channel and direct-message sections can be collapsed to reduce visual noise.
Mobile Composer
The message composer keeps frequently used controls visible in a horizontal toolbar. The text area expands as you add lines, up to about eight lines, then scrolls within itself.
- Tap Send for text, files, or both.
- Use Shift + Enter with an attached keyboard to add a line without sending.
- Tap the @ button or type
@for inline mention suggestions. - Tap the paperclip to send a file or image, including an image without text.
- Tap an image in the history to open its lightbox.
Message Actions on Touch Screens
Tap or focus a message to reveal its action bar. Use those controls to create a task, add a reaction, reply in a thread, copy a link, pin the message, or save it for later. PawPlacer does not attach actions to horizontal swipe gestures, which helps prevent an accidental swipe from changing a message.
Keyboard Shortcuts
- Command/Ctrl + K opens the quick switcher.
- / opens communication search when focus is not in an editor.
- C starts a new conversation when focus is not in an editor.
- Command/Ctrl + Shift + M focuses the current message composer.
- Enter sends a message.
- Shift + Enter adds a new line.
While mention suggestions are open:
- Up/Down Arrow changes the selected suggestion.
- Enter or Tab inserts it.
- Escape closes the suggestion list.
Long and Busy Conversations
Large channels remain responsive because PawPlacer loads message history in sections and renders the visible portion of the list. Scroll upward to load earlier messages automatically. Your reading position stays anchored while earlier items are inserted above it.
If you open a message link or a search result, PawPlacer loads the needed area of history and highlights the target message. It can also load later messages when the target is in the middle of a long conversation.
When new messages arrive while you are reading older content, Jump to latest returns to the bottom without forcing you away from your current position.
Live Updates and Offline Awareness
The header shows whether live updates are connected or reconnecting. When connected, the workspace updates presence, typing, messages, reactions, unread counts, pins, and thread replies without a manual refresh.
Sending uses an immediate local copy so the message appears without waiting for a round trip. A sending state appears while it is in progress, and a failed state provides a retry action.
Accessibility Details
Communication controls include accessible labels, keyboard focus behavior, and text alternatives for status. Important information is not communicated by color alone: unread counts, status labels, announcement labels, email delivery states, and attachment availability are also shown in text.
Reaction details are available by hover or keyboard focus, and menus and dialogs keep their position relative to the control that opened them.