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.

Joining new channels and starting direct messages

There are three ways of joining a public channel; through search, invites, or mentions.

For starting a direct message, you can either search the user you want to talk or click on that user’s avatar and click on the Conversation Button.

To search for channels and users, use the search bar under your account box. Alternatively you can press Ctrl/Cmd + k to access the search bar :quickly.

A search will find channels (including the ones you are part of) and users. You can not search inside private channels.

When you click on a search result, the following can happen:

• If the result is a channel, and you already aren’t part of it, you will join that channel;
• If the result is a user, you will start a direct message with that user;

Leaving channels

There are two options for leaving a channel:

1. Hide: Remain a member of the channel but remove it from your list of channels on the left-hand pane.

2. Leave: Remove the channel your list of channels and abdicate membership.

Every channel has an owner, and the owner of a channel cannot leave a channel until setting someone else as the owner of that channel.

To leave a channel, enter the command /part or /leave in the message window. Alternatively, hover your mouse over the channel in the :list of channels on the left-hand side and click on the leave channel button.

To hide a channel, hover your mouse over the channel in the list of channels on the left-hand side and click on the hide channel button.

Creating Channels

To create a channel, you need to click on the plus + button that is alongside the channel search bar.

A pop-up opens. You can set the name of that channel, choose if the channel is public or private, set the channel to read-only, broadcast the :channel, and invite users.

In read-only channels, messages can only be sent by users with write permissions. All users can react to messages in this channel. Read-only channels :are most suitable for announcements and voting.

Encrypted channels, messages will be end to end encrypted. See: End to End Encryption for details.

Broadcasted channels behave like read-only channels, with only users with the right permission being able to post there. The differences to a

read-only channel are:

• Users without permission (the same one to post on read-only channels) inside this channel won’t be able to see each other in the user list.
• Users without permission won’t be able to react to messages.
• Every message contains a reply button that redirects the user to a direct message with the user that posted the message.
• This channel cannot be converted to a read-only or open channel again.

Messaging

Compose messages

To compose a message in Rocket.Chat, go the channel or user you want to send a message. Type the message box and press Enter or the Send Button.

If you want to add new lines of text, press Shift + Enter to add a new line.

Cursor movement

While writing or editing messages, you can move the cursor using the arrow keys. Where the cursor moves depends on the wrapping of the text.

Hold Alt or Command while pressing the right or left arrow keys to move the cursor to the beginning or end of the message.

Notify other team members

To get the attention of a specific team member in a channel, type @ followed by their username, for example, @username. The mentioned :user sees a red badge on the channel or is notified via email or their mobile device if they’re not online.

You can also notify everyone in a channel by typing @all. We recommend using @all sparingly. Although notifying everyone in the channel :is useful for announcements, not every message requires this.

Send attachments

You can send a variety of attachments on your messages, like files, audio, links, videos, and many more.

To access the attachment menu you can, click on the plus (+) icon on the message input.

Files

You can select files using three methods:

• By choosing the Select Files from Computer option from the attachment menu
• By dragging and dropping the file on Rocket.Chat
• By pasting an image from the clipboard

After selecting the file, add a name and a description of the file and press Send.

Remember that the server administrator can block certain file types from being uploaded.

Audio

When using Rocket.Chat through a web browser give Rocket.Chat permission to use your microphone.

To start recording, click on the Create new Audio Message or the option in the attachment menu or the microphone inside the message box. To :stop recording, click the green checkmark. The audio message automatically sends. You can choose to pay or download the message.

Video

When using Rocket.Chat through a web browser give Rocket.Chat permission to use your webcam.

To start recording, click on the Create new Video Message option in the attachment menu, then click the red circle icon.

While recording, a stop button appears. To end the recording, press Stop.

Preview the video you recorded by pressing Ok. A window appears where you can watch, download, and name the video. To send the video,

click Send or click Cancel to discard the video.

Interacting with Google Drive

Note: Google Drive features available only if the server’s admin has enabled Google Drive access and provided the correct API keys. For :instructions to obtain these keys can see the Administrator guides.

From Google Drive to Rocket.Chat

Files can be uploaded from Google Drive to a room by selecting the Select Files from Google Drive option on the attachment menu. This opens a :Google Drive file picker GUI with search and view modes. Select the required file, enter a title and description, and then click Upload.

Files upload in the same format to Rocket.Chat as they are in Google Drive with exception to Google docs, slides and sheets which convert to pdfs upon :upload.

From Rocket.Chat to Google Drive

Files uploaded as a message attached to a room can be uploaded to Google Drive. Click Save to Google Drive above the file attachment. The file :saves to Google Drive in its original format.

Create Google Docs, Slides and Sheets

Create Google docs, slides, and sheets by clicking to corresponding file type in the attachments menu. The file saves to that user’s Google Drive :account and posts on the message or channel from which creation occurs. The sharing setting for the file shall remain default. It can be changed by the :file owner via the link to collaborate with other users.

Links

URL’s to other sites automatically generate a preview of that site’s content. Copy and paste the link into the message box to create the preview.

Location

To share your location, click Share My Location. A message generates a link to a Google Map of your location.

Emoji

To insert an emoji, click the smiley face icon in the message box. Browse through emoji using the icon categories or through the search box.

You can also insert emojis by inputting an emoji code.

Emoticons

Rocket.Chat changes common emoticons, or symbols used to represent emoji, to the equivalent emoji. For example, :) converts to the :smiley::emoji.

Disabling emojis

Emojis can be enabled/disabled in Your Account settings under the Messages section.

When graphical emojis are disabled, emoji keywords and shortcuts display as regular text.

Formatting

Use the following symbols to format text as desired:

• Bold: *Lorem ipsum dolor*
• Italic: _Lorem ipsum dolor_
• Strike: ~Lorem ipsum dolor~
• Inline code: `Lorem ipsum dolor`
• Image: 
• Link: [Lorem ipsum dolor](https://www.rocket.chat/) or <https://www.rocket.chat/ |Lorem ipsum dolor>

Message Actions

Open message actions

To open the message actions menu, place your mouse over the message and click the actions menu on the left.

Edit messages

To edit a message, click on the edit option on the message actions menu. You can also place your cursor in the message box and press the

Up arrow to edit your last message.

The administrator of the Rocket.Chat server sets the permissions for who can edit messages from other users. By default, only administrators, moderators, and owners of the channels can edit messages from other users.

Draft messages

Rocket.Chat saves drafts of all message edits so you can return to edit later. When drafting a message, press Escape to discard the draft.

Delete messages

To delete a message, click Delete in the message actions menu.

Star messages

Star messages to make the message easier to find it later. To star a message, click Star option in the message actions menu. If you want to :remove the star from an already starred message, click Remove Star.

Find starred messages by going to the channel actions menu and clicking Starred Messages.

Starred messages are per chat room and are not global; each room has its list of starred messages.

Pin messages

Pin a message to a channel to make that message easily accessible to all user’s on the channel. To pin a message, select the Pin Message :option in the message actions menu. Remove already pinned messages by selecting Remove Pin.

The administrator of a Rocket.Chat team sets the permissions for who can pin messages in a channel. By default, only administrators, moderators, :and owners of the channel can pin messages .

Reactions

You can react to messages with emoji.

To add a reaction to a message, go to the message, click on the smiley face icon on the right of the message and then choose an emoji.

You can see other user’s emoji reactions beneath the message. To react with the same emoji as another user, click the emoji. You can also remove your :reaction by clicking on your emoji.

Permalink a message

Permalink a message to creates a URL directly to that message in the chat.

Click on the Permalink option in the message actions menu. This copies the message into your clipboard.

Copy a message

To copy the contents of a message to your clipboard, click on the copy option on the message actions menu.

Reply to a message

Reply to a message to quote a message from another user. The reply automatically triggers a notification sent to the message’s original author.

There are two options for replies:

Use Reply in Thread to start a new thread underneath the original message. Threads create a string of messages that quote the original.

Use Reply in Direct Message to quote the original message in a direct message to that user.

Quote a message

Quote a message to respond to another user’s message without notifying the user directly. Select Quote in the message actions menu.