Channels are where your team's work happens in Tandem App. Each one has its own chat, task board, files and list of people. A channel is either public or private, and choosing the right one decides who can find it. This guide explains the difference and how to create, change and archive channels.

Public or private?

  • Public — anyone on the team can find it and join. Guests can't join by themselves; they must be added. Good for teams, topics and company-wide news: #general, #marketing, #help.
  • Private — hidden from members and guests who aren't in it. People are added by hand, and only by whoever created the channel. Good for client work, hiring or anything sensitive.

Owners and admins can open every channel, private ones included. A channel that has a guest in it is clearly labelled, so your team always knows when people from outside can read along.

Creating a channel

Owners and admins create channels. Members who need one should ask.

  1. Click All channels in the sidebar.
  2. Under Create a channel, enter a name, for example client-acme.
  3. Optionally fill in What is it for? This shows under the channel's name.
  4. Under Who can join, choose public or private.
  5. Click Create channel, then add people from the channel's People tab.

Joining and leaving

Members see Browse channels in the sidebar, which lists every public channel. Click Join on any of them. Private channels only appear once you've been added.

To leave, open the channel's People tab and choose Leave this channel. If it's private, you'll need to be added again to come back.

Changing a channel's settings

Owners and admins manage a channel from Channel settings on its People tab:

  • Rename it. Renaming keeps existing links working.
  • Change the description. Anyone who manages the channel can also type /topic followed by the new description in the message box.
  • Switch between public and private. Only the channel's creator can do this. Making a private channel public lets everyone on the team join and read everything already in it, so think before you switch.
  • Remove people from the channel.

Archiving a channel

When a project finishes, archive its channel rather than letting it clutter everyone's sidebar. Use Archive channel on the People tab.

  • Archiving hides the channel from everyone in it, and nobody can post until it is restored.
  • Nothing is deleted: messages, tasks and files stay as they were.
  • Owners and admins can still open it, and Restore channel brings it back at any time.

Naming tips

  • Use prefixes so related channels sit together: client-, proj-, team-.
  • Keep internal discussion about a client in a separate channel from the one the client is in.
  • Give noisy automated posts their own channel so people can mute it.

For one-to-one or small-group conversations that don't need a channel, use direct and group messages. To bring a client into a channel, see working with clients as guests.