Message your team in channels and DMs
Channels and direct messages for your team, in one list that covers every company you belong to, so you never switch company to carry on a conversation.
Messages sits in the left rail. It holds two kinds of conversation: CHANNELS, which are named rooms like #general, and DIRECT MESSAGES, which are one to one.
If you belong to more than one company, they all appear in the same list. Each channel shows the company it belongs to underneath its name, because two companies can each have a #general. A direct message belongs to the two people in it rather than to a company, so there is one conversation with a person no matter which company either of you is working in.
On this page
Create a channel
Open Messages, then click New channel or DM at the top of the list.
Leave the tab on Channel, type a name into channel-name, and add a Topic (optional) if you want one line explaining what the channel is for.
Under COMPANY, pick which company the channel belongs to. Anyone at that company can find and join it. Choosing No company: invite only means nobody can see the channel until you add them, which is the right choice for a conversation that spans two of your companies.
Tick Private: only invited people can see this channel to keep it out of the company's list even for people at that company, then pick who to invite. Click Create channel when you are done.
Start a direct message
Click New channel or DM, then the Direct message tab.
Search in Search people... and click the person you want. Everyone you share any company with is listed, not only the company you are currently looking at.
If you have messaged that person before, this opens the conversation you already have rather than starting a second one.
Write a message
Type in the box at the bottom and press Enter to send. Shift and Enter together start a new line instead.
Type @ to mention someone. Pick them from the list and they get a notification, which is how you reach somebody in a busy channel they are not watching.
Type # to link another channel by name. The link is clickable, and takes the reader straight to that channel.
Hover a message you sent to edit or delete it. Hover any message to react to it, or to reply in a thread so a side conversation does not fill the main channel.
Find an old message
Click the magnifying glass in the channel header and type what you remember.
Search covers every message you can see, across every company you belong to, so a conversation from another company still comes back.
Turn a channel down
Hover a channel in the list and click the bell to mute it. A muted channel stops sending you notifications for mentions and direct messages, and stops showing an unread dot.
Muting is yours alone. Nobody else in the channel is affected, and you keep seeing the messages whenever you open it.
Which kind of conversation to use
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Channel with a company | Anyone at that company can find and join it, unless it is private. This is the normal choice for a team's own room. |
| Channel with no company | Invite only. Nobody sees it until somebody adds them, which is what makes it usable for a conversation across two companies. |
| Private channel | Hidden even from people at its own company until they are invited. Add people from the channel header once it exists. |
| Direct message | Belongs to the two people in it, not to a company. One conversation per person, wherever either of you is working. |