# Chat with your designer

> Message your designer from the portal, share photos and files, and keep every conversation with the project instead of scattered across texts and emails.

Source: https://docs.moodiri.com/for-clients/chat-with-your-designer

## Why use it

Questions about a project tend to scatter: a text here, an email there, a photo
sent to the wrong address. Chat keeps your messages with the project, so you and
your designer can always find what was said and what was shared.

## When to use it

- **Quick questions.** Timing, an appointment, what happens next.
- **Sharing inspiration or photos.** A picture of the room, a fabric you liked.
- **Anything without a decision attached.**

When you're answering a specific choice, use the request itself so your answer is
recorded: see [Approve or request changes](https://docs.moodiri.com/for-clients/approve-or-request-changes).

## Before you start

- You're signed in to your portal.
- Open chat from your designer's photo at the bottom of the menu.

## Steps

![Client portal Chat for Lombard Street Loft, with project and space channels on the left and a conversation between Maya Chen and Alex Rivera above the message box.](https://docs.moodiri.com/shots/for-clients--chat-with-your-designer-1600.webp)
Same screen with numbered callouts: https://docs.moodiri.com/shots/for-clients--chat-with-your-designer-annotated.webp
1. Choose your designer's photo at the bottom of the menu. A red number shows how many messages you haven't read.
2. Type in the message box, such as *Could the brass pendant come in a smaller size?*
3. To share something, choose **Attach file** or **Insert image**, or drag files onto the message box.
4. Choose **Send message**. It stays unavailable while the message box is empty.

## Conversations about a room, piece or decision

On a computer, a list beside the chat shows the main project conversation and
any conversations about a room, a piece or an approval. The header shows what
you're talking about, such as *About Great Room*. On a phone, chat opens on the
project conversation; conversations about a piece or a decision are also inside
that item, under **Chat** in [Selections](https://docs.moodiri.com/for-clients/selections) or in the
approval request itself.

## What happens next

- Your designer replies in the same conversation.
- New replies show as a red number on your designer's photo.

## Limits

- Images up to 10 MB, other files up to 20 MB.
- Up to 10 attachments per message.

## Troubleshooting

- The **Attach file** button is greyed out when you've already added 10 files to
  the message. Send it, then add the rest in a new message.

## Questions

### Can I ask about one specific piece or decision?

Yes. Each approval request and each piece in [Selections](https://docs.moodiri.com/for-clients/selections) has its own conversation, so your question stays next to the thing you're asking about.

### How do I know my designer replied?

A red number appears on your designer's photo in the menu, and on the Overview's **Your designer** card.

### What kinds of files can I send?

Photos (JPEG, PNG, WebP, GIF, AVIF), PDFs, Word and Excel files, CSV and text files, ZIP files and HEIC photos.