Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 4: How to send a message to the bot
• Method 2 of 4: How to Get Help
• Method 3 of 4: How to set reminders
• Method 4 of 4: How to customize the reply messages
• Tips

Slackbot is a chatbot that explains how to use Slack. This bot can be sent a message and received a response; you can also set reminders. Team administrators have the ability to program a bot to send a specific response if a message contains a specific word.

Steps

Method 1 of 4: How to send a message to the bot

1. 1 Start Slack. If you have any questions about how to use Slack, please send a message to Slackbot. To do this, first launch Slack on your computer or mobile device.
   • Channel members will not know what question you sent to the bot.
   • The bot will only answer the question about Slack.
2. 2 Log in to your Slack team. To do this, enter your username and password. This will enter your team's main channel.
3. 3 Click Direct Messages in the menu bar on the left. Now start a new chat with the bot.
   • On mobile Slack, enter / dm @Slackbot and click Send to start a new message for the bot.
4. 4 Enter "Slackbot" in the search bar and click ↵ Enter. A chat window with the bot will open on the computer.
   • In the window you will see “Message @Slackbot”, which means that any message entered will be sent to the bot.

Method 2 of 4: How to Get Help

1. 1 Open a chat window with Slackbot. You can ask a bot about any Slack feature by sending a message. Slackbot will send a response or link to a page with information.
2. 2 Enter your question in the chat window and click ↵ Enter. The question can be about any Slack feature.
   • For example, enter "How do I upload a file?" (How to upload a file?) - the bot will send you an answer or a link to a page with the necessary information.
   • Instead of a question, you can enter a keyword or phrase. For example, just enter “upload a file”.
   • Slackbot only answers questions about Slack.
3. 3 Rephrase the question. If the bot does not understand the question, you will receive the message "I’m afraid I don’t understand, I’m sorry!" (Sorry I did not understand). In this case, consider how to ask the question differently.
   • For example, the question "How do I talk to my coworker privately?" (How to talk to a colleague privately) The bot will most likely not understand. So enter "How do I send a private message?" (How to send a private message), and the bot will send you comprehensive information.
4. 4 Find more information. If the bot's answers are not satisfactory to you, open the Slack Help Center; its address is http://get.slack.help.
5. 5 Close the chat window with the bot. To do this, click on the name of the desired channel in the menu on the left (on a computer) or click on the downward arrow icon next to "@Slackbot" and select "Close DM" from the menu (on a mobile device).

Method 3 of 4: How to set reminders

1. 1 Log in to your Slack team. Using the / remind command, you can set almost any reminder - and the bot will send you a message at the specified time. First, launch Slack and log into your team.
   • You can also send a reminder to another team member or the entire channel.
2. 2 Join any channel. Reminders are set using text commands, so this can be done from any channel.
3. 3 Create a reminder. The format of the reminder is / remind [who] [what] [when] (/ remind [who] [what] [when]), although these elements can be arranged differently. For example:
   • / remind me to do jumping jacks on Tuesday at 1:30 pm (remind me to do jumping jacks on Tuesday at 1:30 pm)
   • / remind @natalie “Stop working so hard!” in 5 minutes (remind @natalie "Stop working so hard!" after 5 minutes)
   • / remind # writing-team on Jan 14th 2017 at 11:55 to call the conference bridge (remind # writing-team on January 14, 2017 at 11:55 to call the conference)
   • / remind #design of free bagels every Tuesday at 8am (remind #design of free bagels every Tuesday at 8am) * this will set a recurring reminder
4. 4 Manage your reminder. When the reminder is triggered, several options will be displayed at the end of the message:
   • Click “Mark as complete” to turn off the reminder.
   • Select "15 mins" (15 minutes) or "1 hour" (1 hour) for the reminder to sound again after the selected time (this will snooze the reminder).
   • To specify your length of time, use the / snooze command, for example, / snooze 5 minutes will snooze the reminder for 5 minutes.
   • Select Tomorrow to snooze the reminder until tomorrow.
5. 5 Enter the command / remind list to view a list of all reminders. In this list, you will find both active and disabled reminders - active reminders can be disabled and deleted, and disabled ones can be deleted.
   • Next to each active reminder, you will find an option that turns it off.
   • If you use the / remind list command in a channel, reminders are displayed that apply to you and the channel.
6. 6 Set a reminder based on the message. In Slack, you can turn any message into a reminder that works just like a command reminder.
   • Move the mouse pointer over the message - an “…” icon will appear in the upper right corner of the message.
   • Select “Remind me about this”.
   • Select a time period from the list.

Method 4 of 4: How to customize the reply messages

1. 1 Log in to your Slack team. If you are a team admin, configure your bot to send a specific response if a message contains a specific word. First, start Slack on your computer and log in to your team.
2. 2 Click on the team name in the upper left corner. A menu will open.
3. 3 Click Team Settings. The Settings & Permissions page opens in your web browser.
4. 4 Select "Customize" from the menu on the left. You will be taken to a tabbed site that has options for configuring command parameters.
5. 5 Click on the "Slackbot" tab. On it, you can configure the bot's responses.
6. 6 Enter your passphrase on the line “When someone says”. Now, if the bot finds the entered phrase in any Slack message, it will send the response you specified.
   • For example, if you enter the phrase "wi-fi password" (the password for the wireless network), you can make the bot send the password.
7. 7 Enter your answer in the "Slackbot responds" line (Slackbot will respond). When any team member enters a key phrase (or word) in a message, the bot will send the text you entered. When you're done, your changes will be saved automatically.
   • For example, if you entered "wi-fi password" on the previous line, enter "If you’re looking for the office Wi-Fi password, here it is: g0t3Am!" (If you forgot your wireless password, here it is: g0t3Am!).
8. 8 Click "+ Add new response" to enter a different response. It can be created immediately as described above, or later if the need arises. Otherwise, just close the window.

Tips

• You cannot postpone reminders that are specific to a channel.
• You cannot create recurring reminders for other team members.