ROCKET CHAT

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Rocket Chat User's Guide

Channels

Conversations in Rocket.Chat occur in channels. Channels are chat rooms with useful features designed to increase communication and collaboration.

There are three kinds of channels: public channels, private groups, and direct (1-on-1) messages.

Public channels

Public channels (also called channels for short) act as a base for all channel types. Use channels for conversations that are open to :your entire team. Anyone on your team can join a channel.

Channels make it easy to find what’s going on with your team. New team members can join a channel and read all the information previously shared by :other users.

When in doubt, create a channel. Public conversations help you build a knowledge base of your organization with minimal effort. For example, create a :channel for a company department or to discuss a specific programming language.

Private groups

Private groups are closed channels. They are visible only to their members. Use private groups for subjects that are sensitive, confidential, :or limited to a small group of team members.

Private groups are joined through invitation only. The administrator sets the permissions that determine who can invite others to a private group. By :default, only administrators, room owners, and moderators can invite others to private rooms.

Direct Messages

Direct messages (DMs) are a private 1-on-1 conversation between team members. They can be sent to any user on your server.

Listing channels

Find public and private channels that you are watching in the left sidebar under the Channels sections.

Public channels are represented by a hash symbol next to the channel name, and private channels by a lock. Public channels appear first above private :channels below them and alphabetically ordered.

Unread messages

Channels with new messages appear bolded.

When using the Unread Mode, a new section called Unread appears on the left sidebar. All channels with unread messages move to this new :section until the messages have been reads.

To activate Unread Mode, go to My Account > Preferences. Change the Sidebar channel list mode setting to Unread Rooms Mode.

Mentions

When someone mentions you with @username, @all or @here, a symbol or a number will appear alongside the channel name. When mentioned, an @ symbol appears next to your name. If someone mentions @all or @here a number will show up showing the number of :times the mention is specific to you.

Notifications Preferences

There are several notification settings a user can customize to channels. To find notification settings for a specific channel, go to the channel and click the More symbol at the top-right of the chat view. Then, select Notification Preferences.

• Mute/Receive alerts: Receive or mute any notifications from a channel.
• Mute/Receive mentions: Receive or mute notifications for mentions while receiving notifications for messages in a channel.
• Hide/Show counter: Show the number of unread messages for a channel.
• Notification sound: Choose a sound for notifications besides the alerts default Desktop. Mobile currently supports only the alerts :inside your mobile device. You can also select when to play the alert, duration of the alert, and the alert itself.