Interact With Other Users

Select Chat (speech bubble icon) in the navigation bar to view any messages you've received while in the Space, as well as to send messages to others. While there are some basic features, chat works a little differently based on what type of Space you're in:

• Basic Chat Features
• Chat for Remote Work
• Chat for Events

Basic Chat Features

You can also search for and select a person's name in the Participants panel, and from their info card, send a private message them. (You can also open this info card by clicking on a person's name in their video preview.)

Search for and select a person from the Participants panel to send a message directly from their info card. 

You can also right click on a person and select Send chat.

Right click on the person and select Send chat.

Manage Notifications

When you receive a chat, you also receive a sound notification. To turn off sound notifications, open Settings, and in the General section, toggle off Chat sounds.

From User Settings, in the Audio / Video section,  you can customize the chat notification sounds. 

Chat for Remote Work

When the Chat panel is open, you can read any pinned moderator messages, read any messages you've received while you are in the Space, as well as send messages. To send a message, select the To drop-down list in the Chat panel and pick your recipient. 

• Everyone - Your message will be sent to every person currently in the Space. 
• Nearby - Your message will be sent to everyone who is standing within your interaction distance (within 5 tiles of you), or whomever you are in a private area with. 
• Individuals - Your message will be sent to the person you select.  
• Private Area - Chat messages can only be seen by people in this private area. New attendees will not see messages sent before they joined. This is great for clearer meeting chats without office distractions!

With the Chat panel open, select who you wish to send a message to: Nearby, Everyone, Current Room, or a specific person.

With the chat panel open, you can select the left location icon to chat with your current private area or you can select the building icon to chat with everyone in your Space. 

Chat for Events

When the Chat pane is open, you can read any messages you've received while you are in the Space, as well as send messages. The tab you select in the Chat pane determines who you send a message to:

• Room - Your message will be sent to every person currently in the Room. 
• Nearby - Your message will be sent to everyone who is standing within your interaction distance (within 5 tiles of you), or whomever you are in a private area with. 
• Inbox - Your message will be sent to the person you select. If you are an Admin or Mod in the Space, you can message other Admins and Mods. 

With the Chat pane open, select who you wish to send a message to: Room, Nearby, or a specific person in your Inbox.

Q&A

In Event Spaces that use session scheduling in the checklist, Q&A chat is available during the scheduled session time. Attendees can ask a question during a session or upvote others' questions. Depending on the session settings, the Speaker, Admin, or Mod may choose to approve questions before they display in the chat. The Speaker, Admin, or Mod can answer the question in the chat or mark that the question has been answered live. Speakers, Admins, and Mods can download the Room and Q&A chat after the session is over.

The Locate on Map feature creates a dynamic line connecting you to the person you're trying to find in the Gather Space. 

Open the Participants panel and search for the person you wish to locate. Select their name, and on their info card, select Locate on map. (You can also open this info card by clicking on a person's name in their video preview.)

From the Participants panel, select the person's name, and from their info card, select Locate on map.

You can also right click on a person's character and select Move here, which will take you to them without activating the Follow feature.

The Follow feature attaches your Gather character to the person you're following so that you don't have to navigate. 

Open the Participants panel and search for the person you wish to follow. Select their name, and on their info card, select Follow. (You can also open this info card by clicking on a person's name in their video preview.)

From the Participants panel, select the person's name, and from their info card, select Follow.

You can also right click on a person's avatar and select Follow.

Right click on the person and select Follow.

To stop following someone, press an arrow key on your keyboard.

The Request to Lead feature lets you ask permission to guide someone in the Space. If they accept, their character will find you in the Space and attach to you so that you can lead them and they don't have to navigate. 

Open the Participants panel and search for the person you wish to lead. Select their name, and on their info card, select Request to Lead. (You can also open this info card by clicking on a person's name in their video preview.)

From the Participants panel, select the person's name, and from their info card, select Request to Lead.

You can also right click on a person's avatar and select Request to Lead.

Right click on the person and select Request to Lead.

The person you've requested to lead sees a pop-up, which asks them if they'd like to follow you and shows them a preview of where you are in the Space. They select Accept if they'd like to be led. They will automatically be taken to wherever you are in the Space, and they won't have to navigate while you lead them.

The person you request to lead receives a message asking them if they want to follow you, with a preview of where you're at in the Space. They can accept or decline your request.

To stop following someone, press an arrow key on your keyboard.

The Ring feature allows you to call a person's attention back to the Gather tab. Select Ring [Name], and a short audio ring plays. 

When a person is away from Gather, you can ring them to bring their attention back to the Gather tab.

You can easily respond to the current situation and let others know how you are feeling by using emotes (aka emojis, emoticons, etc.). Just select Emotes (smiley face icon) in the Navigation Bar. A bar with 6 emojis displays, with a Clear and Edit button. You can select the emote you wish to send, or use the 1-6 keys to quickly send an emote at any time. 

In the Navigation Bar, select Emotes (smiley face icon) to view available emojis and their shortcut keys.

All emotes will show above your avatar for 3 seconds before fading, except for 6 (raised hand), which will stay raised until you press 6 again or select Clear in the Emote bar. While your hand is raised, your name will move up to the top of the Participants list.

Edit Default Emotes

By default, use the 1-6 keys for the following emotes:

• (1) - Wave
• (2) - Heart
• (3) - Party popper
• (4) - Thumbs up
• (5) - Question mark
• (6) - Raised hand

However, you can customize your emojis for keys 1-5! Select Emotes (smiley face icon) in the Bottom Bar, then select Edit. The Customize emotes window opens. Select the number you wish to edit, then choose your desired emoji.

To customize your Emotes, select Edit from the Emotes bar, then choose your new Emotes! You can change shortcuts for 1-5. 

You can pick any emoji from your operating system's emoji browser. At this time, you cannot upload your own custom emojis.

Need to get a word in, but don't want to disturb the flow or the larger meeting going on? Break out into a bubble! 

Bubbles are great for a speedy whisper with your neighbor without talking over the current group conversation. People outside your bubble will still be able to hear you, but very softly (and with transparent video). People can join and leave bubbles freely, even across private areas.

Start a Bubble

Right click or double click on another character to open the context menu. 

Right click or double click on a character to open the context menu.

Select Start Bubble. A semi-transparent bubble shape will appear around the people in the bubble. 

A bubble is indicated by a semi-transparent blob around the people in the bubble. 

You can join a bubble by right clicking on any person in the bubble, then selecting Start Bubble. You'll join their conversation.

You can join an existing bubble by right clicking on anyone in the bubble. 

To leave a bubble, select Leave Bubble above the Bottom Bar, or just walk away.

You can invite members and guests to your Space in five options: copy and paste the URL, create and copy a unique link, create and copy link to a specific meeting location, or email a link through Gather. It's easy to find the Invite buttons from either the Main menu or from the Participants panel.

You can easily invite someone to your Space with the Invite buttons available in the Main menu and in the Participants panel.

To invite someone to your Space, you have five options:

1. Copy and paste the URL of your Space: That's it!
   • ✔ It's easy! 
   • ✔ It will default to inviting people as guests - guests revisiting your space will respawn in the lobby (your default spawn location) after 12 hours of first clicking your Space link
   • ✖ The link won't expire and anyone can pass it on
2. Invite members via email: Select the Main menu, select Invite, select an expiration for the link, enter the email address of the person you wish to invite, and select Send Invite. 
   • ✔ You control how long the link is active!
   • ✔ You don't have to go to another platform to send it. 
   • ✔  You can one or more emails at once
     
3. Invite members with a link: Select the Main menu, select Invite, select Invite by link, and select Copy Link.
   • ✔ Link will remain permanently active
   • ✔ You decide how to send the link (e.g., via email, messenger, hyperlink in another file, etc.)
   • ✖  You have to manually distribute the link.

     Two options to invite members into your Remote Work Gather Office; select the Main menu, select Invite, and invite via email or invite with a link.
4. Invite guests with a temporary link: Select the Main menu, select Invite, select an expiration for the link, and select Copy Link.
   • ✔ You control how long the link is active!
   • ✔ You decide how to send the link (e.g., via email, messenger, hyperlink in another file, etc.)
   • ✖  You have to manually distribute the link.
     Temporary invite for guests into your Remote Work Gather Office; select the Main menu, select Invite, and invite with a temporary link.

5. Invite with a specific meeting location link: there are two main options for invites with a specific meeting location link.  

1. Select Create new event in the bottom right Calendar icon. In the Create new calendar event modal, click the Select location drop-down. The name you entered for the Private Area ID (e.g., "keynote") displays, with the room name in parentheses. For more detailed instructions, check out our Private Area Tiles article.
2. When you enter a private area, your participants sidebar will change to reflect the area you are in. Next to the name of the area, you will see an option to copy a specific private meeting area link.
   Invite with a specific meeting location link through the calendar integration. 

Invite with a specific meeting location link through the private meeting area link.

Member vs. Guest

In Remote Work Spaces, you can invite people to your Space as Members or Guests. When you first enter a Remote Work Space, you may be prompted to invite others. Otherwise, you can send invites from the Main menu, from Participants, or by heading to Space Settings or your Space dashboard and opening User Roles. Read Managing Roles: Remote Work for more details.  

To invite someone to a remote work Space, you must choose whether they will be a Member or a Guest. 

Members

• You can send an invite to a Member via email or by copying the link to your Space. 
• The email invitation and the invitation link for Members expire automatically after 30 days.
• A Member must have a Gather account.

Guests

1. Guests now have an icon above their avatar, so its easier for everyone to identify when they’re walking through your Space
2. You get to see the same icon next to their name in the Participants Panel. This means it is now even easier to keep track of guests in your Space
3. When guests join in using the meeting link, they automatically enter Meeting View, which is a great way to ease them into your office!
4. Guests revisiting your space will respawn in the lobby (your default spawn location) after 12 hours of first clicking your Space link

Disable Invite

If you want to restrict access to the invite button, open Settings. Select the Space tab and Space Preferences. Toggle on Disable invite Button. 

You can hide the Invite people option by opening Settings. Under Space Preferences, toggle on Disable invite button.

Users in the Space (who are not Admins or Moderators) will not be able to send an email invite. 

When the Admin has disabled the Invite feature, the Invite button is disabled in Participants and it does not display in the Main menu.

Among Gather's core values are being open, honest, and constructive, as well as being warm-hearted. We want people in our Spaces to feel safe, respected, and accepted. There are times when Space Admins and Mods may need moderation tools, particularly if you want to give the people in your Space agency over who they interact with. For those situations, we have the following three options: blocking, kicking, and banning. 

There are also just times when audio and video can be overwhelming or distracting, and there's an easy way to mute a person's audio or turn off their video!

Muting

To turn off another person's audio or video feed, just hover over their video feed and select the microphone or camera icon. Keep in mind this just stops their feed to you, not to anyone else. 

Select the mic or camera icon in the video feed if you want to stop connecting to someone's audio or video feed.

Blocking

Anyone in the Space can use the blocking feature. Blocking someone will stop all audio/video connections between you and that person. It will not block that person from interacting with anyone else in the Space. You will still see the avatar of the person you've blocked; you just will not connect with each other's audio or video feed. The person will not be notified that they have been blocked, and they will still be able to see and hear you. You will not be able to chat with them, bubble with them, or use the follow/request to lead feature.

To block a person, select the three dots on their video feed, then select Block. You can also select a person's name on the Participants list, and in the info menu on that person, select the three dots in the top right corner, then select Block.

To block someone, select their name in the Participants list, and in their info card, select the three dots, then Block. (Additional options display if you are the Admin/Owner of the Space.)

Unblocking

To unblock a person, select Unblock on their video feed. You can also select their name from the Participants list, and from the three dots on their info card, select Unblock.

To unblock someone, select Unblock on their video feed or from their info card in the Participants list.

Kicking

Space Admins and Mods can kick someone out of the Space. Kicking someone will remove them from the Space and send them to the Check Your Hair screen. This feature is primarily used for removing inactive guests from a Space. 

To kick someone, select their name on the Participants list, and in the info card, select the three dots in the top right corner, then select Kick from Space.

To remove someone from the Space, select Kick from space from their info card in the Participants list. (Only available for Mods and Admins)

Banning

Space Admins and Mods can ban someone from their Space. This blocks the user from fully joining the Space. 

To ban someone, select the person's name on the Participants list, and in the info menu on that person, select the three dots in the top right corner, then select Ban from Space.

To ban someone, select Ban from Space from their info card in the Participants list. (Only available for Mods and Admins/Owners) You will then be prompted to confirm the ban. Select Ban User.

To confirm removing the person from the Space, select Ban User.

Unbanning

Only Space Admins can unban someone. To unban a user (which will unban the entire IP address), open your Space Dashboard and select the trashcan icon next to their IP address and character name. You can also unban all.

To remove someone's ban, the Admin must go to the Space Dashboard, and from Banned Users, select the trashcan.

The Wave feature allows you to send a quick hello or get someone's attention to make sure they're available before you drop by their desk for a quick question. You can Wave by hovering over someone's desk and clicking Send wave or by pulling up their name on the Participant's panel. 

The Notes feature allows you to leave a thoughtful note for someone's birthday, work anniversary, or for a job well done. To read your note, the recipient will walk up to their desk and see an object they can interact with. Leaving notes is an excellent way to recognize your co-workers and create a sense of community while working from anywhere. 

To leave a note, the recipient must have claimed a desk. Hover over their desk and click on Leave note to bring up the different note options. 

You can drop someone a note by hovering over their desk and clicking Leave note. There are many default note options to choose from to celebrate different kinds of milestones. Click on the gear icon to automatically delete the note after it's read.

Profiles allow office Members to describe themselves for rest of their co-workers and add a level of personalization to your office experience. Edit your profile to share photos of yourself and add important dates like your work anniversary. It can also be used to keep your contact information in case your co-workers need to contact you. To access yours or another office member's profile, click on their name in the Participants panel.