Discord is a highly custom chat platform, so visiting and moderating servers can be a lot of information to take in. We’re going to cover some Discord basics that are a bit like table manners. When you walk into a new place, you want to make sure to check in with the hosts or ask about some rules or where the bathroom is. When you are in a new Discord server, you want to avoid faux pas like messaging @everyone or leaving your notifications set to default. We’ll walk through the Discord basics together.
Key Terminology:
Server: If the channels are rooms, the Server is the whole building. Usually a Discord Server will have a topic for everyone to gather on, like a video game or a chatroom for a Streamer. Within that Server, there may be many Channels with a variety of sub-topics.
Channel: One topic of conversation on a Server, which makes a “room in the house” where people can send messages publicly with each other on a topic. The topic is only in name, so a lot of Discord Servers will have users who are Moderators who can help with managing posts and remind users to stay on topic.
Moderator: Moderation is very important! Using Roles on your server, you can appoint trusted users to help you Moderate a Server so they can delete messages and manage various parts of the server, based on the Permissions you give to them.
Roles: Can be used to label each user, or assign them Permissions. These are totally custom and unique to each server, so you can assign Roles to your friends like “Moderator” or like “Dunce” depending on how you set them up.
Bots: Pre-programmed scripts that run on a server to do specific things, sort of like ’employees’ on a server that have certain jobs. Might react to certain !commands or help with giving Roles to users.
Permissions: Can be complex, but these allow you to let some users see certain channels, and block other users from viewing unless they have the right Role. Permissions cannot be assigned if you don’t make some kind of Role first.
Emojis/ Reactions: Beyond the standard set, each Discord Server can have custom Emojis. Just open your Server Settings and upload transparent images. These can be used within message text, or used as Reactions to messages. Users with Discord Nitro get animated emojis.
Notifications: Indicators that appear from each Channel in a Server that show when new messages are posted. Each Server and Channel have their own Notification Settings, so it’s very good to check Notification Settings when you join a new server. Messages addressed to the whole server will override your personal settings!
Quick 2-min tutorial for fixing Discord notifications on a mobile device. Click the channel name or the (…) to find the settings. A popup will appear with a bell icon for the Notification settings. We recommend setting your notifications to @-mentions so people can still notify you directly in a channel.
Discord can be intimidating for anyone, even if they have used chatrooms in the past!
Traditionally, one might visit a forum website to explore many different topics of conversation like shared stories or images. Servers on Discord open up into Channels that work very similarly, sort of like forums mixed with live chat tools, since each Discord Server can have multiple Channels to manage topics of conversation. You will see new messages from other users in a Channel appear in real-time as they send them, so it can help you to start creating Private Channels if you have a few users on your server when you make edits. You can change a Private Channel into public once you’re ready for other users to see that Channel. Private Channels can also help you send yourself images and other notes, and since it’s Private then only the server owner can see that Channel.
Based on your Role, you may not be able to see all the Channels when you visit a new server, so sometimes you’ll have to “Select a Role” by interacting with a message (see example above) since there might be bots on this server that help assign roles. A lot of servers will have a “General” Channel, but then have separate Channels for “Introductions” or “Rules” to make sure people behave in a Server. Plus, this can help with funneling users into the right Channels based on their Role.
If you need ideas for some Channels on your own server, try to always think about your audience and your goals. What do you want people to talk about? I save a lot of art references so I made channels to help me share that. I also made a “rage room” for people to vent, and that’s ironically one of my most popular chatrooms, but I also want people to “Share your stuff” so I post some of my own drawings on that Channel to try and inspire people.
Remember to check for Pinned Messages and change your Notification Settings on each new server you join!
Now that you’re in a Server and chosen a Role, you should see a lot of Channels. This is a really good time to review your Notification Settings for the Channels you want to see, and try to turn off or set notifications to “Only messages @ me” so you aren’t overwhelmed! Just remember, messages addressed to the whole server will override your personal settings, so as a visitor you also generally want to avoid using the @everyone for the sake of courtesy.
This is also a great time to review any Pinned Messages that might be on the channels you have access to now! Pinned messages tend to have important information, like rules, great resources, or jokes. On desktop, the Channel Info Bar at the top will have a small pin icon you can use, but on Mobile you will tap the name of the Channel that you’re currently in, and a panel will appear with more information like the description of the channel and Pinned Messages (this is also where your Notification Settings are for each Channel on mobile).
Now you can start chatting in these Channels, or you have users making posts within your own Server. This is where it helps to consider Moderation as you continue to grow, and stay mindful of the rules and Moderators on other servers that you use. Discord Servers will have some basic Moderation tools available, but it will also help to explore your Roles and their Permissions so you can have Moderators who can delete posts etc, but then some other Roles who can do light moderating like adding Emojis. You can add lots of Roles on your Server!
Scale up your Server with your community Growth
Once you have these Discord basics and have a nice server for friends, you may consider opening up to a wider audience like having paid Patreon patrons access certain channels or add Bots to help you have more features and even minigames within your community. Your users might have their own recommendations for Bots, Emojis, Channels, and even Roles so you might even want to consider making an “Ideas” Channel for your growing community!
Since Discord is highly custom with many Servers to connect to, this one app has grown to be one of the most popular chats with gamers and all sorts of creators online. We won’t go beyond these Discord basics, but there are more advanced things involved with Moderation and Bots, plus you can even use the Streamkit to make a Talksprite for your videos and streams. Now that you’ve gone through the basics, you’re free to chat with your friends! Best of luck with your own server!
Join Grif’s Discord by subscribing for email updates– Discord and Email are leagues more reliable than social media for consistent updates, and you can actually manage your own notifications for these! Who needs the Tw*tter algorithm?
This post was written by Tessamack 🙂