Odoo Essentials: Discussion + Chatter

Purpose

This document covers the basic functions of the Discuss app in Odoo 15, as well as the 'chatter' of messages on Odoo records, how to configure followers, and the differences between logging notes and sending messages. These tools are amazingly functional for communication within Odoo and with customers.

Process

To get started, navigate to the Discuss app.

This app functions as both inbox and chat feature. Under user preferences, there is an option to handle Odoo communications through email, which will forward notifications to your inbox. If this box is not checked, notifications will appear at the top right of the navigation bar.

Good to know!

User Preferences

If you would like to edit your user preferences to handle Odoo communications through email, go to the home screen and search "Users" then click Settings / Users & Companies / Users, or click on your User name in the top right corner of your screen and select "My Profile."

Select your user from the list, then go to the Preferences tab and click edit.

Notification: This will allow you to receive notifications via email or within the odoo application.

To save your changes, click Save.

On the top of the screen, you will see the chat bubble, this will allow you to quickly review all new communication under All.

You can also click Chat to see all direct messages with other users.

If you click Channels you can check on channel updates.

Start a Meeting

Click Start a Meeting to create a group direct message.

This will open up a popup window to the right where you can search for the user to invite or click the check box by their name to include them into the group chat. Towards the bottom, you will have the ability to copy and paste the invitation link as needed.

Once you have finished selecting your users, click Invite to Group Chat.

This will create a group chat in your Direct Messages where you can begin to chat back and forth with the included users.

Inbox, Starred, and History

Once in the Discuss app, the discussion Inbox will show you any new messages that you have not read. At the top right of the screen there is an option to Mark all Read. This will clear the notifications in the navigation bar. You can also star conversations and channels if you need to access certain topics quickly and see your message history.

The Starred view will show you a list of all starred discussions. You will mass select your starred discussions to remove from this view by clicking UNSTAR ALL, or individually by clicking the star icon on each notification.

The History view will show you a list of all your notifications. By default, you will see the newest notification at the bottom. To view older notifications, scroll upward.

Channels

Channels are used for group conversations regarding a specific topic.

Administrators can create channels and users with manager permissions can be assigned as moderators, if needed. To add a new Channel, click on the icon. Search for the name and them click on it to add it in.

You may also create an open channel on the fly by selecting the Create #. To create a private channel, click Create .

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To configure your channel, mouse over its title. You will have two options depending on the channel configuration; Click the Configuration icon on the channel to change the channel settings or click the Delete icon to remove leave the channel, which will subsequently also remove the channel or direct message group from the list.

Click on configure, and you will be presented with the following screen. Click Edit.

Group Name: Give a name to your group.
Description: Describe the topics to be discussed in this group.

Under the Privacy Tab:

This allows you to choose who, and what groups and departments have access to this channel.

Under the Members tab, you can refine who is invited to the channel to include users who may not be included in certain groups, but still need to have eyes on the subject. Click Add a line to add a recipient.

When ready, click SAVE.

Basic Chatter Functionality

You are able to change the chat title and description by hovering over, then clicking on the field.

Towards the top, you will have the ability to use the following icon to communicate back and forth to the user's in the chat.
: This will allow you to make phone/audio only calls to the users in the chat.
: This will allow you to make video calls to the user's in the chat.
: This will allow you to add user's to the chat.
: This will toggle the visibility of the member's list of the chat/channel.

In the chat, you will have the ability to do the following:

: This icon gives you the ability to use emojis within your own message or to react to a message.
: This icon allow you to star a message. This starred message will then appear in the Starred view.
: This icon will give you the ability to edit your own and other user's sent messages.
: This icon will let you erase a message that you or another user has sent.
: This icon will allow you to send your message with an attached file.

When you have finished typing up your message, click Send.

Chatter on Records

Chatter is the communication tool located on most records. It allows you to email customers directly from a quotation or sales order, for instance, to discuss details and maintain contact. Employees can log internal notes that the customer cannot see to alert each other to progress or problems in the workflow. Additionally, other users can be pinged to participate in a conversation by being added as a Follower to the document, even if they were not originally involved. Our example will take place in the CRM application.

To get started, open a new tab and navigate the CRM app.

Select a record from the pipeline, then find the chatter which will be at the bottom or to the right of the document. There you will see the following options:

Send Message: Sends an email to all users currently following the document. Templates can be used with this option. Any customer that is following the document can reply and their answers will be routed back into Chatter.
Log Note: Is the function for internal discussion that the customer doesn't see. This is useful for tracking progress without sending the customer too many updates or starting a discussion with other employees that you may not wish the customer to be notified of.
Schedule Activity: Allows you to schedule and assign activities to users.
#: Shows the number of attachments included on this document.
Follow / Following: Shows at a glance whether you are following the document, if you wish to not follow a record, hover over the Following and click Unfollow.
# : Shows at a glance how many followers are on the document. You have the option to add more Followers, or edit their subscription to the item.

To add followers to a record, click the # icon and click on Add Followers.

This will then show you a popup window that will allow you to invite multiple recipients and choose whether this invite is sent via email along with a message.

Once you are done making changes, click Add Followers.

Once the Followers have been added, click on the # icon again, and use the mouse over the followers. You will see the option to edit appear next to the remove option. Click on the pencil.

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This will present you with the notification settings for the channel you've selected. Please note there are warnings about adding internal notifications to a channel, because the system can create a lot of these, leading to unnecessary clutter. It will also notify of all internal notes if selected, which means that conversations between users are not private, and if multiple items are posting to the same channel, context for these notifications can be lost. However, we've created this channel specifically for this event and we're interested to see this lead through to the end, so we'll check those boxes regardless. When finished, click Apply to save your changes.

Now, we'll test our settings. We'll select Log Note from the left side of the screen, this will give us the ability to communicate internally to other user's and channels regarding this record. Click Log when the note is complete. You will immediately see the note appear in the chatter on this record.

Important!

You must include the '#' for Channels and "@" for Individuals if you want them to be notified! If the name does not appear in green in the text after you send the message or log a note, the link was not complete. It's good practice to click on the suggestions when Odoo prompts above the cursor, as this will auto-complete the name and create the link.

To schedule the activity requested, the recipient can click on the SCHEDULE ACTIVITY option at the bottom of any record that has chatter enabled.

The default available activities are: Email, Call, Meeting, Todo, Follow Up Quote, and Call for Demo. These can be customized under CONFIGURATION > Activity Types.

Scheduling Activities

Now that we've covered notifications, it's worth exploring how activities can be assigned from the chatter. The Schedule Activity option in the chatter section will prompt you to select an activity type, write a short description, and then assign a due date and user to complete it. Once finished entering information, click schedule to schedule the activity.

The scheduled activity will immediately appear in the chatter.

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If a channel is subscribed properly, Activities will show up in the channel as they are completed.