Writing and replying
Writing, formatting, mentioning, and acting on any message.
The composer
Write and press Enter to send; Shift+Enter makes a new line. Show or hide the formatting bar for bold, italic, lists, links and code: Swarm remembers which you chose.
Mentions
Mention a person, a channel, a task or a project by typing its sigil in the composer:
| Sigil | Mentions |
|---|---|
@ |
A person |
# |
A channel |
$ |
A task |
% |
A project |
The last three insert a reference, so Swarm renders the channel, task or project as a card with its current status rather than as text.
All four sigils sit on the number row. On a Spanish keyboard, type $ and %
with Shift, and @ and # with AltGr.
On top of that, @ gives you two mentions that point at nobody in particular:
@channelalerts the whole channel.@herealerts only the people online at that moment.
Check how many people each one reaches before you use it.
Mentioning somebody who is not in the channel
Before you mention somebody, look at the flag next to their name in the picker: a mention's alert only reaches channel members. Mentioning somebody from outside does not notify them, their name is written and nobody hears about it.
What you can do to a message
Hover a message to react with an emoji, reply in thread, save it, or open the ⋯ menu with the rest.
The menu holds:
| Action | Detail |
|---|---|
| Copy link | A permalink to the message, with the workspace in it. |
| Copy message | The text to the clipboard. |
| Forward | To another channel or a direct message. |
| Create task | Turns the message into a task. |
| Remind me | In 20 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours, tomorrow, next week, or a date you pick. |
| Mark as unread | Leaves the channel marked from there. |
| Thread notifications | Only when the message has a thread. Mutes its replies, for you. |
| Pin to channel | Highlights it for everyone. |
| Edit / Delete | Only on your own messages. |
Swarm marks a message you change as edited, and leaves a trace that the one you delete existed.
Forwarding
Pick the forward's destination: a channel, or several people for a direct message. One forward does not mix a channel and people.
Add a comment if you want. The message goes out under your name, quotes the original and links back to it. The original author never appears as the writer in the new room.
The quote keeps a snapshot of the source: the channel name, the author's name and the date, as they were. That way the forward still makes sense after the channel is renamed or archived, or the original message is deleted. If the original is gone, the jump link tells you so instead of pointing at something else.
Attachments stay on the original message: the quoted card links back rather than duplicating them.
Forward only what you can read: a message from a private channel you do not belong to stays there.
Public channels you do not belong to appear flagged in the picker, and Swarm warns you that forwarding there joins you to the channel.
Cross-app references
Quote records from your other apps in a message: a contact or a deal from Wrap, an invoice from Flow. Swarm renders them as cards with their current status. See Citing records from other apps.