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Business software developer Salesforce bought Slack for $27,7 billion, $8,7 billion more than Facebook paid for WhatsApp. We decided to figure out why programmers love Slack so much and how to get the most out of it.
Slack vs Microsoft Teams
Slack’s main competitor is Microsoft Teams, which has grown in popularity during the pandemic. If in 2018 it had only 5 million users (two times less than Slack), then in 2020 it already has 115 million (Slack does not publish data).
Number of daily active users (top) and service customer companies (bottom) for Microsoft Teams and Slack.
Sources: BC Technology, CNBC, Fast Company, Microsoft, Statista, The Verge.
When Slack first appeared in 2013, it became the best alternative to Skype, which Microsoft later bought. It turned out to be much more convenient for corporate needs, especially for development teams. Slack worked in the browser, allowed you to create discussion threads and even share code. In its first year, Slack had 8 registered companies, and in its second year, it attracted $210 million in investment.
But Microsoft still managed to take revenge. Among the main reasons for this growth is that Microsoft has built Teams into the office suite, making it the default messenger. The company peeped key functions from competitors. In response, Slack filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission, but this did not help. The pandemic put an end to this battle: Microsoft Teams proved to be much better and more flexible, especially in the mobile version.
Perhaps Salesforce’s marketing resources will help Slack return to the top spot. Or it will be the antitrust war against Microsoft and other IT giants that the US Congress has unleashed.
Slack Search
- Option 1: Find only what you need
In: [channel] – to search for messages and files only in a specific channel.
In: [@name] – to search among your private messages from a specific person.
To: me — to search only among your private messages.
From: [@name] to search only for messages sent by a specific person.
From: me — to search only among messages sent by you.
Has: link – to search among messages that contain links.
Has: response – to search among messages that reply to others.
Before: [date]; After: [date]; On: [day/month/year]; or During: [month/year] — to search among messages for a certain period.
To make the query as accurate as possible, combine several commands at once. For example: from: me has: link during: april 2020 – to see every message with a link you sent in April 2020.
- Option 2: Exclude irrelevant channels from the search
Go to Preference (settings) and open the section Search (search). Blacklist all channels you don’t need.
- Option 3: search directly in the message input field
Type “/s” and add what you want to search.
- Option 4: save the desired piece of correspondence
Select a channel or message, hold down Alt (for Windows) or Option (for Mac), and then click on the timestamp you want. The next time you open this thread on any device, you will be taken directly to the right place.
- Option 5: How to Search Faster
Use Quick Switcher: press Ctrl + K (for Windows) or Cmd + K (for Mac) and enter the first letter of the channel name or username. In the list that opens, select the desired option.
- Option 6: How to find important messages or files faster:
Pin them to a channel or private message. Click on the menu (… above the message) and select “Pin to this conversation”.
Messages in Slack
- Option 7: How not to lose important messages
Use the All Unreads feature. Go to Settings, Sidebar section. Then select All Unreads in the sidebar, and open the list of all unread messages.
- Option 8: how to remove everything unnecessary
Hide all image previews, including animated GIFs. Enter / collapseto hide them and / expand – if you want to return everything back.
- Option 9: Format the text inside the message
(~) on both sides of the text – strikethrough text; and your message will be crossed out.
(>) before the text – the message will be formatted as a quote.
(>>>) – for quoting a message of several paragraphs.
(`) on both sides of the text – it will be red, framed inside the line.
(“`) on both sides – the text will be selected in a separate block, surrounded by a frame.
- Option 10: Create a bulleted list
Insert bullets (•) into messages. To do this, press the hyphen (-) in front of the line, and then Enter.
- Option 11: quote old post
Right-click on the text (for Windows) or hold down Ctrl and click on the message (for Mac) to copy the link to it and paste it into the discussion.
- Option 12: Send someone a private message from a channel or discussion
Type “/msg” or “/dm” and “@name” into the input field.
- Option 13: Know what certain colors look like
Enter a six-character color code in HEX format:
- Option 14: Conduct a survey
Enter multiple response options, attach an emoji to each of them, and add it as a reaction. When employees vote, Slack will show the results.
- Option 15: Import and save messages
Go to settings, section Messages & Media, select Get a Forwarding Address and enter it. Now all messages you send to this address will show up in your chat with Slackbot. From there you will be able to share them with others.
Files and documents in Slack
- Option 16: Slack as file storage
Drag and drop the files you want to chat with Slackbot, and they will be available there at any time.
- Option 17: Edit Document
Click on the “+” next to the input field in any discussion or channel, select Post and type your text. On the left, you will see tools for formatting text within a paragraph. When you’re done, click on the green Share button to choose where to send this document and open it for editing.
- Option 18: Share your computer screen
Click on the phone icon inside any discussion and select Share your screen (to the left of the End call button). Chat members will be able to control your screen and draw on it.
Reminders and notifications in Slack
- Option 19: Notify the right people
Add to message @channelto send a notification to everyone in the current chat, @group – for everyone in the group, @everyone – each member of your team and @here – to everyone who is online now.
- Option 20: Set up keyword alerts
Go to settings, Notifications section and select My Keywords. Add keywords there, and Slack will send you notifications of all new chats, messages, and news with those words.
- Option 21: disable notifications for a specific time
Enter the / dnd and the time in the input field, for example: /dnd until 3:00, /dnd for 20 minutes or /dnd until tomorrow morning (until tomorrow morning). To enable them again, write / active.
- Option 22: Turn off notifications on certain days
Click on the bell icon in the Sidebar and select Do Not Disturb Scheduleto activate the feature. So you can turn off notifications on weekends or during holidays.
- Option 23: Set up regular reminders
Enter the /remind @name or #channel name Reminder text.
For example: /remind @vasily.ivanov Buy a new stapler on Monday, /remind #initech Send reports every Friday or /remind #remotestaff Send monthly expense reports.
Slack integration with other services
- Option 24: Integrate all the right apps and services
Select them from the list of available integrations and link to Slack.
- Option 25: Import posts, articles and other information
Set up IFTTT and Zapier to automatically tweet or share articles in Pocket based on keywords and tags.
- Option 26: Customize RSS Feed
Copy the subscription URL and before it type /feed subscribe.
- Option 27: Link Slack to Google Sheets and Google Drive
Sign up for a Zapier account and then link it to Google Sheets or Google Drive. Now Slack will send you notifications when files are added to a shared folder or changes are made to tables.
- Option 28: Send tasks to other applications
Activate the desired Zapier script and Slack will automatically send the message as a task to Todoist or add it to a list on Wunderlist.
- Option 29: Notify everyone about the event in Google Calendar
Use the dedicated Slack-Google Calendar IFTTT extension to automatically send reminders to channels, groups, or individuals about event times.
- Option 30: Warn coworkers you’re late
Download the IFTTT app (for Android or iOS), sign up, activate the IFTTT messaging widget for Slack, and follow the instructions.