Starting with Slack

<aside> 👇 Navigate to other sections of our Slack guide:

Slack Slack Advanced Features Channel guidelines Rules and conventions Reducing noise in Slack

</aside>

📣 Introduction

So, are you ready to get started with Slack? Great! This page will walk you through everything you need to know to get started with Slack at Oyster.

Below, you’ll find instructions for setting up your account as well as information about Slack’s core features and how we use them at Oyster.

⚙️ Setting up your account

1️⃣ Set up your Slack Profile

Before jumping into Slack and engaging with fellow Oysters, it’s important to take a moment to complete your Slack profile (this way people know who they’re chatting with).

While all profile fields are not mandatory, we encourage you to complete as many as you are comfortable sharing and we require all Oysters to submit the following information:

Edit/View Slack Profile

Your Slack profile photo - putting a face to a name makes for a more personal, human interaction.
Link to your About Me Page - who better to tell us all about you than...you!?
Your current location - so we know where you are located.
Your local time - so we know your current time zone and can effectively plan to ‣ with you.

Mira using Bran’s Slack profile information to schedule a social call with him.

2️⃣ Navigate Oyster’s Slack workspace

From the Slack workspace, you’ll see:

channels you've been invited to
your direct messages
notifications for specific conversations
a search bar
the option to compose new messages

Take a look at this ‘Map of Slack’ for a better look at the Slack workspace (double-click to expand)

3️⃣ Go through your preferences

Below, we’ll share some of the key preferences that you can manage in Slack. Effectively customizing Slack to meet your preferences will greatly impact your ability to effectively manage noise, and your overall user experience, in Slack. You’ve got the power!

Notifications

Slack notifications keep you informed of the work you care about, whether you're at your desk or on the move.

You can watch a quick overview of the notification preferences here 👉

<aside> 💡 For best practices on how to use your notification preferences to reduce noise in Slack, please visit Reducing noise in Slack.

</aside>

Notification preferences in Slack walkthrough

Sidebar

Your left sidebar in Slack is an access point for different parts of the Oyster workspace.

There are a number of preferences you can set to tailor how your sidebar is organized–including creating custom sections.

Sidebar preferences in Slack walkthrough