{ "author": "Aimee Vu", "title": "Slack 101", "thumbnail": "slack101.png", "date": "2017-02-02T20:30:24Z", "tags": ["all"], "published": true }
Greetings! If you’re interested in joining PantherHackers and don’t know what to do, you’ve come to the right place! Our primary metric of membership is being part of our Slack team, the primary way we share all of our information and get in contact with other members.
This guide will be broken up into three parts:
- How to Join Our Slack Team
- Setting Up Slack
- Next Steps
But first, our rules! - Members are to set their first and last names on profile.
- Don’t be rude or vulgar, having fun is the name of the game, but respect your fellow members.
- Don’t use the @channel reference in chat unless given explicit permission to do so by a Slack admin. We have a lot of members, we don’t want to spam them, no matter how cool your cat post is. Instead, you may use @here, which only pings those that are online.
# How to Join Our Slack Team
Joining our Slack team is relatively simple (there’s an app, too)! If you are a student or alumnus of GSU and have an authorized student email, you can sign up via the following link: https://pantherhackers.slack.com/signup (Don’t have a student email, but feel you have reason to join the Slack? Email us at executive@pantherhackers.com)
Slack will send an email to the address you put in, which will direct you to the signup page (It’ll look a little different than the picture but the big green button will be the same).
When you sign up, be sure to fill out your first and last names! This is mandatory, accounts created without a first and last name matching the email address provided will be disabled. We suggest you use the same username or something similar (like without the number) as your GSU email. This will be used whenever you sign into the PantherHackers Slack team.
Select “Next” and enter your password.
Select “Next,” accept the User Agreement Slack requires, and then you have the option of following the tutorial if you are new to Slack.
# Setting Up Slack
It’s always a good idea to get the application for the software you are using. Follow the link https://slack.com/downloads/ and select the appropriate links (iPhone/Android users can always look on their respective app store if they can’t be bothered). If you’re dead set on using the browser version of Slack, https://pantherhackers.slack.com is always an option for desktop users.
For Mobile users: In the upper right corner, you can select the menu icon, and select “Settings”. Here you can edit your profile, like filling out your name if you forgot to in signup (required), or adding a picture of yourself (we highly encourage this). Continuing, scrolling down you can edit your Do Not Disturb schedule (times when you won’t get a notification from Slack), push notifications, and the Advanced tab. The advanced tab varies by device.
For Desktop users: Slack settings are spread across the top bar. In the upper left where the team name and your name appear, you can click and edit your profile. Here you can edit your first and last name in case you forgot to in signup (required), as well as adding a picture of yourself (we highly encourage this). Also in the upper left is the Bell icon, where you can change your Do Not Disturb schedule (times when you won’t get a notification from Slack). In the upper right, the Gear icon has Notification preferences (which you might want to edit depending on how often you are mentioned in channels).
# Next Steps
Join channels! Be active! On the left sidebar (or pulling out the left menu on mobile by tapping the Panther icon), you’ll find you are already a part of a few channels (like #announcements and #random). If you click or tap on “CHANNELS” it will pull up a list of channels that you aren’t currently a part of.
We kept the list of default channels relatively small so as not to clog up people’s channel feed with things they aren’t interested in, but it feels kind of boring without any other channels. You can rectify that by clicking/tapping on the channel you are interested in, and selecting “Join Channel” at the bottom.
Direct Messaging! Also on the left sidebar (same instructions as above) there is also the ability to Direct Message fellow Slackers. Clicking the ⊕ next to “DIRECT MESSAGES” allows you to select any member of the Slack team (or multiple) and send them direct messages! Its very handy if you need to get a hold of someone, or a conversation would unnecessarily clog up a channel.
You can also DM yourself, where messages you send won’t be deleted and no one else can see them. If you’re looking to keep a quick note, this is a pretty useful space.
# Some Tips
- If you see something that is really funny, when hovering over a message, there is a +☺ button on Desktop where you can add emoji reactions! For mobile users, tap and hold the message and select “Add emoji reaction.” Once there is an emoji reaction, the +☺ is visible on all platforms. Be expressive!
- PantherBot, your friendly neighborhood Slack bot created by your fellow PH members, is present in some of the public channels! Say “!help” to see what you can do with him. If you’re interested in working on him, contact one of the current maintainers of PantherBot, or ask about it in #pantherbot-pub or #random
- “Slash commands” are commands you can enter into Slack’s chat just like you do when calling on PantherBot, however these commands are integrated into Slack itself. Some helpful ones are: 1. “/remind” 2. “/msg” and 3. “/shrug” Typing “/” into the text box will pull up a list of all slash commands available to you, they can be very helpful!
- If you want a channel created, ask around in Slack, Admins and Owners can make public channels, Owners can make private channels.
- If you have any questions about anything, feel free to ask in #random, or message @alklaine/Braxton McLean, your Slack manager in PH. Happy Slacking!