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Labels

Once the inbox gets busy, it helps to be able to see what each conversation is about at a glance, and to pull up everything of one kind. That's what labels are for. A label is a coloured name, such as Billing, Bug or Rush order, that you put on a conversation.

Labels are shared, so everyone on the team sees the same ones. Anyone can put a label on a conversation or take one off. Only Admins can create, rename or delete labels.

Labelling a conversation

Open the conversation, press Label in the bar above the messages, and choose a label from the menu. On a narrow screen, Label is under More.

The label appears as a coloured chip under the subject, and on the conversation's row in every list. A conversation can carry as many labels as you like.

Clicking a label's name puts it on and closes the menu. To add several in one go, click the coloured swatch beside each name instead, and the menu stays open. When the team has more than ten labels, you can type in Filter labels… to find one.

You can also label a conversation without opening it: open the menu on its row in the list and choose Label ›.

Labelling several conversations at once

Press Select at the top of the list and tick the conversations. Then press Label ▾ in the bar that appears, and choose a label.

In that menu, a full tick means every conversation you selected already has the label, and a partial tick means only some do. Choosing a label with a full tick takes it off all of them.

Taking a label off

Each chip under the subject ends in ×. Click it and the label comes off. You can also open Label and choose the label again to untick it.

Finding labelled conversations

Once the team has a label, the left column gains a Labels heading with a list for each one. A label's list leaves out anything in Spam or Trash.

You can also search for a label with label:billing, or label:"Bulk order" when the name has a space in it. Finding conversations covers the rest of search. On the Activity page, the labelled filter shows what's been happening on conversations with a particular label.

Creating and changing labels

Admins manage labels on Settings → Labels. To add one, press Add a label, type a Name, choose a colour and press Add label.

To rename a label or change its colour, click its row, make the change and press Save. Every conversation that carries the label shows the change straight away.

Admins will also find Add or edit labels… at the bottom of the Label menu on a conversation, which goes to the same page.

If you add a label with the same name as one you already have, Jelly doesn't make a second one. The existing label takes the new colour.

Deleting a label

On Settings → Labels, open the label's ⋯ menu and choose Delete label…. Jelly asks you to confirm, and tells you what will change:

  • The label comes off every conversation that carries it. The conversations themselves stay where they are.
  • Anyone following the label stops following it.
  • Any rule that adds the label stays, but stops adding it.

You can't undo deleting a label.

What labels are good for

Labels suit the questions the inbox sections can't answer:

  • What kind of message is this? Billing, Bug, Refund.
  • Who is it from? VIP, or one large customer.
  • What is it waiting on? Waiting on engineering.

They aren't the right tool for everything. To show who's handling a conversation, use assignment. To keep conversations away from some of the team, use mailboxes.

Labels are most useful alongside two other features. A rule can add a label to new mail as it arrives, such as Receipts on everything from your payment provider. And you can follow a label, to hear about every conversation that gains it.