# Slack Guide

###### tags: `guide` `mentorship programme` `research software camps`

This document will give you some information about how to use the Slack workspaces maintained by the Software Sustainability Institute Research Software Camp team.

Access 'Part 2: Quick Start Guide' if you have not used Slack before.

**First and foremost: Welcome!**

Please make sure you have read this document along with the [Code of Conduct](https://www.software.ac.uk/code-conduct-research-software-camps) procedures and understand how they apply to your participation in the RSC mentorship programme.

The Code of Conduct of the SSI Research Software Camps apply to all our community interactions, including the Slack workspace, which is one of our most important communications channel along with the mailing list and programme-related calls.

## Part 1: SSI Slack Participation Guideline

All members of the SSI mentorship programme team and programme participants: mentors and mentees are invited to join this Slack space.

Everyone is invited to join the Slack workspace and is sent a private joining link via email when being onboarded to the mentorship community.

We want to ensure a safe and welcoming environment for all our members. We want to provide community spaces, including the Slack workspace, where everyone understands and respects the SSI values.

There are typically two ways to be onboarded in the RSC mentorship workspace:
* You are part of the SSI Research Software Camp team
* You have previously participated or will participate in the SSI mentorship programme

We ask each member to identify the role they take in the SSI programme and understand their responsibilities.

### Default Slack Channels

#general: This channel is used to give general announcements and reminders of events. The announcements will also be sent out by email, but a response from the SSI team is faster in Slack.
#introductions: All members are invited to introduce themselves in this channel by sharing a few words about themselves and their work.

#random: This is a 'break' channel where you can share anything that is not directly relevant for the SSI members, including a funny picture of your pets and posts related to pop culture. This is likely the most famous channel in our workspace.

### Programme-specific channels

You will be invited to join these channels when you participate in a cohort. For example:

#rsc5-mentorship: all programme members are added to a channel created for this cohort.
#rcs5-mentors: all mentors listed for a programme are added to a private channel created to maintain communication with the SSI team and other mentors.
#rsc5-mentees: For mentees, there is a private channel to share and exchange information among other mentees.

### Other channels

#events: This is a place to share events that could be relevant for the SSI RSC participants. We encourage you to share events that you organise and would like others from the community to attend.
#interesting-reading: Any articles, books, posts, presentations or other resources that could be useful for the SSI RSC participants.

### Etiquette

**Communicating with others**

A few points of etiquette:

* Use threads to continue conversations
* When someone posts a brand new item in a channel, anyone in the channel can reply directly to it, creating a thread. Threads allow separate conversations to take place in the group without confusion – and for members to choose which of those conversations to follow more closely.
* To add a comment to a thread, click the 🗨️ to the right of an existing post.
* Use @channel, @here and other handles sparingly
* If you type @channel or @here in a post or comment that will send a notification to everyone in that channel. Please use this only for items that do need everyone’s attention.
* Respect the context of this shared space
* We want it to be somewhere where learning can happen in a supportive, safe environment.
* Please DO NOT take conversations out of context and copy/paste them elsewhere without the permission of all the individuals who posted.
* Not all communications will be synchronous
* While IM-based conversations can feel very immediate, please don’t feel that you have to respond to messages immediately, nor expect others to respond immediately. We’re all busy, really busy!
**Message Editing & Deletion**

You are allowed to edit your messages at any time. That means if you edit a message after someone replied to it, make it clear that you edited something if it changes the meaning of your message. See the example in the GIF below.

**Sending Private/Direct Messages**

It can be helpful to others when you’re sharing resources and brainstorming solutions to “work out loud” in a specific thread because then your learning becomes a future resource for others, too.

However, sometimes you want to start a private conversation. To do this, go to the direct messages (DM) section on the bottom left of the left-hand sidebar. Click the + icon to start a new message. You can add more than one recipient to create a group message.

**Direct message when necessary**
You may feel tempted to use DM instead of asking questions in dedicated channels. If a mentor believes others will benefit from the answer, they will probably encourage you to ask your question in the appropriate channel. If you have a question, others likely have the same one, we are all learning from each other.

That said, DMs are useful to discuss privately with other people (one or many) and you don't want to flood a channel.

For any questions please contact the SSI team by emailing: [[e-mail]]([e-mail])

## Part 2: Quick Start Guide for Slack
Welcome to the community Slack group: a place for you to network, collaborate, exchange resources and share ideas with others in the community.

### Table of contents
1. [Configuring your account](#Configuring-your-account)
2. [Notification settings](#Notification-settings)

#### Configuring your account

**PROFILE**
Your username – please use a name by which others will be able to identify you. Your email address is visible to others.

Your avatar – please add a profile picture or other identifier that you’re comfortable with so that others can associate your posts with you more easily.

Your time zone – this determines when Slack will notify you and can also help others know whether it’s a reasonable time of day to get in touch.
Here is a guide to help you edit your profile.

**STATUS UPDATES**
Status updates can be a useful way to let others know your availability as your status will be visible to everyone in the Slack group.

To update your status, click your name in the top left of the screen and select update status. You can select when you want your status update to be removed by stipulating a timeframe from the “clear after” dropdown. You can clear a status update at any time by clicking on your name and selecting clear status from the dropdown.

#### Notification settings

**How to find, join and create channels**

By default, you’re automatically added to the main channels that everyone belongs to (for example, #general, #welcome, #introductions & #random).

You will be able to create additional channels to facilitate structured conversation. You are free to create as many channels as you would like. However, channels dedicated to projects should be made public (not private) so people can collaborate or help you.

**Configure your notifications**

Slack notifications are great, but they may bother you when you try to focus on your project. There are a lot of options for you to determine how and when you are informed about content – and at what level of granularity.

**For the overall group**
Click on your name at the top left of the page and select “preferences” from the dropdown

In the Notifications section you have options which include:
* Set times when you do not want to be disturbed by notifications
* Enable desktop notifications
* Choose to be alerted when certain keywords are mentioned
* Channel by channel

When you’re in a channel, click the “i” icon at the top right. Choose “more” and then click “notifications.”

Here you have the option to ignore any @channel messages, or mute the channel entirely.
Following a specific thread.

If another group member posts something of particular interest you can choose to follow that thread. Find how to reply in a thread in Section 3.

Click the ellipsis (three dots) to the right of the original post and select “follow message” from the dropdown.

Getting a reminder about a specific thread
You additionally have the option to be reminded about a thread at a more convenient time. From the ellipsis to the right of the original post select “remind me about this” from the dropdown and choose a timeframe.

**Muting or leaving channels**
If a channel has become too noisy, you can additionally:
* Mute it: When you’re in a channel, click the “i” icon at the top right. Choose “more” and then choose “mute” from the dropdown.
* Leave it: When you’re in a channel, click the “i” icon at the top right. Choose “more” and then choose “leave” from the dropdown.

## Acknowledgements
This guide was adapted from the [Open Life Science resource ](https://github.com/open-life-science/policies-procedures-and-docs/blob/main/communications/slack-guide.md)under a CC BY 4.0 license.