Quick Refresher on In-line Threading
Let’s chat real quick about in-line threading in Google Chat. It’s kind of like a mini-conversation within the main one. Users can reply to specific messages in a conversation by creating threaded replies. This helps to keep the conversation organised and easy to follow.
When someone wants to reply to a message, they can click on it and select the “Reply” option. The threaded replies will then appear under the original text, clearly indicating which reply corresponds to which message. Additionally, you have the option to follow specific threads, ensuring that you receive notifications when someone replies or mentions you in that particular thread.
Overall, in-line threading in Chat spaces improves communication and collaboration by keeping conversations organized and making it easy to refer to past messages.
All up to speed? Ok great, now for the next cool part; The Update!
Existing Topic-based spaces will be upgraded to a new in-line threaded experience
Since March 2023, all newly created spaces in Google Chat were in-line threaded by default. But what about the older spaces? I’m sure many of you have older project spaces filled with loads of chat and collaboration information. And the last thing you want is to start a whole new space. Trust me, it can get super confusing trying to find that one message you want to refer back to. Is it in the old space or the new one?
Well, don’t even worry about that anymore because Google has plans to upgrade all existing spaces in Google Chat to the in-line threaded experience. This upgrade will create a more streamlined and organized flow of conversation. The upgrade is expected to happen in early Q4 2023. Until then, the existing legacy threaded spaces will continue to work as they currently do.
Space organised by topic of conversation.
Space organised by in-line threading
Woah, why are my messages all over the place?
Good to note: Google will keep all the messages you sent before the upgrade safe and sound, without any data loss. The only difference is that once the upgrade is complete, it will organise them in chronological order instead of grouping them by topic. To clearly indicate the start of a new topic, a fancy separator saying “Begin New Topic” will be used.
Now, here’s the thing: in some cases, the new chronological order takes over when people respond to older topics. This means that the messages may not appear right next to the original topic but rather in the order of when they were sent. But hey, no need to panic! The new response will quote the last relevant message it’s replying to, so you can still keep track of the conversation.
Oh, and you’ll notice a separator between the last message you sent before the upgrade and a special message letting you know that the space has been upgraded to the fancy in-line threaded replies. From now on, all new messages will have this cool threaded functionality.
Before the upgrade: conversations grouped by topic
After the space has been upgraded to in-line threading, messages sent before the upgrade will be arranged chronologically, instead of by topic.
Admins and end users, get ready because this update of Topic-based Spaces to be Upgraded to in-line Threaded Experience is for both of you! We will roll out this update in Q4, so make sure to stay tuned to our blogs for the latest updates and stay up to date!
For more Google Workspace updates, click here.
