Direct message basics

Learn how to use GreetBot’s most popular feature.

  • Written by Piotr Bakker
    Updated on May 1, 2021

The most popular way to greet new members is to send them a direct message after they join your workspace. It’s the perfect opportunity to make a great first impression and tell new members everything they need to know to hit the ground running.

What to cover

Typically, the kind of information that you might like to share would cover the following:

  • Community guidelines / Code of Conduct;
  • Slack etiquette;
  • Tips for getting started;
  • List of important channels;
  • Where to introduce yourself;
  • Links to documents and resources;
  • Contact information;
  • List of team admins.

Having access to these resources helps new joiners get up to speed quickly and experience less downtime during the orientation phase. It also frees senior team members from having to share this information by hand, enabling them to connect with new joiners on a more personal basis.

  • GreetBot
    Ahoy there @jamie👋 Great to have you with us, make yourself at home 🏠

    Get started by introducing yourself in the #intros channel. Tell us where you’re from, your area of expertise, and what you are up to. We are all super excited to meet you!

    Be sure to also join these channels:

    #announcements — information everyone should know;
    #team-hr — space for HR-related questions and requests;
    #exec-ama — ask a question and get an answer from the executive team;
    #random — water cooler talk and banter.

    If you have questions about using Slack you can ask in #help-slack or get in touch with @georgie for assistance 💪

Message GreetBot...

A greeting from GreetBot delivered with a direct message.

Configuration

To add a new direct message configuration go to the Message Schedule page and select “Add direct message” at the top of the page. You can choose for your message to be delivered immediately after new members join your workspace or with a delay.

Follow these steps:

  1. Sign in with Slack at greet.bot/account.
  2. From your Dashboard go to Message Schedule.
  3. At the top of the page select “Add direct message.”
  4. Choose who should receive your message and when it should be delivered.
  5. Type your message.
  6. Click on “Save message” to activate your configuration.

Formatting

You can customize your message with all the text formatting styles available on Slack, including emoji. Your message needs to be typed in plain text and formatted with markup, for example: *bold*,_italic_, or ~strikethrough~.

Availability

Setting up a direct message is available on all subscription plans. To schedule more than one direct message you will need the GreetBot Plus subscription plan. We also offer additional scheduling options for enterprise customers. Contact us at [email protected] if you’d like to get more information.