First, you need to join the Ghostlight Slack!

Here is the link for that.

We strongly recommend working through this Slack module on your computer, rather than on your phone. While the functionality is essentially identical, more features/settings can be adjusted on the computer so let’s stick with that for now. 

Setting Up Your Profile

Time to add some basic info about yourself! This will help us all easily identify each other and start to learn each other's names, faces, and roles at camp.

Let’s set up your profile! Click on the avatar in the bottom left corner, then click Profile.

Photo: Please add a clear, close-up photo of your face. This will help everyone put names to faces leading up to camp and in our first couple of days together.

Full Name: Please make sure your name is spelled correctly.

Display Name: Please put only your first name—whatever name you'd like us to use this summer! (If we've got a shared name situation, then adding a last initial is great.)

Title: Add your job title!

Pronouns: Add your pronouns!

Name Pronunciation: (optional) Feel free to add a guide for how to pronounce your name. There is even a spot to record an audio clip!

Time Zone: This should automatically update to Eastern Time when you arrive at camp. 

Contact Info: Please add your email address and phone number to Slack. These are helpful secondary modes of communication, if we need to use them.

Sending Messages

Messaging happens in channels and in direct messages (DMs). You can see your list of channels and DMs in the left sidebar. Channels are how we divide up camp into our respective teams. Currently, you might only see the #full-staff channel, but eventually you’ll be added to all of your relevant channels (e.g. #counselors or #production). In the message box, you can do all the standard things like formatting, using the @ symbol to ping someone, and using emojis.

Let’s practice sending a message! Go to the #full-staff channel and send a message to everyone saying hi and where you’ll be traveling from on your way to camp. Maybe drop your favorite emoji too! 

Replying in a Thread

Threads are a helpful way to keep things organized. If you hover your mouse over a message, you’ll see a menu of icons on the right side of the screen. Click on the icon of a speech bubble and a sidebar will open with a message box. The best part of replying in a thread is that only the person who wrote the original message will be notified (along with anyone else who has responded in the thread). Think of this like a side conversation that can happen in a channel if everyone doesn’t need to be involved.

Let’s practice replying in a thread! Pick a message in the #full-staff channel and send a reply saying hi!

Settings 

There are a ton of different settings you can adjust in Slack, so let’s walk through just a few key ones. You can access Settings by clicking on your picture in the bottom left, then selecting Settings.

Availability: Change the Allow Notifications settings to Every Day 12:00 AM to Midnight. You can always use Do Not Disturb on your phone/computer, but best to have Slack set to always send you notifications, in case we’re sending a #full-staff message! 

Notifications: Set the “When you’re not active on desktop…” option to “As soon as I’m inactive.” During the summer when we’re more frequently switching between our phones and computers, we want to make sure notifications come through.

Appearance: If you want the camp colors in your Slack, you can use #0D2D4E for our Blue and #EA6426 for our Orange!

Messages and Media: A fun place to do some emoji customization!

Accessibility: This is the place to toggle on/off any accessibility features you’d like.

Advanced: This one is small but mighty—the “When writing a message, press ENTER to”...either send the message or start a new line (use CMD+ENTER to send). Always curious to know which one people prefer…