How to Use Bookclubs Messaging & Chat

Staying in touch with your club is easy on Bookclubs. There are two main ways to do it: the Club Message Board, which is perfect for conversations the whole club can join, and chats, which are great for private or smaller conversations.

Chat with your whole club on the Message Board

The Message Board is a lovely spot to share announcements, ask questions about the book, pass along articles and interviews, or keep a good discussion going between meetings.

Where to find it: On the website, open your club and select Club Message Board. In the app, open your club and select Messages.

Anyone in your club can reply to a post and react to posts and replies. Your club's admins decide whether only admins or everyone can start a new post.

Tips for club admins

• Choose who can start posts. In your club's settings, you can let everyone start new posts or keep it to admins only. Everyone can always reply.
• Pin a post. Pinning keeps an important message at the top where everyone will see it.
• Add categories. Create categories in your club's settings to keep different kinds of conversations tidy.

Send a private message or start a group chat

If your club is on Bookclubber Premium, Pro, or Pro Plus, you can chat with other members one-on-one or in a group, as long as you're both in the same club. You can chat with one person, a few people, or your whole club (up to 50 members).

Where to find your chats: Select the chat bubble in the top-right corner of your home screen, on the app or the website. Your conversations are all there, and any with new messages appear in bold. You can rename a group chat to make it easier to spot.

When a club upgrades, Bookclubs sets up a chat for the whole club and adds new members as they join. To protect privacy, we don't do this for public clubs or clubs with more than 50 members.

Chat with the people coming to a meeting

Planning the details for a meeting? You can start a chat with just the members who are coming.

1. Go to your club's Meetings tab.
2. Find the meeting.
3. Select DM meeting attendees.

This works once at least three members have said they're coming (Yes or Maybe). Club admins and whoever created the meeting can start the chat, and in private clubs, so can members who have said Yes or Maybe.

How you'll hear about new messages

• New Message Board posts: You'll get an email and an app notification, unless you've turned them off in your Email and Notification Settings.
• Replies: You'll hear about a reply if it's on your post or in a conversation you've already joined.
• Chats: You'll get an app notification for each message. If lots of messages arrive close together, we'll bundle the emails so you get no more than one an hour.

Not getting emails from your club?

Here's what to try:

1. Open your Email and Notification Settings and make sure club message emails are turned on.
2. If they are, reach out to us and we'll take a look. Sometimes emails stop if earlier ones were marked as spam, or if it's been a few months since you last visited Bookclubs, and we can help get them flowing again.

Can I get texts from my club?

Bookclubs can't send texts to your club, but if your club is on Pro or Pro Plus, you can choose to get text notifications for new Message Board posts, meetings, and polls. You can turn this on in your Email and Notification Settings.

Want to learn more?

Our blog post How to Use Bookclubs to Communicate Better with Your Book Club has more tips on messaging and notifications.