Channels & threads

Packr keeps your messaging in context. Brand channels hold ongoing conversation for a brand, and threads attach a focused conversation to a specific order, inbound shipment, or task. This page is for everyone who works in a workspace, whether you're on the 3PL operations side or a brand user.

Who is this for?

Everyone. Reading and replying to channels and threads is available to all roles. You only ever see conversations for brands assigned to you.

Overview

Packr has two kinds of conversations:

  • Brand channels — ongoing messaging for a brand. Every brand has a General channel, and your workspace can add more named channels for specific topics.
  • Threads — a conversation pinned to one record: an order, an inbound shipment, or a task. A thread keeps questions and updates right next to the thing they're about.

You only see channels and threads for brands assigned to you. In Packr a brand is sometimes labeled a Group on the Directory screen, but channels and threads always refer to it as a brand.

Screenshot: An order with its thread conversation open. (pending capture)

Start a thread on an order, shipment, or task

A thread lives on the Conversation tab of the record's detail page — orders, inbound shipments, inventory (SKUs), and tasks all share the same layout. When no thread exists yet, the tab says No conversation yet and offers a button to start one.

  1. Open the order, inbound shipment, SKU, or task you want to discuss.
  2. Open the Conversation tab and select Start conversation.
  3. The thread opens, ready to type in. Everyone with access to that brand can take part.

When a record already has a thread, its page opens on the Conversation tab, and a dot on the tab shows unread messages.

Note

A brand must be assigned to the record before a thread can be started.

Screenshot: The "No thread yet" state with Create thread. (pending capture)

Open and reply to a thread

How a thread appears depends on your screen size, but replying works the same way in both.

On a record's detail page, the thread is the Conversation tab. Type your message in the box at the bottom and send it. On a phone the record's details become the first tab, and the conversation is its own tab beside it.

In any thread you can also:

  • Upload a file to attach a document or image to your message.
  • Open a photo to view it at full resolution. Zoom with a trackpad pinch, the scroll wheel, or the zoom toolbar, drag to move around, and Crop it. Download saves the photo (or your crop) on a computer, and opens the share sheet on a phone so you can save it.
  • Share a task to drop a task card into the conversation.
  • Share an order to drop an order card into the conversation. Pick the order from the search box — it's scoped to the brands you can see — and the card shows the order number, status, date, and item count. Tapping the card opens that order's detail page.
  • React to a message with an emoji. The reaction picker opens a searchable drawer of emoji grouped by category, so you are not limited to a handful of defaults — type to filter, or browse a group. Reactions you have already used appear as pills under the message; select a pill to add or remove your own.

Replies are visible to everyone with access to the brand, so the whole team stays on the same page.

Draft a reply with Pax

If you're on the 3PL side, the message composer has a Draft Reply button (the sparkle pill). It reads the recent messages in the conversation, looks for relevant articles in your workspace's Drive, and writes a suggested reply into the composer for you. (On a Catch Up card the pill is Pax summary instead — see Inbox & notifications.)

  1. Open the channel or thread you want to reply in.
  2. Optionally type a few words of direction first — for example "explain the delay and apologize". The draft will follow that steer.
  3. Select Draft Reply and wait for the draft to appear.
  4. Edit the text as much as you like, then send it as you normally would.

The draft lands in the composer as ordinary editable text — Packr never sends it for you, so nothing goes out until you press send. A short confirmation tells you how many articles the draft drew on, so you can check those articles if you want to verify a claim before sending.

Note

Draft Reply is available to 3PL users only; brand users don't see the button. It also needs a few messages in the conversation to work from — on a brand-new conversation with nothing to read, it will tell you there isn't enough to go on.

Warning

A draft is a starting point, not a fact-checked answer. Read it before you send, especially where it quotes dates, quantities, or policy.

Look someone up without leaving the conversation

Select a person's avatar on a message — or their row in the channel participants list — to open a preview card with their name, role, and brands. From the card, select View profile to open their full profile, or close it to stay where you are. See members for what a profile holds.

Screenshot: The mobile "Open thread" tile. (pending capture)

Keep a thread to your 3PL team

Some conversations about an order, inbound shipment, SKU, or task are for your own team only. If you're on the 3PL side, you can take the brand's people out of a record's thread, or make the whole thread internal.

  1. Open the thread and select the people icon in its header to see who's in the conversation.
  2. To remove one person, select the remove button on their row and confirm. They aren't notified, and they can't rejoin unless someone on your team adds them back from the Removed list with Add back.
  3. To keep the conversation to your team, select Mark as internal under Keep this conversation to your team and confirm. Every brand user in the thread is removed, and the thread shows an Internal chip in its header.

Brand users don't see an internal thread: the record's Conversation tab is hidden for them. If Packr couldn't remove everyone the first time, the people list shows a button to finish the job.

Find your brand channels

Brand channels are the ongoing conversations for a brand, separate from any record-specific thread. You reach them from the Brand Work Desk (its nav label is Home), where each brand you can access has its General channel plus any extra named channels your workspace has set up.

  • The General channel is always present for a brand.
  • Extra named channels can be added for specific topics and can be archived when they're no longer needed.

Operators

Adding, reordering, and archiving extra brand channels needs the channel-management permission and is normally handled by 3PL operators and admins. Most brand users simply use the General channel and any channels that have been shared with them.

Reorder your brand channels

If you manage channels, you can set the order they appear in for everyone on the brand — put the channels your team lives in at the top.

  1. In the Brand Work Desk, find the channel list for the brand.
  2. Select the settings (gear) icon above the list to turn on editing.
  3. Drag a channel by its handle to move it, or use the trash icon to archive it.
  4. Select the gear icon again to finish.

The new order applies for everyone who can see the brand, not just you. General and the onboarding channel always keep their place and can't be dragged or archived.

Star a channel to your sidebar

If you live in one or two channels, star them so they are a click away from anywhere in Packr.

  1. In the Brand Work Desk, find the channel in the brand's channel list.
  2. Select the star (Star to sidebar) next to it.

Starred channels appear in the sidebar under your pinned brands, showing the brand's icon and name with the channel beneath. Select one to jump straight into that channel. Select the star again (Remove from sidebar) to take it off. Stars are personal — they only change your sidebar. The star is available on a brand's extra named channels; a channel that is archived, or a brand you no longer have access to, drops out of the list on its own.

Tips

Tip

Use a thread when the conversation is about one record (a single order, shipment, or task) so the discussion stays attached to it. Use a brand channel for general, ongoing back-and-forth that isn't tied to one record.

Tip

When you create a thread, choose Send on the Announce new thread? prompt so brand members see in the General channel that the thread exists. They can jump straight in from there.

Common questions

How do I start a thread on an order? Open the order's detail page, go to the Conversation tab, and select Start conversation. See Start a thread on an order, shipment, or task.

What's the difference between a note and a thread? A thread is a two-way conversation attached to a record that everyone with brand access can reply to. A note is a written annotation you leave on a record. Use a thread to talk it through; use a note to record information.

Where are my brand channels? Brand channels live in the Brand Work Desk (nav label Home), one set per brand you can access. You only see channels for brands assigned to you.

How do I change the order of brand channels? In the Brand Work Desk, select the settings (gear) icon above the brand's channel list, then drag channels by their handles. The order you set applies for everyone on that brand. You need the channel-management permission to do this.

Why can't I see a thread or channel? You can only see conversations for brands assigned to you. If a thread or channel is missing, you likely don't have access to that brand — check with a workspace admin. See Following and mutes if you're seeing too many or too few notifications.

Which records can have a thread? Threads attach to orders, inbound shipments, and tasks. You start one from that record's detail page.