Chatter, Followers & Activities

What is the Chatter?

The Chatter is the message log and communication hub that appears at the bottom of many Odoo records. It tracks all changes, messages, and activities related to that record - like a built-in timeline and communication center.

Key purpose: Keep all communication and history in one place, attached to the relevant record.

Where You'll See the Chatter

The Chatter appears on records that need collaboration or history tracking:

Module	Records with Chatter	Primary Use
Sales	Orders, Quotations	Customer communications
Accounting	Invoices, Payments	Payment reminders, notes
CRM	Leads, Opportunities	Sales team discussions
Project	Projects, Tasks	Team collaboration
Helpdesk	Tickets	Customer support threads
Purchase	Orders	Vendor communications
HR	Employees, Applications	Internal HR notes
Inventory	Transfers	Warehouse notes

The Chatter Interface

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│  [Send message] [Log note] [Schedule activity]                   │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  📧 Message to Customer                          Today 10:30 AM  │
│  From: Sarah (Sales Rep)                                         │
│  "Thank you for your order! Delivery scheduled for Friday."      │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  📝 Internal Note                               Yesterday 4:15 PM│
│  From: Manager                                                   │
│  "Customer called - needs express delivery. Priority!"           │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  🔄 Status Changed                              Yesterday 2:00 PM│
│  Stage: Draft → Sent                                             │
├─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│  👥 Followers: Customer (john@acme.com), Sarah, Warehouse Team   │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

The Three Parts of Chatter

1. Messages

The communication thread attached to the record.

Message Type	Icon	Who Sees It	Use Case
Send Message	📧	All followers (may send email)	External communication
Log Note	📝	Internal users only	Team discussions, private notes
System Message	🔄	All followers	Automatic status changes

2. Activities

Scheduled tasks and follow-ups linked to the record.

Activity Type	Common Use
To Do	General tasks: "Review contract"
Call	Phone follow-ups
Meeting	Calendar appointments
Email	Email reminders
Upload Document	Document tasks

3. Followers

People who receive notifications about the record.

Follower Type	How They're Added
Automatic	Assigned salesperson, customer
Manual	Click "Add Followers"
By Mention	@mentioned in message

Understanding Message Types

Log Note vs Send Message

Critical Difference

Aspect	Log Note	Send Message
Recipients	Internal users only	All followers (including customers!)
Email sent?	Never	Yes (if recipients have email notification)
Visibility	Private to team	Visible to followers
Use for	Internal discussions	Customer communication

Golden Rule: Check the recipient list before clicking "Send". Customers might be followers!

When to Use Each

Scenario	Use Log Note	Use Send Message
Internal reminder	✅	❌
Customer question	❌	✅
Team discussion	✅	❌
Status update to client	❌	✅
Note about customer behavior	✅	❌
Follow-up on order	❌	✅

System Messages

System messages are generated automatically when tracked fields change:

🔄 Stage changed from "New" to "Qualified"
🔄 Assigned to: Sarah → John
🔄 Expected Revenue changed from $10,000 to $15,000

These create an audit trail without manual effort.

Understanding Followers

How Someone Becomes a Follower

Method	Example
Automatic	Salesperson assigned, customer on order
Manual	Click "Add Followers" button
By Mention	Type @username in message
Subscription	User subscribes to a channel

Follower Subscription Types

Type	What They Receive
All Messages	Every update, every message
Comments Only	Direct messages, not system logs
Not Following	No notifications (but can still view)

Managing Followers

graph TD
    R[Record] --> F[Followers List]
    F --> C[Customer]
    F --> S[Salesperson]
    F --> T[Team]
    C --> N1[Email Notifications]
    S --> N2[Odoo Notifications]
    T --> N3[Daily Digest]

Best Practice

Regularly review followers on sensitive records. Remove unnecessary followers to prevent information leakage.

Activities: Scheduling Follow-ups

Activity Basics

Activities are scheduled tasks linked to a specific record. They appear in:

• The record's chatter
• The user's activity view
• The calendar (if applicable)

Activity Types

Type	Icon	When to Use
To Do	☑️	General tasks
Call	📞	Phone follow-ups
Meeting	📅	Scheduled meetings
Email	✉️	Email reminders
Upload Document	📄	Document tasks
Request Signature	✍️	Signature requests

Activity Due Date Colors

Color	Meaning	Action
Green	Due in the future	On track
Orange	Due today	Needs attention
Red	Overdue	Immediate action required

Creating Effective Activities

Activity Best Practices

1. Be specific - "Call John about renewal" not "Follow up"
2. Set realistic deadlines - Don't schedule everything for "today"
3. Assign to the right person - Activities can be assigned to others
4. Use summaries - Add notes about what to discuss
5. Mark done promptly - Keep your activity list clean

Tracking Field Changes

How Tracking Works

Fields with tracking=True automatically log changes to the chatter.

# Python field definition
state = fields.Selection([...], tracking=True)
user_id = fields.Many2one('res.users', tracking=True)
expected_revenue = fields.Monetary(tracking=True)

Common Tracked Fields

Field	What Gets Logged
Status/Stage	"Stage changed from 'New' to 'Qualified'"
Assigned User	"Salesperson changed from John to Sarah"
Expected Revenue	"Expected Revenue: $10,000 → $15,000"
Priority	"Priority: Normal → Urgent"
Due Date	"Due Date: Jan 15 → Jan 20"

Audit Trail Value

Why Tracking Matters

Tracking creates automatic documentation of:

• Who changed what
• When changes occurred
• What the values were before and after

This is invaluable for:

• Compliance and auditing
• Understanding record history
• Troubleshooting issues
• Performance reviews

Using @Mentions

How @Mentions Work

Type @ followed by a name to:

1. Notify the mentioned person
2. Automatically add them as a follower
3. Highlight the mention in the message

@Mention Best Practices

Do	Don't
@mention specific people for action items	@mention everyone unnecessarily
Use for questions that need answers	Use for general FYI messages
Follow up if no response	Assume mention = task accepted

Practical Tips

For Efficient Communication

1. Use @mentions - Notify specific people for action items
2. Attach files - Click paperclip to add documents
3. Log notes for context - Help future users understand history
4. Schedule activities - Don't rely on memory
5. Check followers before sending - Know who will receive messages

For Record Management

1. Review history first - Check chatter when taking over a record
2. Document decisions - Log why changes were made
3. Track important fields - Enable tracking on key business data
4. Clean up followers - Remove irrelevant followers periodically

Common Chatter Patterns

Situation	Pattern
Handoff to colleague	Log note with context + @mention new owner
Customer complaint	Log note about complaint + Send message acknowledging
Approval request	Schedule activity for approver
Status update	Tracking handles this automatically
Meeting follow-up	Log note with key points + activities for action items

Email Integration

Incoming Emails

When configured, emails sent to Odoo aliases become chatter messages:

Customer sends email to sales@company.odoo.com
→ Email appears as message on the order/lead
→ Followers are notified
→ Reply creates new message

Outgoing Emails

Messages marked "Send Message" can trigger emails:

• Depends on follower notification preferences
• Templates can format the email
• Attachments are included

Email Aliases

Record Type	Typical Alias	Use
Sales Leads	leads@company.odoo.com	Create new leads
Support Tickets	support@company.odoo.com	Create tickets
Project Tasks	project+123@company.odoo.com	Add to project

Automation with Chatter

Automated Actions and Chatter

You can automate chatter messages:

1. On status change - Send notification when order confirmed
2. On assignment - Notify assignee via chatter
3. On creation - Welcome message to customer
4. On deadline - Reminder activities

Example: Automated Notifications

Trigger	Action	Message Type
Order confirmed	Notify warehouse	Log Note
Invoice overdue	Notify customer	Send Message
Task assigned	Notify assignee	Log Note
Lead won	Congratulate team	Log Note

Troubleshooting Chatter

Common Issues

Issue	Cause	Solution
Customer received internal note	Used "Send Message" not "Log Note"	Double-check message type
No notifications received	User preference set to "Never"	Check notification settings
Emails not sending	Mail server misconfigured	Check outgoing mail settings
Can't see chatter	Model doesn't inherit mail.thread	Technical - needs development
Missing tracking messages	Field doesn't have tracking=True	Technical - needs development

Knowledge Check

Q1: You need to make a note about a difficult customer conversation. Log Note or Send Message?

Answer: Log Note

Log Notes are internal only - the customer will never see them. Use Log Note for any internal commentary, especially sensitive observations.

Q2: How do you ensure someone sees an important message?

Answer: Use @mention

@mentioning someone notifies them directly and adds them as a follower. It's the most reliable way to get someone's attention on a specific record.

Q3: Customer complaint: "I never received any updates!" but chatter shows messages. What happened?

Answer: Customer might not be a follower, or notifications are off

Check if the customer is in the followers list and their notification preferences. They may have been removed as a follower or have email notifications disabled.

Q4: How can you automatically track who changed a field and when?

Answer: Add tracking=True to the field definition

Fields with tracking=True automatically log all changes to the chatter, including who made the change, when, and the before/after values.

Q5: Activity is red. What does that mean?

Answer: The activity is overdue

Red = overdue (past due date), Orange = due today, Green = due in the future. Red activities need immediate attention.