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VGraple CRM narrows the inbox with four stacking filters (tab, stage, WhatsApp number and channel type) plus search, rather than keyboard shortcuts, since the product does not currently ship a keyboard-shortcut layer beyond Escape closing a media preview. This article covers how each filter works together and what to expect from the keyboard.
Filters and views: first 5 of 6 steps
- 1Start with a tab
- 2Add a stage filter, if your workspace
- 3Add a WhatsApp number filter, if you
- 4Use the channel-type chips for a different
- 5Use search for anything content-based
Before you start
- No permission is needed to use any filter; every role that can open the inbox can filter it, restricted only by which conversations their role already lets them see.
- Filters apply on top of your role's visibility rule: an Agent's stage or channel filter still only ever shows conversations assigned to them or unassigned, never a colleague's.
- The WhatsApp number filter chips only appear once your workspace has two or more connected numbers; the stage filter only appears once at least one stage exists.
- None of the filters persist as a named, savable view; they reset to defaults each time you leave and return to the inbox, though the current combination is reflected in the page URL.
Steps
- Start with a tab. All, Open, Unread, Snoozed or Resolved sets the base list every other filter narrows further. Open is the default and includes escalated conversations.
- Add a stage filter, if your workspace uses stages. Click the Stage pill under the tabs and pick one from the dropdown, or "All stages" to clear it.
- Add a WhatsApp number filter, if you run more than one number. Click a number chip to narrow to that number specifically; this stacks with the tab and stage filter already active.
- Use the channel-type chips for a different kind of narrowing. Unlike the tab, stage and number filters, which all narrow within your normal paginated list, the channel chips search your whole organisation directly, useful for finding an old conversation on a rarely used channel that has scrolled far past the default 50-conversation page.
- Use search for anything content-based. Typing in the search box replaces the filtered list with search results matching contact details or recent message text; see searching the inbox for how that works in depth.
- Clear filters individually. Click "All stages," "All numbers" or "All channels" to drop one filter without resetting the others, or switch tabs, which keeps your stage and number filters but changes the underlying status.
Why filters instead of keyboard shortcuts, for now
Help desk tools that have been around for years, Zendesk, Intercom, Front, tend to grow an extensive keyboard-shortcut layer over time as power users push for speed: a key to resolve, a key to snooze, arrow keys to move between conversations. VGraple CRM does not have that layer yet. What it has instead is a filter system designed so that combining tab, stage, number and channel gets a busy agent to a narrow, relevant list quickly using the mouse and clicks alone, which covers most of the same "get me to the right conversation fast" need that shortcuts solve elsewhere, even without a dedicated hotkey for every action.
Example
A travel agency running WhatsApp, Instagram DMs and a website chat widget wants to check only Instagram enquiries from this week that are still open. Selecting the Open tab, then the Instagram channel chip, gets there in two clicks, without needing stages or a WhatsApp number filter at all, since those simply do not apply to an Instagram-only view.
If keyboard shortcuts matter enough to your workflow that their absence is a real blocker, that is useful feedback for VGraple CRM's product team; in the meantime, the composer's forward-slash quick-reply search (see quick replies) is the closest thing to a keyboard-driven shortcut currently available inside a conversation.
What you will see
Each filter you add narrows the list further rather than replacing the others, so a workspace with stages and multiple numbers can show, for example, only Open conversations, in the "Waiting Reply" stage, on one specific WhatsApp number, all at once. The URL updates to reflect the combination, which makes a specific filtered view linkable and bookmarkable even though there is no separate "save this view" feature. Search and the channel-type chips are the two exceptions: either one temporarily replaces the paginated list with its own bounded result set, and clearing it returns you to whatever tab, stage and number filter you had active before.
Settings and options
| Filter | Stacks with others | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Tab (All / Open / Unread / Snoozed / Resolved) | Base filter everything else narrows | Your visible conversations |
| Stage | Yes, with tab, number and channel | Your visible conversations |
| WhatsApp number | Yes, with tab, stage and channel | Your visible conversations |
| Channel type | Yes, but searches org-wide rather than the paginated list | Whole organisation, subject to your visibility |
| Search | Replaces the list temporarily; other filters resume once cleared | Whole organisation, subject to your visibility |
| Keyboard shortcuts | Escape closes an image or video preview only | No shortcut for resolve, assign, navigate or reply |
Troubleshooting
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| I cannot find a keyboard shortcut for resolving or navigating conversations | VGraple CRM does not have a shortcut layer for these actions today | Use the on-screen Resolve, Snooze and assignee buttons instead |
| Scrolling stops loading more conversations | You have search or a channel-type filter active, both of which load a bounded result set rather than paginating | Clear the search box or channel chip to return to the paginated list |
| My filter combination reset after navigating away | Filters are not saved as a named view and reset to defaults on a fresh visit | Bookmark the filtered URL if you want to return to the same combination quickly |
| The stage or number filter pill is missing | Your workspace has no stages configured, or only one connected WhatsApp number | Add stages in Settings, then Chat Stages; number chips appear automatically once a second number connects |
| A channel-type filter shows a conversation I expected in a different tab too | Channel filtering searches org-wide regardless of the tab underneath it | This is expected; clear the channel chip to see it inside your normal tab-filtered view |
Related reading
For a full walkthrough of every filter and the conversation header, start with the inbox tour. For content-based lookups instead of status-based ones, see searching the inbox.