Chapter 18

The Top Ten or So Slack Resources

IN THIS CHAPTER

check Discovering online ways to increase your knowledge of Slack

check Attending official and unofficial Slack events

Ideally, you find Slack For Dummies helpful and are discovering a lot about the application. I hope that your head is spinning — in a good way. That is, you are thinking about innovative and interesting ways to use Slack at work and maybe even at home.

If so, then I have achieved my main objective with this book. I am sending good thoughts your way.

Still, no book of any reasonable length can possibly cover every feature of a robust and dynamic collaboration and communication tool — especially one that consistently releases exciting new features. To that end, this chapter offers resources for you to expand your knowledge of Slack, stay abreast of new developments, and deal with issues as they arise. It’s folly to think that they never will.

I have divided the resources in this chapter into natural buckets: slack online support, other online resources, and in-person resources.

Slack Online Support

From time to time, you’ll need to open a case with Slack support. Perhaps you’re experiencing a technical issue, or you’re not sure about how something works. I haven’t met too many people who enjoy the back-and-forth with tech support folks, but at least Slack makes getting help easy.

Contacting Slack

https://my.slack.com/help/requests/new

Start here if you want to report a bug or chat with a support rep.

Browsing the Slack support site

https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us

This site is clean, intelligently laid out, and remarkably robust.

Opening cases or making suggestions within the Slack app

Start a message to anyone or in any channel by typing the following in Slack

/feedback

This invokes special functionality designed to quickly contact Slack support within the app. For example, while researching this book, I discovered an issue with sorting workspaces on my iPad. I submitted a support request to Slack support and included a video showing the error in action.

Tip You can submit feedback to Slack by sending a message in a channel or group message as well. Your message goes to Slack, not the others in your channel or user group. Just remember to start your message with /feedback.

Remember Only members of the Enterprise Grid plan qualify for real-time phone support.

Finding Slack tips

https://slack.com/slack-tips

In this book, I have provided some of my favorite Slack tips. By no means, though, did I include a comprehensive list. Plus, my favorites may not completely overlap with yours. If you'd like to learn some more ways to save time and do cool things, head to this website.

Submitting Slack feature requests

You can certainly use /feedback to report bugs or ask questions as I have many times. This feedback ultimately makes Slack better. Perhaps the defining characteristic of contemporary technology platforms is that the number of people using it improves its utility for everyone else. Slack is no exception here.

Remember If you thought of a way to make Slack better in some way, then the company wants to hear it. Simply start a message with /feedback and detail your suggestion.

Other Online Resources

Unfortunately, if you're looking for additional help with Slack, you’re confined to the limited resources in the previous section. It turns out that there’s really nowhere else to go.

I’m kidding.

I’m just getting started.

Official resources

Each of the resources in this section falls under Slack’s corporate umbrella. That is, Slack sanctions them.

  • Slack App Directory (https://slack.com/apps): To be sure, Slack’s native functionality by itself helps employees be more productive. Power users understand, though, that you can do a great deal more by taking advantage of others’ complementary creations. The Slack App Directory lists the most popular and newest ways to extend Slack.
  • Slack webinars (https://slack.com/events/webinars): Slack offers many live and on-demand webinars. Each delves deeper into topics such as security, shared channels, and administrative controls.
  • Slack’s official blog (https://slackhq.com): Several People Are Typing is the name of Slack’s blog. Here you can read articles, case studies, product announcements, and other goodies designed to help you get the most out of Slack.
  • Slack’s official YouTube channel (bit.ly/sl-yt-3): Slack publishes a slew of informative videos, customer-success stories, and conference highlights here.
  • Slack on Twitter (https://twitter.com/slackhq): Follow this account for product announcements, blog posts, and general news.
  • Slack Status on Twitter (https://twitter.com/slackstatus): Slack uses this account to apprise customers of network outages and other technical problems. Note that tweeting at @slackstatus does not open a support ticket. Use one of the other methods mentioned in this chapter.
  • Slack Champion Network (bit.ly/schamps-2): This Slack workspace allows you to connect and interact with other Slack “champions.” The focus here is on large organizations. Here you can discover best practices for launching and driving the adoption of Slack. I'm a member myself, and I really enjoy the interactions with all sorts of smart cookies.
  • Slack Platform Community (https://slackcommunity.com): If you like to build things and are interested in the future of work, then this is the place for you. Chapters are popping up all over the world.

Unofficial resources

The following independent resources lie outside Slack’s corporate umbrella. This doesn’t mean that they’re not helpful. Far from it. It just means that they operate independent of Slack.

  • LinkedIn groups: From Slack fans to bot developers, there’s no shortage of specific groups devoted to using and improving it. Start at bit.ly/sl-lig but feel free to poke around. More spring up all the time.
  • Online training: You can find a variety of Slack-specific courses on sites such as Udemy, Lynda, Coursera, and YouTube.

  • Reddit for Slack (https://www.reddit.com/r/Slack): If you’re looking for vibrant discussions, you could do much worse than going to r/Slack.

    Warning Note that redditors can be a feisty bunch if you violate Reddit norms. Make sure to read the rules for each subreddit.

  • Existing Slack workspaces (bit.ly/cool-slack-workspc): Depending on your interests, you can find many existing private social networks and collaboration spaces. You may want to connect and interact with fellow marketers, HR folks, entrepreneurs, musicians, fathers, or even Star Wars geeks.

Developer resources

Remember from the Introduction that Slack For Dummies is not geared toward developers. Throughout this book, I’ve kept that promise. Still, here are a few technical resources if you’d like to learn more about building your own Slack apps:

  • Head over to https://api.slack.com to find oodles of developer documentation looking to build your own apps. You’ll find information on all of Slack’s APIs.
  • Slack runs a rich blog specifically for developers. Find technical announcements, tips, discussions, and more at bit.ly/slack-devblog.
  • Slack’s newly enhanced Block Kit allows developers to expedite the process of creating powerful Slack apps. It offers app templates, a message builder, and other neat features. For more information, see bit.ly/block-kit.

In-Person Resources

The world of work has significantly changed since the Mad Men days. People perform plenty of tasks electronically that used to require a physical presence. Although you can learn just about anything you like over the Internet these days, sometimes you benefit going old school. Yes, I’m talking about attending an event in a physical building. Thankfully, Slack and its community offer plenty of options here.

Conferences

Slack holds its own conferences and makes its presence felt at industry-wide galas. The following sections offer information on how to meet Slack folks in person.

Frontiers

https://www.slackfrontiers.com

Slack’s annual Frontiers conferences feature oodles of breakout sessions from everyday users and proper developers. You can learn how employees in different industries are using Slack. If you’re technically inclined, you can learn how to build your own Slack apps.

Spec

https://slack.com/spec

Spec brings together Slack’s global community of developers, partners, and customers. The conference features sessions tailored for people who

  • Already create custom integrations for their organizations.
  • Want to know more about extending what Slack can do.
  • Build their entire businesses on Slack.

I attended the Spec 2019 Conference in San Francisco in October 2019. It’s no understatement to say loads of smart cookies are developing cool apps for Slack. The energy was downright infectious.

Miscellaneous tech conferences

Like many software vendors, Slack often rents booths at popular tech events. These conferences typically take place in large cities, such as Tokyo and London.

Tip Visit https://slack.com/events for a current list of the company’s official events.

Meetups

https://www.meetup.com/topics/slack

Over the years, millions of people have attended Meetups all across the globe. Meetups are informal get-togethers for just about every conceivable interest: politics, tennis, book clubs, hiking — you name it. (Note that the We Company acquired Meetup in 2017.)

If you want to meet fellow Slack users in Paris, New York, or wherever, then this is just the ticket for you.

In-person training

bit.ly/sl-trn

If you want to hold your own Slack training event, have at it. The preceding link provides information if you want to develop a private training class for your company.

Creating your own custom course and training materials is easier said than done. You may lack the time or, even after reading Slack For Dummies, sufficient expertise with Slack. If you want an experienced trainer to help employees at your organization get the most out of Slack, I’m game. I started training employees in corporate settings in 1997, fresh out of grad school. If you want to reach me at, hit me up bit.ly/phil-slack. (OK. That’s enough with the shameless plugs).