Channels
Public and private channels where a team talks and asks agents: every post starts a thread, and an agent answers only when someone names it.
A channel is a place for a team to talk, and to ask agents. Every message posted in it starts a thread, its replies stay under it, and an agent joins only when someone names it. Channels sit in the Threads panel, under Channels and, once you are in one, Private Channels.
Public and private channels
- A public channel is open to everyone in the workspace. There is nothing to join: it is in everyone's Channels list, and anyone can read it and post in it.
- A private channel is for the people added to it: only they see it and its threads. It is listed under Private Channels, a group that shows only while you are in one.
Every workspace has a built-in public channel, #general. It cannot be renamed or archived: those actions are held, and say Every workspace keeps its #general.
A channel with something new in it reads in semibold in the panel, with a count of what you have not read (up to 99+). Each group shows eight rows, then More; a channel with something unread always shows.
Post in a channel
Open a channel and write in the composer at its foot, which names the channel: Message #fee-checks in #fee-checks. Each message you post starts a thread; the newest is at the foot, under a line for its day (Today, Yesterday).
A thread shows its first message and, under it, the line about its replies: the faces of who replied, how many replies, and when the last came. Click that line, or Continue in thread when you rest the pointer on the message, to open the thread beside the channel. Replies go in the thread's own composer, which reads Reply, or type @ to tag someone….
Rest the pointer on a message, or right-click it, for its menu: Open thread, Copy link, Pin, and on your own messages Edit and Delete. An edited message says (edited); a deleted one says who deleted it, and its thread stays. An administrator can delete anyone's message in a channel. A thread's starter can also move it to another channel or a direct message: see Move a thread.
Type @ to tag a person, who is told about it (see Notifications), and # to name another channel.
Ask an agent in a channel
An agent answers only a message that names it. Name it with @ in a new post or in a reply, or type the start of its name and press Tab. The agent answers in the thread, where everyone who reads the channel sees the answer; while it works, the thread's line in the channel reads Spark is replying (or the name of the agent at work). A message that names no agent is for people only: no agent answers it.
The agent answers the person who named it. An agent set up on someone's personal vault uses that vault's connections only when its owner asks; for anyone else it answers without them and says so when it needs one.
Create a channel
- In the Threads panel, rest the pointer on Channels and click its + (New channel). For a private channel you can also use the + on Private Channels (New private channel).
- Give it a Name, after the fixed #: lowercase letters, digits and dashes (a space you type becomes a dash), up to 80 characters.
- Add a Description if you like: what it is for.
- Switch on Private to make it private: "Only the people you add can see it." Then pick its Members.
- Click Create (or press ⌘/Ctrl+Enter). The channel opens.
By default only administrators create and manage channels. For anyone else the + is greyed out and says Requires admin role when you rest the pointer on it.
Manage a channel
A channel's menu is on its row in the Threads panel (⋯, or right-click) and on its page, at the right of the app header:
- Copy link copies a link to the channel.
- Rename changes its name and description.
- Members, on a private channel, opens a dialog named after it, such as Members of #fee-checks: "Only the people here can see the channel and its threads." An administrator adds people with the picker and Add, and takes someone out with the x at the end of their row (Take out of the channel). Whoever made the channel stays in it (Creator). Members who don't manage it see the list.
- Archive puts the channel away: it leaves the panel, its threads are kept, and nobody can post in it ("This channel is archived. Nobody can post in it."). Restore brings it back.
- Reset widths, on the channel's page, puts the channel, its open thread and any item beside them back to the widths they open at.
Actions you can't take are greyed out and say why when you rest the pointer on them.
Every channel in Settings
Administrators see every channel of the workspace in Settings › Workspace › Channels: "Every public and private channel in the workspace. A private one you're not in is here to manage, not to read." The table lists each Channel, its Members (Everyone for a public channel), who it was Created by (Built in for #general) and its Last message. Each row's ⋯ has the same actions as the channel's own menu, and Show archived lists the archived channels too, to restore them. A row opens only a channel you can read. Anyone else sees Only administrators manage channels.