Messaging
Siterka's inbox is admin-relayed. Every message you send waits for a quick editor review before it lands in the recipient's inbox — that's how we keep the platform safe for both parents and caregivers without exposing personal contact details too early.
What the inbox is
Open /inbox from the header avatar menu. The inbox holds your conversations with caregivers (if you're a parent) or families (if you're a caregiver). Messaging only works between parents and sitters — sitter↔sitter and parent↔parent threads are blocked by design. Each thread groups every message exchanged with one person, in chronological order.
Before you can send a message
To start a new conversation, you need a published post of your own. When someone gets a message from you, they need a public page on Siterka that says who you are and what you're looking for — that's how the inbox stays trustworthy. If you don't have a post yet, the Send message button opens a small prompt with a link to the post wizard. Replies are exempt — once someone has reached out to you, you can answer them whether or not you've published. Don't want to share contact details publicly? Tick Keep my contact details private on the post wizard — your post still goes live so people know who you are, and they reach you through messages only.
Sending a message
There are three places you can start a message:
From a profile or post detail page
Open any sitter from /sitters or any parent post from /sitter-jobs. The detail page has a Send message button that opens a small composer modal. Type a short subject and your message, then submit. The form remembers nothing — closing the modal discards a draft.
From the inbox itself
From /inbox, tap New message in the top corner. That opens /inbox/new with a recipient search field — start typing a name and it suggests matching parents or sitters based on your role. Pick someone, fill in the subject and body, and send.
The review queue
Every send enters the queue with status Pending. An admin reads each message before it's relayed. Most reviews finish within a day. Your message stays visible in your Sent tab the whole time so you know what you wrote, with the live status next to it.
There are three statuses you'll see: Pending means the message is waiting on review; Approved means it's been relayed and the recipient can read it; Rejected means an admin chose not to relay it. Admins can also lightly edit a message before approving — for instance, removing a phone number — without changing the substance.
If a message is rejected, you'll get an email with the reason. The original text stays in your Sent tab marked Rejected; you can write a fresh message any time.
Reading and replying
/inbox has two tabs: Received for messages addressed to you, and Sent for messages you've written. Unread received messages show with a small badge in the header avatar menu — tap a thread to open it; opening marks the message as read. Threads keep both sides' messages together so the conversation stays in context.
Replying to a message
From the message detail page, tap Reply. The composer opens with the recipient and subject pre-filled — you only fill in the body. Replies enter the same review queue as new messages, so expect a short wait before your counterpart sees them.