zulip/help/reading-strategies.md

2.8 KiB

Reading strategies

In Zulip, streams determine who gets a message. Topics tell you what the message is about. If you are not yet familiar with Zulip's topics, we recommend first reading about streams and topics.

This article describes a few ways to efficiently read through messages in Zulip.

Conversation by conversation

{!conversation-definition.md!}

{!conversation-recommendation.md!}

Finding a conversation to read

From the Inbox view

{!inbox-intro.md!}

{!inbox-instructions.md!}

From Recent conversations

{!recent-conversations.md!}

From the left sidebar

{!left-sidebar-topics.md!}

Reading conversations

{!reading-topics.md!}

Combined views

All messages

{!all-messages.md!}

All direct messages

You can see all your direct messages in one place.

{start_tabs}

{tab|desktop-web}

  1. Click on the All direct messages icon next to DIRECT MESSAGES in the left sidebar.

  2. Read your direct messages, starting from your first unread message. You can scroll using your mouse, the arrow keys, End, or page up/down.

  3. You can click on a conversation in the left sidebar or a message recipient bar to narrow to messages from that conversation.

!!! keyboard_tip ""

Use the <kbd>Shift</kbd> + <kbd>P</kbd> keyboard shortcut to go to
**All direct messages**.

{end_tabs}

Stream view

Sometimes it's useful to scroll through all the messages in a stream, especially in situations where you just want a general idea of what's going on.

{start_tabs}

{tab|desktop-web}

  1. Find the stream you want to read in the left sidebar. If you don't see it right away, you can search for a stream by clicking on STREAMS in the left sidebar, or using the Q keyboard shortcut.

  2. Click on the stream name in the left sidebar.

  3. Read messages in the stream, starting from your first unread message. You can scroll using your mouse, the arrow keys, End, or page up/down.

  4. You can click on a topic in the left sidebar or a message recipient bar to narrow to messages from that topic.

{end_tabs}

Special views

Mentions

The mentions view lets you quickly find all the places where you were mentioned. Reviewing your mentions can be a good way to start your day.

{!view-mentions.md!}

Starred messages

You can star messages that you plan to follow up on later.

View starred messages

{!view-starred-messages.md!}