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What is Slack and how does it work?

- Slack is a messaging app for teams
- Has four pricing tiers, including a robust free one
- Is available across a range of devices and platforms
- Works with other apps too, including Skype for video calls
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You've probably heard about Slack.

It's that messenger almost every workplace or school group seems to be using, but you're
likely reading this now because - for whatever reason - you feel left out of the loop and
want to know what all the fuss is about. Well, rst of all, shame on you for being so late to
the game. Heh. We're kidding. But seriously. It's about time you sit and discover
everything there is to know about Slack.

To help you navigate those complex waters, we've compiled this handy little guide. By the
time you're done reading it, you'll denitely be a Slack pro, and you'll be knocking down
your boss' oce door by tomorrow morning, desperately trying to convince him or her to
get on board.
Note: Throughout this entire guide, Pocket-lint is using the free version of Slack from the
desktop and web apps.

Slack: What is Slack?

Slack is basically a messaging app on steroids.

It's meant for teams and workplaces, can be used across multiple devices and platforms,
and is equipped with robust features that allow you to not only chat one-on-one with
associates but also in groups. You're able to upload and share les with them too, as well
as integrate with other apps and services, such as Skype for video calls, and you can
granularly control almost every setting, including the ability to create custom emoji.

Slack: How much does Slack cost?

Slack is free - mostly.

You'll only be able to browse and search your team's 10,000 most recent messages, and
you'll be limited to 5GB of le storage and 10 apps or custom integrations (more on that
later). Currently, there are three pricing tiers available: Free, Standard ($6.67 a month),
and Plus ($12.50 a month). A fourth tier, called Enterprise, is coming in early 2016 but
doesn't yet have pricing.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about pricing tiers.

Slack: How do you sign up and get started?

If you want to be the administrator of your own Slack team, follow these steps:
1. Go to Slacks website and enter your email address to sign up
2. Choose a name for your Slack team (ex Workshop Talk)
3. Edit the url to your Slack team (ex https://workshoptalk.slack.com)
4. Choose a username for yourself
5. Enter emails of associates youd like to invite to join your Slack team
6. Your Slack team chat will then load in a browser window
7. Go through the brief tutorial that appears next to learn the basics
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about team administration.

Slack: Where is Slack available?

Slack

To get the most out of Slack, we recommend you install the mobile app (iOS / Android)
and the desktop app (Mac / Windows). Otherwise, youll be limited to accessing Slack
through a browser window.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about Slack apps.

Slack: Were you invited to join a Slack team?

Those of you who were invited to join a Slack team will get an email with your invite.
Accept the invite via the email, then enter a username and password, and you're good to
go. Simples, right?
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about joining Slack.

Slack: How does Slack work?

Slack left sidebar

Left side of Slack from the desktop and web apps, youll see a vertical navigation bar.

Settings: Click on your username or the drop-down arrow next to the Slack team name to
access a settings menu. From here you can adjust your preferences (themes for sidebar,
messages, emoji style, and more), view your prole and account, access a Help/Feedback
page, get Slack apps (more on that later), and set yourself to away. If you're an
administrator, you can also access team settings, billing, etc. Team members will only see
options to access app integrations, customise slack, and jump to team directory.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about settings.
Notications: Click the bell symbol at the top-right of the sidebar to adjust your
notication preferences. You can snooze them, setup a Do Not Disturb schedule, and
more. When you sign in to Slack for the rst time, almost every type of notication is
enabled. But the service oers a number of dierent ways to manage them. Each channel
even has individual notication preferences, for instance. To get to those settings, open

the channel you want to adjust, then click the name of it at the top of the screen, and
select Channel notication preferences.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about notications.
Starred: Everything you've starred will appear above the Channels section and below your
team name and username in the sidebar. Stars are a way to mark an item in Slack as
important. You can star channels or direct messages to move them to the top of your left
sidebar. You can also star messages in Slack so you can easily come back to them later.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about stars.
Channels: Underneath the name of your Slack Team and your own username, youll see a
section called Channels in the sidebar. Channels are chat rooms. You can name chat
rooms based on anything, including a project (screenplay), a topic (music), or a team
(sales). And you can make them public or private. If a channel is public, everyone in your
team can join, but if it is private, only select people can join. And nally, if you click the
Channels section name, youll see a new window that lets you browse and sort all
channels.
Create Channels: To create a new channel, click the + button next to Channels in the
sidebar. Youll then see options to create a public or private channel. Youll further be
allowed to name the channel, invite others to join, and briey describe the channels
purpose.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about channels.
Direct Messages: Below Channels, youll see a Direct Messages section in the sidebar,
followed by the names of every person invited to your Slack team. Click on any name to
send that person a private, one-to-one message. If you click the + button next to the
Direct Messages section, a window will open to let you nd or start a direct message
conversation.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about direct messages.
Invite People: If youre an administrator, youll see a button to invite more people to join
your team. This button sits below the Direct Messages section. If you click it, youll have
three options: full members, restricted accounts, and single-channel guests. The rst
option gives an invited team member full access to messages and les in any public
channel and the team directory. The second option lets the invited team member see
only a partial team directory and gives him/her access to select channels and les. And
the third option limits the invited team member to messages and les in a single channel.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about invites.
Quick Switcher: At the very bottom of Slack, there is a Quick Switcher button that lets you,
um, quickly jump to a conversation or direct message.

This Slack FAQ page oers more info about basics.

Slack top menubar

Top of Slack from desktop and web apps, youll see a horizontal menubar.

Chat room name: The left of the menubar always starts with the name of the room youre
in, whether that be a channel or direct message window. Next to the name you will see a
drop-down menu to access things like view message archives, channel notication
purposes, and advanced options. You can even star the channel.
Channel details: Click the i symbol next to the search bar in the menubar to access
channel details, such as the purpose and current topic of the channel, any pinned items
(more on this later), a listing of all the members who have access to the channel, any
shared les within the channel (more on this later), and notication preferences.
Search: Search is one of Slack's key features - both Messages and les are searchable.
When you click the search box, Slack will suggest search modiers to help you narrow
your results, and as you start typing in a search term, Slack will show you related
channels, team members, and search history. Click the Jump link to view the conversation
surrounding a message, or toggle between the messages and les tabs to browse results
by type. You can even sort by most recent or most relevant les and exclude channels
from search.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about search.
Mentions and Reactions: While holding a conversation in a channel, you can type a

persons @username to notify them. You can view your latest @mentions, @channel
messages, and any highlight words by clicking the Mentions & Reactions "@" symbol in
the top right corner of Slack.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about mentions.
Starred items: You can add a star to messages, les, snippets, posts, and comments to
make those things easier to nd. When you star a channel, it appears in the sidebar, but
you must click the Starred symbol in top-right of Slack to access other starred items.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about stars.
Flexpane Menu: The "..." symbol in the top-right corner of Slack brings you to your
Flexpane. It holds all your les, lets you access the team directory, and show's you "what's
new" with Slack. You can even get to the Help guide.
Team Directory: Slacks Team Directory gives you a quick overview of everyone in your
team and how to contact them. It can be accessed via the Flexpane () Menu in the top
right or by heading to your team site. It lists each team member along with their job title
and contact details.
Slack chat rooms

To the right of the sidebar from the desktop and web apps, you'll see a chatting area

Messaging: To send a message in a channel or a direct message, click within the text eld
at the bottom, add your input, and hit enter. While holding a conversation in a channel,
you can type a persons @username to notify them.

Emoji: You can click the emoji button next to the message eld to send an emoji. You can
also respond to any message on Slack with an emoji reaction. To do that, just mouse over
a message and select the Add a reaction icon. Slack oers four dierent emoji sets: Apple,
Google, Twitter, or Emoji One. To pick one, go to team name to open the Team Menu,
then choose Preferences, and select the Messages & Media tab. Under Emoji Style, you
can select your preference, and then click the "X" when you're nished. Also, if the
administrator allows it, anyone can add new emoji to Slack by going to this URL. You'll
then be able to create a custom emoji. Amazeballs.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about emoji.
Uploading and Sharing Files: There are several easy ways to upload any type of le from
your computer (document, image, video, link, etc). You can drag and drop the le to the
Slack window, copy and paste images directly into the message box, or click the + button
next to the message box and select Upload a le. Slack will prompt you to decide where
you'll share the le, and to add a title and comment. When a le is shared in a channel or
direct message, Slack will post a preview of the le. Image les no longer than 6000px on
any side will display inline. Don't forget you can also share les from Google Drive,
Dropbox, or Box in Slack by pasting a link to the le into the message box.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about sharing les.
Public Links: You can also create a public link to share a le publicly. Just click the le's
name to view it in the Flexpane, then, in the More actions menu, click Create public link.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about public links.
Pinning Messages and Files: If theres something you need everyone in your channel to
see, or an important le you want to nd easily, it can be pinned to a channel so its
shown in the Channel details information menu. To pin, hover over it, then click the cog
on the right, and choose Pin message. A pinned message will stay there until you remove
it.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about pins.
Set reminders: You can use Slack for reminders. For instance, if you need to remind
yourself to publish a story in 30 minutes, you can type "/remind me in 30 minutes to
publish" and Slack will privately remind you.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about reminders.
Timestamps: Every message has a timestamp. If you want to be able to reference a
specic message later, right click on the timestamp in Slack to get a permanent URL (or
just click on it).
Commands: Here are some chat room commands you need to know:
To send a notication to everyone in the channel, type "@channel"

To send a notication to a person in a channel, type "@username"

Type "@here" to only notify people who are online and active
To open a new channel, type "/open"
To drop out of a channel, type "/leave"
To hide all images and GIFs in a channel, type "/collapse"
Making your own custom slash commands by going to this URL
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about commands.

Slack: Does Slack work with other apps?

Yes. There are dozens of apps you can add to Slack. Doing so allows you to pull in
information from other sources, search documents stored in other services, send things
like calendar events and reminders to Slack, or add useful features to your team,
including voice and video calling.
You can now access Skype, for instance, right from within Slack. Setting up the integration
is simple - just visit the Skype integration for Slack product page, and click on the Add to
Slack button to complete the setup. Once the Skype integration has been congured,
anyone on the Slack team can start a Skype call from a computer by typing /skype into
the chat. When the call is set up, a join link will appear.
To join a Skype call, you need to be on the desktop in a web browser, or you can use the
Skype mobile apps to join from your phone. Anyone can join as a guest from a computer,
or sign in with a Microsoft account or Skype Name.

Go to the Slack App Directory to nd more apps you can connect to Slack. To visit the App
Directory, just click your team name to open the Team Menu, then select Apps & Custom
Integrations. There's also this dedicated Slack App Directory website. Keep in mind that
Slack integrates with probably every service you use. It works with Google Calendar,
GitHub, IFTTT, Mailchimp, New Relic, and more.
There's even an integration called Giphy, for instance, which allows you to drop GIFs into
chats by typing "/giphy [search term]". If you're a free Slack user, however, you will only
be allowed to add up to 10 apps and integrations.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about apps.

Slack: Can you change Slack's theme?

Yes. Go to the sidebar, then click the drop-down menu next to your team name to access
the preferences menu. From there, select sidebar theme and choose from the handful
that are provided. You can also use the customise option at the bottom to create your
own look and feel too.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about themes.

Slack: What is Slackbot?

Pocket-lint

Slackbot is Slack's built-in robot.

It can help keep notes for you as well as manage private les. Just click on Slackbot in
your Direct Messages list to get started. You can also congure Slackbot to respond to
your team members via this website. It's easy: enter a trigger word or phrase, and then
what youd like Slackbot to respond with.
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about Slackbot.

Slack: Are there any tips and tricks?

Pocket-lint

Sure are... check out some of these:

1. The Quick Switcher: Skip from channel to channel with /Ctrl+K.
2. Need to quickly search the channel you're in? Press /Ctrl+F to search.
3. Send something too soon? Press the up key to edit your last message.
4. Sign in to multiple teams. Click team name, then Sign in to another team.
5. Type "/keys" to open the keyboard shortcuts dialog
This Slack FAQ page oers more info about keyboard shortcuts.

Slack: What are the alternatives?

Slack is probably the best messenger out there for teams and workplaces. But should you
feel tempted to explore your options, consider these alternatives: HipChat, Redbooth,
Chatgrape, and Flowdock.
SECTIONS

Apps

Slack

PUBLISHED: 16 JANUARY 2016 1:37

Elyse Betters

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