The Udacity Scholarship Program - sponsored by Citi
How to Use Slack?
We've condensed the most important information on how to use Slack right here. So whether this is your first time using Slack or you just want a quick refresher, you'll be ready to join your fellow students on Slack after reviewing the below.
For a full tutorial, visit the Slack Help Center here.
Quick Start Guide to Slack! 🏎
Slack Housekeeping & General Guidelines 📝
WHAT is Slack? (in Slack's words) "Slack is a collaboration hub that connects your organization — all the pieces and the people — so you can get things done."
WHO is Slack for? Our Slack groups are exclusive spaces for the Advance Africa Scholarship students. Please edit your Slack profile and use your real name (or indicate it in your profile) and upload your photo (or a nice avatar!).
WHAT is Slack for? Slack is the main platform that will connect this amazing community of Scholarship students. Use it for:
Getting support and helping each other through the Foundations course
Seeking technical help from our volunteers
Socializing and networking with your classmates
Sharing ideas and resources
Motivation!
Collaborating and working on cool projects together
Keeping in touch with your Community Manager and staying up-to-date on the latest news about this Scholarship program
What is Slack NOT for? For being unfriendly, disrespectful, unproductive, and for any other violations of our Code of Conduct.
⚠️ Slack Profile Guidelines ⚠️
Please make your Slack Display Name as unique as possible!
Consider adding your last name, location, track, or "scholar" to the end! (e.g. Ibrahim_Kenya_CloudDevOps)
Please refrain from using ".Udacity" as this is how we indicate the Udacity Staff members who students can turn to for program support and details.
💡Pro Tip : Our Slack workspace is on the Free plan. This means that only the most recent 10,000 messages will be viewable and searchable. If you see a good tip, resource, or post you should jot it down otherwise the message will turn over!
Where do Conversations Happen? 🗯
Inside the workspace, conversations take place inside two main segments:
💬Channels:
Channels can be public (open to everyone) or private (invite only). Private channels are distinguished by a lock icon. When you join the Scholarship Challenge Slack workspace, you will automatically be added to some of the Community Channels so you can connect with every student in this Scholarship Challenge!
💬Direct Messages (DMs):
These are private conversations between 2 or more people. You can DM one person or start a group DM with up to 9 people (including yourself!) DMs are best for quick conversations when you don't need the entire channel to chime in.
Channels & Direct Messages
💡Pro tip: Click 'Channel Browser in the left sidebar to browse and join new channels that will be added during the course of this Scholarship Challenge.
Slack Etiquette ⚠️
Use these tips to help us keep Slack in order and make it manageable for you!
1. If you want to comment on somebody's post – Reply in thread! To reply in thread, hover over the post and click the message bubble icon. A sidebar will then appear to the right where you can leave your reply. By "replying in thread" instead of posting a separate comment, you'll make the conversation easier to follow and keep the main feed tidy and clean. 👍
2. Pick the right Slack channel for your post - Each channel has a purpose! You can familiarize yourself with the names of our Slack channels and their purpose below.
3. In addition to posting in the correct channel, please avoid repeating the same message, or posting it on multiple channels. Along these same lines, if you ask a question and it has been answered (or you found the answer on your own), it's good etiquette to go back to your original post to let everyone know. This allows your classmates and volunteers to focus their time and energy on students who still need help. 💪
4. Whenever possible, put all your text in one message (see also how to ask a question here), and please:
don't
post
every
sentence
separately.
Some people say that Slack can be hectic and overwhelming but by following these tips above, you'll enjoy Slack and get the most of your Slack workspace!
'Replying in thread' helps in keeping the discussion flow intact!
💡Pro tip: Hover your mouse over any post to reply with an emoji, bookmark the message, share the message and to access "more actions" like editing your own messages
Messaging in Slack 📮
Unlike many instant messaging platforms, Slack actually allows you to edit and to delete your messages! Click the 3 dots (more actions) to the right to edit your text or delete it altogether.
Notifications are the little number in a red oval that appears next to a channel or a private message. It's Slack's way of telling you that a post needs your attention because someone mentioned your name or made an announcement to the entire channel. You have the option of turning these notifications off (aka "muting a channel") if you find them overly annoying. If you do this, just remember to frequently check the channels so you don't miss a message meant for you!
Edit/Delete messages in Slack