rallyHelpChapter 3 · Channels and Breakouts / 3.2
Arranging your Threads
Pin, sort and archive Threads, Breakouts and Channels so the sidebar shows what matters.
With your Channels in place, the next job is keeping the work you care about within reach. Most of it happens in the sidebar's Threads and Channels lists.
Sorting the Threads list
The Threads list holds every Thread and Breakout you take part in. The label at the right of the Threads heading says how they are sorted. Click it to move to the next order:
| Order | What comes first |
|---|---|
| Recent | The Threads with the newest activity. This is where the list starts. |
| A–Z | Alphabetical, by name. |
| Needs attention | Whatever is counted on the Threads button: Threads where you were mentioned, have unread messages or have not looked yet. |
Sorting only changes the order of the main list. Your pins stay at the top in the order you gave them.
Pinning
Pinning keeps the things you live in at the top of their list, in a Pinned section, in whatever order you like. You can pin Threads, Breakouts and Channels.
- To pin, right-click a Thread, Breakout or Channel in the sidebar and choose Pin. From inside, open the Thread's or Channel's menu from its title pill and turn on Pinned in my sidebar (for a Thread it is under More).
- To unpin, right-click it and choose Unpin, or turn Pinned in my sidebar off.
- To reorder your pins, drag them up and down within Pinned. The words Drag to reorder at the right of the heading are there to remind you.
Pinned Threads and Breakouts sit at the top of the Threads list; pinned Channels sit at the top of the Channels list. The Pinned section appears once you have pinned something and goes away again when you unpin the last one.
Pins are yours alone. They follow you to your other devices and change nothing for anyone else.
If a pin or a new order does not stick, the list stays as it was. Try again in a moment.
Renaming
To rename a Thread, click its name in its title pill and choose Rename. To rename a Channel, click its name at the top of its screen and choose Rename. Names can be up to 180 characters.
Renaming, icons and colours are covered in more detail in Names, icons and colours.
Archiving
When a piece of work is finished, archive it. Archiving takes the thing out of everyone's lists and stops anyone from working in it. Rally keeps the content: there is no button anywhere that deletes a Thread.
| To archive | Do this |
|---|---|
| A Thread | Click its name in its title pill, choose More, then Archive thread. |
| A Breakout | Click its name in its title pill, choose More, then Archive breakout. See Breakouts. |
| A Channel | Click its name in its title pill and choose Archive channel. General cannot be archived. |
| A Sidekick | Click … on the Sidekick and choose Archive Sidekick. See The Sidekicks window. |
Warning
Archiving a Thread affects everyone, not only you. It leaves the lists of everyone who can see it, and nobody, you included, can open it again. Any work Rally is doing in it stops, scheduled follow-ups stop, and email sent to the Thread's address is refused. Nothing is deleted, but Rally has no way in the app to bring an archived Thread or Breakout back. If you only want it out of your way, pin the Threads you care about instead, or sort by Recent and let it sink.
Archiving a Channel is gentler. Its Threads keep going: any that also sit in another Channel stay there, and any that sit only in this one move to General. The Channel leaves the Channels list, and there is no way in the app to bring it back.
Making room
To give your work more room, drag the sidebar's right edge to make it narrower. Rally remembers the width on this Mac. Between two panes, drag the edge between them to give one more room than the other.
Next: Breakouts, for when a conversation needs a side room.