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Channels

Updated till version 2.6

VNCchannels is a collaborative space where you can store data, structure information by topics, and generate knowledge. With the right people and information in one place, teams can share ideas, come to conclusions, reach decisions, and move forward with a common purpose.

Each channel has the following components:

  1. Unread Topics Count: Shows the number of unread topics in the channel. The image next to it is the channel’s avatar.
  2. Channel Details: Displays the name of the channel and its description (if provided by the channel creator).
  3. Unread & total topic count: The left figure indicates the unread topics, while the right shows the total number of topics in the channel.
  4. Channel type badge: A symbolic representation of what the channel type is.
  5. Subscription badge: Indicates a subscription to the channel.
  6. Notification center: Allows muting all notifications within the channel.
  7. Additional menu: Guides to various options for managing the channel, such as guides to various options for managing the channel, such as pinning a channel, sharing it, accessing channel information, adding it to favorites, or adjusting notification preferences.
  8. Topic customization: Located in the upper right corner of the top channel menu, the topic customization icon allows adjusting how topics are displayed.
  9. Filters: Provides customization options to search for specific topics within the channel.
  10. Central section of channel: Offers quick access to all topics created within the channel and the ability to create new ones.

Public, private, intranet, extranet, and iOM channels

You cannot convert a public channel into a private, extranet, or intranet channel and vice versa.

There are 5 types of channels: Public, Private, Extranet, Intranet, and iOM.

  • Public channel is viewable to everyone in your team/ organization. Team members can see the channel when they browse channels, and they can join the channel if they feel that the topic is relevant to them. Public channels are those with the following icon on the avatar.
  • Private channel is visible to invited team/ organization members. It will not appear in the list of a team’s browsable channels. Private channels are those with a lock icon on the avatar.
  • Extranet channel is for collaborating with users of the same domain and connected IOM instances. Extranet channels are those with the following icon on the avatar.
  • Intranet channel is for collaborating with domain users. Only people who are moderators or members of an intranet channel can access it, so you must be invited to join one. Intranet channels are those with the following icon on the avatar.
  • IOM channel is used to collaborate with users of the same and connected IOM instances, providing access to shared data. IOM channels are those with the following icon on the avatar.

Filter channels

VNCchannels has the following chips to filter channels:

  • All channels. This is the place where you can find all the channels: public, private, favorite, and channels you create and are subscribed to.
  • Public. The chip is used to filter all the channels that are available for public viewing.
  • Private. The chip is used to filter all the channels that are available only for a specific audience.
  • iOM. The chip is used to filter all the iOM channels you subscribe to.
  • Subscribed. The chip is used to filter all the channels you are subscribed to.
  • Favorites. The chip is used to filter all the channels you mark as "favorite".
  • My channels. The chip is used to filter all the channels you create.
  • Intranet. The chip is used to filter all intranet channels.
  • Extranet. The chip is used to filter all extranet channels.

Grant access to a private channel

Channel admins will have to approve participation requests before someone can join the channel. If a user is not a participant in the private channel, they will not be able to access that private channel. Tapping the private channel’s URL will result in a “Request access” screen.

  • If a user is granted a private topic’s access in a private channel to which the user does not already have access, the user will get access to both: the private channel and the private topic.
  • All public and private topics along with the private channel should be hidden from the user if revoked private channel’s access by the admin or unsubscribed from the private channel from the user’s end.

There are 2 ways to grant access to a private channel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to grant access.
  2. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.
  3. Navigate to the Users tab.
  4. Under the Pending external users approval section, you can see a list of access requests. Tap the checkmark icon next to the user you want to add to the channel.
  5. The private channel in the channel listing will appear immediately when the request is approved. The user will be notified via notifications about the granted access.

Once a channel admin has granted someone access, they can access that channel’s resources, add comments, and create a new topic.

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.
  4. The following steps are the same as for the first way of granting access to a private channel.

Create a channel

  1. Navigate to Channels.
  2. Tap the plus icon at the bottom and select Channel.

  3. Give the channel a name.

    • (Optional) Tap the camera icon to add a channel image. Tap Upload and select an image from your device, crop it, and then tap Save.

  4. Tap the plus icon to add participants to your channel.

  5. (Optional) Under the Settings section, you can add tags. Once done, tap the checkmark icon in the upper right corner to save all of the changes.
  6. Under the Type section, choose a channel type.
  7. (Optional) Tap Add description and enter an optional description.
  8. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

You should see the notification stating "Channel created".

Access channel information

Channel information can be accessed in two ways:

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to access information.
  2. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.

The table outlines various aspects of channel management, detailing the roles, options, and tabs available within a channel information pane:

Channel details Description
Members The channel user list includes the author, moderators, and all participants. Note that only 6 participants and the bubble containing the general number of channel participants are visible in the channel info. To see all participants, navigate to the Users tab.
Actions
Add a user to the channel* Invite new users to join the channel to participate in discussions and activities.
Remove a user from the channel* Remove users from the channel to limit access or remove inactive participants.
Change the user's role* Assign a different role to a user, such as promoting them to a moderator or downgrading to a participant.
Update the channel image* Add or change the channel image to make it more recognizable and visually appealing.
Search a user within a channel Use filters, chips, and the search field to quickly narrow down and find specific users within the channel.
View profile information A tap on the kebab icon in the participant list allows viewing participant profile information.
Work with files Share files, download them, and rename them as needed.
Tabs
Info Displays the channel description and tags added by the channel author, visible below the channel name and avatar.
Files A collection of all images, videos, and documents shared within the channel.
Users Shows the list of participants currently in the channel.

These actions are available only for channel author and channel moderator. [^]*

Add a user to a channel

Only Channel Moderator can add users to channels.

There are 2 ways to add a user to a channel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to add a user.
  2. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.
  3. Tap the plus icon .
  4. Select or search for a required user(s) and tap them.
  5. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.
  4. The following steps are the same as for the first way of adding a user to a channel.

Remove a user from a channel

Only Channel Moderator can add users to channels.

There are 2 ways to remove a user from a channel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to delete a user.
  2. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.
  3. Tap the plus icon .
  4. Remove the tick next to a required user.
  5. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

Way 2. From the "Channel Info" page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.
  4. Navigate to the Users tab. Here, you can toggle between viewing All or Active users in the channel.
  5. Tap a user and then the kebab menu icon .
  6. Select Remove User from the dropdown menu.

Change a user's role

Each member of a channel has a specific role. Based on these roles, permissions can be enabled for users.

There are 3 roles that users can be categorized into Author, Moderator, and Participant.

  • Author. Author is the creator of the channel and can perform all actions in a channel.
  • Moderator. Moderator is next to the authors and the role of a moderator is assigned to users by the author.
  • Participant. All the other users in the channel are considered regular users.

Authors can assign a role to any member and even change it later on.

There are 2 ways to change a user's role.

Way 1. From the "Info" page.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to add a user.
  2. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.
  3. Navigate to the Users tab. Here, you can toggle between viewing All or Active users in the channel.
  4. Tap a user and then the kebab menu icon .

  5. Select one of the options from the dropdown menu:

    • Make a moderator if a user has a participant role.
    • Make a participant if a user is a moderator.

  6. When prompted, tap Confirm to confirm that you want to change a user's role.

Way 1. From the "Add participant" page.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to add a user.
  2. Select Channel Info from the dropdown menu.
  3. Tap the plus icon .
  4. Select or search for a required user and then tap the user's role beneath their name. Select a required role - Moderator or Participant.
  5. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

Create a subchannel

Subchannels allow you to intelligently organize related channels. For example, a "Marketing" channel might have "Content Marketing", "Digital Marketing", and "Brand Strategy" as sub-channels.

  • You can create, update, delete, pin, and edit subchannels within a channel.
  • To change the parent channel, tap the Parent Channel dropdown and select the desired parent channel when creating or editing a subchannel.

There are 3 ways to create a subchannel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to create a sub-channel.
  2. Select Add a subchannel from the dropdown menu.
  3. Tap Inherit users to automatically include participants from the parent channel. You can also manually add new participants to this subchannel by tapping the plus icon .
  4. The further steps are the same as for creating a channel. Refer to the "Create a channel" section for the step-by-step guide.

You should see the created subchannel under the Subchannel section on the channel home page.

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Add a subchannel from the dropdown menu.
  4. The further steps are the same as for the first way of creating a subchannel.

Way 3. Using the plus icon.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. Tap the plus icon beneath the searh field.
  3. The further steps are the same as for the first way of creating a subchannel.

Pin a channel

Some channels deserve to be prioritized and viewed at a glance.

The pin channel feature allows you to pin specific channels to the top of your channels list so you can quickly find them. You can select up to 5 channels to pin at once.

There are 2 ways to pin a channel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to pin.
  2. Select Pin channel from the dropdown menu.
  3. To unpin a channel, tap and hold a channel you want to unpin and then select Unpin channel.

You should see the pin badge next to the channel.

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Pin channel from the dropdown menu.
  4. To unpin a channel, tap the kebab menu icon again and then Unpin channel.

Add a channel to the "Favorite" list

You can mark channels as favorites to make them easy to find.

  • After adding a channel to the "Favorite" list, the favorite badge will appear beneath the channel name in the channel list.
  • You can view your favorite channels by tapping the "Favorite" chip, where you will see a list of channels you've marked as a favorite.

There are 2 ways to add a channel to favorites.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to mark as a favorite.
  2. Select Add to Favorites from the dropdown menu.
  3. To remove a channel from the "Favorites" list, tap and hold a channel you want to delete from the "Favorite" list and select Remove from Favorites.

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Add to Favorites from the dropdown menu.
  4. To remove a channel from the "Favorites" list, tap the kebab menu icon again and then Remove from Favorites.

Edit a channel

Only Channels Moderator can edit channels information.

There are 2 ways to edit a channel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to edit.
  2. Select Edit Channel from the dropdown menu.
  3. Make required changes.
  4. In the upper right corner, tap the checkmark icon .

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Edit Channel from the dropdown menu.
  4. The following steps are the same as for the first way of editing a channel.

There are 2 ways to edit a channel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to copy a link.
  2. Select Copy link from the dropdown menu.

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Copy link from the dropdown menu.

Subscribe to a channel

There are 2 ways to subscribe to a channel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to subscribe to.
  2. Select Subscribe to the channel from the dropdown menu.
  3. To unsubscribe from the channel, tap and hold a channel you want to subscribe to and then select Unsubscribe from the channel.

Once subscribed, the channel will display a subscription badge on the channel name, indicating that you will receive notifications about all updates within the channel.

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Subscribe to the channel from the dropdown menu.
  4. To unsubscribe from the channel, tap the kebab menu icon again and then Unsubscribe from the channel.

Mute a channel

There are 2 ways to mute a channel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to mute.
  2. Select Mute channel from the dropdown menu.
  3. To unmute the channel, tap and hold a channel you want to unmute and then select Unmute channel.

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Mute channel from the dropdown menu.
  4. To unmute the channel, tap the kebab menu icon again and then Unmute channel.

There are 2 ways to send a channel link.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to share.
  2. Select Send to from the dropdown menu.
  3. In the Send to pop-up, enter the name of the person you want to forward a channel to or choose from the suggested account list.
  4. You have the option to add a comment to your message.
  5. Tap Send.

You should see the notification stating "Link sent".

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Send to from the dropdown menu.
  4. The following steps are the same as for the first way of sending a channel link.

Archive a channel

Only Moderators can archive/ unarchive channels at any time. Participants can still visit an archived channel, but won't be able to make any changes in that channel.

Archiving channels allows you to better organize and visualize channels. When you archive a channel, it will no longer appear in your Channels list.

  • Archiving a channel doesn't delete the channel.
  • You will not receive notifications for archived channels unless you're mentioned or replied to.

There are 2 ways to archive a channel.

Way 1. From the list of channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to archive.
  2. Select Archive channel from the dropdown menu.
  3. Tap Archive to confirm that you want to archive the channel.

Way 2. From the channel home page.

  1. Open a channel.
  2. In the upper right corner, tap the kebab menu icon .
  3. Select Archive channel.
  4. The following steps are the same as for the first way of archiving the channel.

Delete a channel

Only Channels Moderator can delete channels.

  1. Tap and hold a channel you want to delete.
  2. Select Delete channel from the dropdown menu.
  3. Tap Delete to confirm that you want to delete the channel.

You should see the notification stating "Channel deleted".

Search for a channel

  1. Navigate to Channels.
  2. Type a keyword into the search box above a list of channels.
  3. When results appear, toggle between "Channels", "IOM", and "Topics".
  4. To open a result, tap it.