Slack Quick Start

I’ve arranged this book so that you can start at the beginning and read along linearly, building your Slack know-how as you go. Even so, if you have a burning Slack question, you should feel free to dive in where ever you like. Here’s a roadmap to the book:

Beginner basics:

• Find an overview of Slack in Meet Slack.
• Join a team, and install the right Slack apps for you. See Join Us in SlackBITS! and Get Started with Slack.
• Get oriented in the apps, and type “slash” commands in Master the Interface. Also, learn about the built-in bot, in Chat with Slackbot.
• Learn to send messages in Post Basic Messages.

Using Slack effectively:

• Send messages that contain attachments, code snippets, and collaborative documents. Read Go Beyond Basic Messages.
• Participate in a one-on-one or group video chat. See Place Calls.
• Join and create channels in Work with Channels.
• Learn how to Conduct Direct Message Conversations.
• See whether your teammates are available in Slack—and set your own availability status. See Make Your Presence Known.
• Mute time-wasting channels and set notifications so you are alerted to only messages that you care about. See Control Slack Notifications and Turn the Volume Down.
• Find old messages when you Search Effectively.

Take Slack up a notch:

• Make Slack more capable when you Manage Bots and Integrations. In particular, you can Centralize Communications into Slack.

Join Us in SlackBITS!

You don’t have to just read about Slack in this book; you can explore Slack itself in the free SlackBITS team that TidBITS Publishing has set up for readers and Slack enthusiasts! I’ll be using SlackBITS as an example in this book and will be hanging out there afterward, as will my publishers, Adam and Tonya Engst.

While we can’t guarantee to answer every question about Slack, we’re happy to take feedback about the book, and I anticipate that as more Slack users and admins join the group, it will become a useful resource.

To join the team, go to slackbits.herokuapp.com, enter your email address, and agree to the code of conduct. You’ll receive a Slack invitation in email right away. (I explain how to Handle a Team Invite in the next chapter.)

Note: A companion title, Take Control of Slack Admin, describes how to start and manage a Slack team even if you don’t have an IT staff or consultant to turn to.