#Who uses DevMountain Slack? DevMountain has a fairly large community of people who use Slack: mentors, teachers, guests, students, and past students. Members should be mindful of other people's involvement in the DevMountain Slack community. Many mentors and guests are in different time zones, and most students need their sleep when they can get it (see: night owls or early birds). Please be aware of your local time and other users' local time when you are sending a message that will notify other members of the message. Most users have phone and/or email notifications (@channel (see below) and direct message) turned on.

#When Should I @Channel? Almost never. Especially in the community channels (lobby). Here are things to ask yourself before you send out a message using @channel:

• Is the building on fire? OR..
• Is this message important to everyone in this channel?
• Does this message directly impact everyone in this channel?
• Will this message wake anyone up? (Please consider time zones, time of day, etc.)
• Is this message somewhat time-sensitive to everyone in this channel?

##How do I Manage my Notifications? (@channel and DM Preferences)

1. Open Slack
2. Find the channel you want to manage notifications for
3. Click the # next to the search bar
4. Click "Channel notification preferences"
5. Manage

• If you are a student, it is recommended that you keep notifications turned on for 4 things: community (e.g. lobby), direct messages, your cohort channel (e.g. web-dm3 or ios3), and your mentor-group channel.
• If you are a mentor, it is recommended that you keep notification turned on for community (e.g. lobby), direct messages, your cohort channel and your mentor channel.

##What are all of the channels for?

• Lobby channel: code and community chat, important org-wide info. (Avoid using @channel unless everyone is affected)
• Cohort channels: things pertaining to your cohort. Assignments, assessments, announcements.
• Shipped: Announce when you ship software
• Other: The name and description will usually have more information on the purpose of the channel.

##Do I have to use Slack? Yes. Almost every day. Slack is DevMountain's main method of communication. You will miss out on questions, announcements, classroom location changes, funny images, and more.