Dara’s Channels: A Short Guide

|| For Admins and Members

Hi there! This is part of a series of tips from us at Dara’s team, meant to make your experience on Dara a seamless one.

Let’s talk about Channels.

To start off, we’ll be going over what Dara’s Channels are, and why we use them.

Dara’s Channels: the What and Why

Channels are like Chat Groups, but come pre-made with a Dara Community. If you’re unsure of how Chat Groups and Channels differ, go here, however the major thing to remember is this: any Dara Member can create a Chat Group, however only Community Admins can create Channels.

Depending on a Channel’s settings, which we’ll get into in a bit, new Members to your Community may or may not be able to use it immediately.

We began using Channels at Dara to help streamline discussion around specific topics, and prevent discursion.

Generally, each Community has two pre-made Channels. These are:

Posts

Posts are for announcements by Admins within their Community.

These are Broadcast Channels, which means that they only work one-way — from Community Admins, to Community Members.

Additionally, Dara Partners also get a News Channel, in order to make announcements to all of their Members and Affiliates, across each of their Communities. These are also Broadcast Channels.

By default, we make Posts and News auto-join Channels, meaning new entrants to a Community will be automatically admitted into them.

Asks

Asks are used to request information or assistance.

Asks are Two-Way Channels, and Admins and Members can speak to each other here.

Partners can also decide whether they want a Chatter Channel instead of Asks, or if they’d like to have both made available. While Asks are more for getting help, Chatter Channels are meant for open discourse around various topics.

Moving along, let’s have a look at Channel Settings:

Public vs Private Channels

At the time of creating a Channel, Admins can decide whether they want it to be accessible to every Community Member, or if it should be made Private. Private Channels can only be accessed by Community Members who have been invited to join them.

This setting can always be changed later by an Admin.

Now, comes the how: Let’s have a look at creating Channels on Dara, in six simple steps.

Dara’s Channels: The How

Creating a new Channel on Dara is incredibly simple:

1. Just press the icon at the bottom left to get started. This should open up the Community you were last active on, and if you want to create a Channel for this Community, proceed to the next step, otherwise press the icon on the top left and select one of the other Communities you are a part of. Don’t see a Community you think you should be in? Write to us here.
2. Now, look through the list of Community Channels you have access to on the left and make sure the Channel you have in mind doesn’t exist already.
3. Press the Add Channel button at the bottom and think of a good name for your Channel. This name should indicate the Channel’s purpose, which you can elaborate on in the Description form.
4. Next, look at the Settings for your Channel and decide whether you want your Channel to be accessible to all Members of the Community, or Private.
5. Decide whether you want to keep the Channel’s notifications muted or not. Since you just made it, we recommend keeping notifications on so that you know whenever a new participant in your Channel want’s information or clarity regarding it.
6. Finally, upload a Channel Logo which will function as a small icon, and you’re done! Take a minute to double-check your Channel details and make sure you got everything right, and then it’s time to hit Create to send your very first Channel out into Dara’s world!

We hope this information helps you understand how Dara’s Channels work.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to support@dara.network if you have any questions or suggestions. Or, you can message Dara’s team directly on Dara here.

Our team is committed to giving you the best user experience.

-Dara’s team.