Post messages and reply to threads

Messaging is where you talk with your team and your families. Open a conversation, send a message, and start or continue a thread of replies underneath it. Everything moves in real time, so you can see when someone is typing and when your messages have been read.

Open a conversation

On the web, your conversations sit in the left column. A Messages panel stays pinned at the top with four counts: Conversations, Unread, Unread Messages, and Pending Approvals. Click a row to open it, and the messages load in the panel on the right.

On the app, tap a conversation from your message list. Direct messages show the other person's name. Channels carry a small channel icon next to the name.

Either way, opening a conversation loads its full history and marks anything unread as read. The unread badge clears on its own.

Send a message

1. Open the conversation.
2. Type in the composer at the bottom. The placeholder reads Type a message, or New Conversation when you're starting a fresh one.
3. Press Send.

In a channel on the app, a small line above the composer reminds you where the message is headed, like Posting to Staff · #announcements. If a channel is read-only for you, you'll see a School announcements banner in place of the composer, with a line that says Tap any post to read replies or add your own. You can still join the thread under any post, just not start a new one.

If a message doesn't send

ClearDay sends optimistically: your message shows up in the thread right away while it's on its way out. Underneath it, a quiet Sending… caption tells you it's still in flight.

If the send fails (your connection dropped, you composed it while offline, or the server hiccuped), the caption changes to Not delivered · Tap to retry. Tap (or click) that label to try again. Next to it sits a small ×; use it to discard the message instead, which puts the text back in the composer so you can edit and resend it.

You don't have to babysit a stuck message. On the web, ClearDay also retries queued sends automatically the moment your connection comes back or you return to the tab, delivering them oldest-first so they land in the order you wrote them. The retry/discard buttons are still there if you'd rather act on one yourself.

One difference between web and the app: on the web, the failed-send queue lives only for the current session: closing the tab clears anything still waiting. On the app, the queue is saved on the device, so unsent messages survive a restart and keep retrying.

Reply in a thread

Every post in a channel can hold its own thread of replies. (Direct messages stay flat: they don't have threads.)

On the app, tap the Reply bar under a post to open its thread. The bar shows the reply count, like 3 replies, or just Reply when there are none yet. The original post sits at the top, the replies follow, and you write your own from the composer labeled Reply in thread….

On the web, look under each channel post for a link: Show 3 replies when a thread already has some, or Reply in thread when it doesn't. Click it to open the thread inline, read what's there, and post from the Reply in thread… box. Click Hide 3 replies to fold it back up.

The count stays current whether the thread is open or closed, so you can tell at a glance which posts are active.

See who's typing and who's read

When someone else in the open conversation starts typing, an indicator appears with their name. It clears a few seconds after they stop.

Read indicators tell you when others have caught up, and the wording differs a little between the two:

• On the app, a direct message shows Seen under your most recent message once the other person reads it. In a channel, a post shows Seen by 3 to count how many people have read it.
• On the web, your own message shows Sent until it's read, then Read once it has been, or Read by Maria Lopez when names are available.

Message grouping on the app

To keep a busy thread tidy, the app groups back-to-back messages from the same person sent close together. The first message in a group carries the name, avatar, and time; the ones right after tuck in underneath without repeating the header. There's nothing to turn on, and nothing you need to do.

React to a message

Tap the smile icon under any message to add a reaction. There are five to choose from: Heart, Like, Smile, Clap, and Hug. Tap one to add it; tap it again to take it back.

Each reaction shows up as a small pill under the message with a running count. Hover (or look at the pill) to see who reacted. Your own reactions are highlighted so you can tell at a glance which ones are yours. Reactions work the same on channel posts, thread replies, and direct messages, and they update live for everyone on both web and the app.

When a child's enrollment ends

Once a child's enrollment ends, messaging goes fully read-only for that former parent. Their past threads stay readable, and a banner at the top of each conversation reads Read-only — your child no longer attends this school. The composer is removed entirely (the web shows This conversation is read-only. in its place), so they can't post a new message, start a conversation, or reply in a thread. Reactions are read-only too: the pills and counts still show, but they can't add or remove their own.

If a former parent needs to reach the school after their child has left, point them to the office directly or to [email protected].

Schedule a message for later

Instead of sending right away, you can line a message up to go out at a set time. Type your message, then tap the clock icon by the composer to open Schedule send. Pick a date and time: the picker opens on the next morning, and you can schedule up to 30 days out. ClearDay sends the message automatically at the time you chose.

To see what's queued, open the Scheduled messages drawer. It lists your pending sends with their time and a status tag:

• Pending: waiting to go out.
• Sending: being delivered right now.
• Sent: already delivered.
• Failed: something went wrong; the drawer shows the reason.
• Cancelled: you called it off.

While a message is still Pending, use Edit to change its text or send time, or Cancel to stop it from going out. Scheduling is a staff feature.

Send a newsletter or announcement

On a school-wide channel, staff can post a long-form newsletter instead of a plain chat message. Tap the newsletter icon by the composer to open the composer, give it a title, and add one or more sections, each with its own heading and body. When you send it, it lands in the channel as a distinct newsletter card (set apart with its own styling and a Newsletter label), so it reads differently from the back-and-forth around it.

This is different from the read-only School announcements banner some channels show. That banner sits in place of the composer when a channel is read-only for you; the newsletter composer is something staff actively write and post.