Chat (DMs)

Direct messages live at https://chat.zeeker.com. They share your Zeeker identity — there is no separate signup.

What it is

• 1-to-1 DMs with any user who has DMs open.
• Group DMs with up to 50 participants.
• Encrypted in transit (TLS) and at rest. End-to-end encryption is on the roadmap; current model is server-trusted.
• Realtime delivery via the same websocket gateway as feed updates.

Starting a conversation

• From any profile, tap Message. If the user has DMs closed to non-followers, the button is hidden.
• The Message action also opens a brand-new direct thread when no prior conversation exists. A pending recipient is never replayed after signing into a different account.
• From the chat app, the compose button opens a recipient picker (@username autocomplete).
• A group DM is created from the picker by selecting multiple recipients.

Privacy controls

Settings → Privacy → DMs offers three modes:

• Open to anyone (default for new accounts)
• Followers only
• Closed — DMs are disabled entirely

Existing threads continue to work even after you flip to "closed"; the change only blocks new threads.

Chat opens on the latest message page. Earlier history loads only when you explicitly request it or scroll upward, without visibly replaying the whole conversation. Message reactions reconcile in other open clients without a page refresh.

The inbox also loads in bounded pages. Background update checks request only conversations changed since the last checkpoint and continue from an opaque cursor when needed; they do not scan every conversation or message on each poll. Polling slows when Chat is hidden or idle and resumes promptly when the app becomes active.

Chat's first-run cookie notice records the choice in the browser for one year, including when the notice is dismissed with its close control, backdrop, or Escape key. The choice is shared across Zeeker's *.zeeker.com apps; a customer-managed domain keeps its own host-scoped copy. Chat embedded inside another Zeeker surface does not open a second automatic notice over the host's notice. Open More → Legal & cookies to review or change the saved choice.

Features

• Replies to a specific message (inline quote)
• Reactions (same reaction tray as posts)
• Media: images, video, and file attachments up to 100MB each
• Voice notes (mobile/PWA only)
• Delivery and read indicators in 1-to-1 DMs — a clock means sending, one check means sent, two checks mean delivered, and blue double checks mean read. Shared group and moderator rooms do not infer a receipt from a single viewer.
• Typing indicators
• Search within a thread — Ctrl/⌘ + F
• Pin a message in a group thread (admins only)
• Mute thread — silences notifications without leaving
• Archive thread — long-press a conversation on mobile, or open its actions menu on desktop, to remove it from the active inbox without deleting its history. Open Archived and choose Restore chat to return it to the active inbox.

Group admin

In group threads:

• The creator is the initial admin.
• Admins can add / remove members, pin messages, change the group name and avatar.
• Admins can promote other members to admin.
• Each message displays the sender's current name (or @username fallback), including community group and moderator rooms that do not expose a full participant roster to the viewer.

Community chat moderation

Community moderators, admins, super admins, and owners can choose Hide message from a message's actions menu while Chat is in Admin mode for that community. Platform admins have the same permission. These moderation controls are available in community group and moderator chats; personal DMs do not gain moderation controls. Normal user mode does not show hide or unhide actions, even for a moderator.

Hidden messages show an italic placeholder. Their text and attachments are also removed from reply previews and conversation previews, including replies sent before the original was hidden. To reverse a hide, use Unhide message on the hidden message while in Admin mode. Restoring a message restores its content and reply previews in open chats without requiring a page reload.

To open the correct group chat directly, select the community in Admin Center, open Moderation, then choose Moderate group chat. The shortcut opens the selected community's group chat in Admin mode.

Established-member access

A community admin can turn on Require established members for group chat in Admin Center → Settings → Access. It is off by default and only restricts sending messages; members can continue reading the available history.

When enabled, an ordinary user must currently belong to the community and meet either condition:

• Have belonged to this community for at least 30 days, with at least 3 approved posts or replies in it.
• Have a Zeeker account at least 30 days old, with at least 10 approved posts or replies anywhere on Zeeker Social in the last 30 days, spread across at least 5 distinct UTC calendar days.

Deleted or unapproved contributions, automatically linked continuation posts, and isolated Embed contributions do not count. Reading and logging in alone do not count as posting activity. Community moderators and higher roles, and platform admins, are exempt from this eligibility requirement.

Until a member qualifies, the message composer is disabled and explains the requirement. The same requirement applies to embedded group chat when the admin enables it; a guest identity cannot bypass it. Personal DMs and private moderator-support conversations do not use this group-chat eligibility rule.

Blocking

Blocking either participant makes a 1-to-1 conversation read-only for both sides while preserving its existing history. New messages, reactions, votes, newly created direct threads, and direct-message shares are rejected by the server. Read and delivery indicators are not disclosed across a blocked relationship.

Blocking a community removes that community's group and moderator chats from the active inbox and prevents further chat access. The UI only applies either kind of block after the server confirms it.

Limits

• Message length: 4,000 chars.
• Per-thread attachments: unlimited; per-message attachments: 10.
• Group size: 50 members.
• Rate limits: 60 messages per minute per user across all threads.

Deletion

• Delete for me removes a message from your view only.
• Delete for everyone is available for 15 minutes after sending and replaces the message with a [deleted] tombstone.
• Deleting an entire thread removes it from your view; the other party still has theirs unless they delete too.

Integration

The chat app is its own SPA but signed-in users get a popover chat list on zeeker.com so they can jump into a recent thread without leaving the feed.

Communities can expose their existing eligible group-chat or private viewer-to-team chat destinations through Embed. The community must enable the underlying chat capability first; an embed can narrow access and login behavior but cannot create a separate chat product or bypass membership/authorization.

An eligible public Group Chat embed configured for On gated action lets visitors type a draft before signing in. Selecting Send opens the same compact sign-in sheet as other Embed surfaces. The draft remains when sign-in is canceled or completed, and the visitor must select Send again to publish after signing in and satisfying any community membership requirement. Preview and read-only configurations remain noneditable. Authenticated viewing and automatic or host-managed sign-in still follow the embed's saved policy.

Opening a community group or moderator chat hydrates the rest of the eligible group and moderator list in parallel. A member who left an eligible community chat can use Join Chat to return. Whitelabel launches remain on the verified community domain and use the same authenticated chat session.

Community widget chat buttons open their chat inside the widget and retain the publisher's SSO connection. When Chat opens in a separate tab, Sign in with SSO opens the community's verified sign-in redirect instead. Active widget sessions renew without closing the current conversation; signing out still clears the session immediately.

Group Chat and MOD Chat start as on-demand Embed destinations. A floating action owns activation on desktop, while a chat/support item in the mobile host's bottom tray owns activation on mobile; the action opens the existing group or private viewer-to-team destination as a panel or bottom sheet. A publisher may instead choose a host-owned trigger, fixed inline Chat, or full-screen Chat. Fixed Chat is part of the host page and has no close control; panels, sheets, and other overlays own their dismissal controls.