Chat disrupting game play

After resetting chat defaults and chat positions, I still don’t see whispers or Real ID messages in my general chat. I have to open another window and scroll down a list of names to see who talked to me then have to click that name to reply. I even created a specific whisper window and they won’t show up in there either. How am I supposed to continue an activity while communicating in this manner? Anyone know how to fix this?