Replying publicly on Slack
Jan Ustohal avatar
Written by Jan Ustohal
Updated over a week ago

For Slack requests that originated from a public channel (e.g. #ask-office or #hr-berlin) you now have the option to not only communicate directly with the requester, but also to send a message into a thread under the original message.

When a request is created in a public channel on Slack, the channel name is displayed in the header to help you navigate where exactly the request came from.

The channel detail will not be shown for requests created from direct messages to the Back bot, in private groups, or through message actions.

Choosing reply type

When Reply is selected as the message type, you are able to select how and to whom you want to send the message.

  • Selecting Send public reply will trigger a confirmation dialog, where you can further decide whether to send your reply only publicly, or whether you also want to send it to the requester.

  • Selecting Send reply will send your reply only to the requester.

Messages sent to requester are always using their channel of choice, regardless of whether you also send the reply publicly.

Please note that any files you attach the reply will only be accessible by the requester and WILL NOT be shared into the public channel.

Identifying public replies

If you want to later see which replies were shared publicly, simply look for the 🌏 symbol below the comment. You can find the details when you hover the information below the comment.

Replies on Slack

Public replies are added to the thread under the original message that triggered creation of the request.

As with replies to the requester, the messages are sent in the name of the expert, using their Slack avatar (when available).

IMPORTANT: This is currently only a one-way communication channel, i.e. other employees cannot participate in the request by commenting on the thread.
Only the requester can add comments by commenting on the thread in their DM with the Back bot.

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