The WPCampus Slack workspace

How to join our Slack

Use our membership form to join our Slack account.

We do not allow invites through the Slack app itself and require all participants to join via our website. This process requires everyone to agree to our Code of Conduct.

If you’d like to invite others, the more the merrier! Simply ask them to join through our membership form.

Populate your Slack profile

Populating your Slack profile is a great way to introduce yourself to the community and is vital for how we interact and connect. Be mindful to provide concise and relevant information.

1. Upload a profile photo (optional)
   1. Help others put a face to your online communication
   2. Headshots are preferred
   3. If you do not wish to upload a photo of yourself, perhaps a photo of your beloved pet or school logo? Something that will make your account personalized.
2. Provide your display name (or preferred name)
   1. Some members like to use this space to include their pronouns, e.g. “Rachel Cherry (She/her)”
   2. You can also include your pronouns under “What I do”
3. Follow our format for “What I Do”:
   1. {Position}, {University or other Organization}. {List a few topics you’re most interested in} {Other relevant info, e.g. pronouns}

Design a custom Slack color theme

If you go to your Slack Preferences and navigate to the Themes menu item, there’s a section for “Custom Theme” at the bottom of the screen. Paste the following combination of hexadecimal colors for your own custom theme of WPCampus colors.

Introduce yourself

We encourage all new members to say hello and share a little bit about themselves in our #introductions channel.

It’s a great way for everyone to learn about new members and for you to introduce yourself to our workspace.

Find the right channels

With so many unique conversations, we aim to keep topics segmented into topic-focused channels.

View our complete channels list to find the channel that’s right for your question or area of focus.

Create a new channel

Don’t see a channel for your topic? Create your own Slack channel!

Slack channel guidelines

1. All channels must have a description.
   • So other members can easily decide if your new channel is the right place for them!
2. All channel names must follow our Slack guidelines, which includes our Code of Conduct.

When a channel is created, a notification is sent to our Slack administrators. If we feel your channel is not in the best interest of our community or does not follow our guidelines, we reserve the right to delete or modify your channel. We will contact you if we feel this action is necessary.

Use emojis

The WPCampus community loves emojis. We use emoji to express emotion and sometimes even to vote on community matters.

The more active you become in our Slack workspace, the more familiar you will become with our emoji culture.

WPCampus emojis

:eduwapuu:, :Truck Sheep: (1 and 2), :wpcampus:

How to use emoji

• Learn how to use emoji
• Add your own emoji

Slack emoji guidelines

• All emoji must follow our Slack guidelines, which includes our Code of Conduct.

When an emoji is created, a notification is sent to our Slack administrators. If we feel your emoji is not in the best interest of our community or does not follow our guidelines, we reserve the right to delete or modify your emoji. We will contact you if we feel this action is necessary.

Guidelines for the WPCampus Slack workspace

These guidelines help ensure everyone has an enjoyable, productive, and safe experience.

For all audiences

• Follow the WPCampus Code of Conduct
• Be mindful of using inclusive language
• Be constructive
• Spamming public or private channels or direct messages is not allowed
• Sending “cold” or unsolicited messages to other users in the workspace is not allowed
  • The best way to get involved with this group and connect is to ask questions and join conversations that take place in public channels.

For vendors

You are more than welcome to be active in our community and engage with other members in our Slack account. We value your wisdom and experience as much as any other member.

However, you are not allowed to use our Slack workspace to send “cold” messages and sell your product.

We encourage you to join conversations and follow along. If someone mentions your product or a need for your product, respond (in public) and let them know you’re available to help, and they can send you a message if interested. This allows the other members to take the initiative.

We recommend that vendors set up Slack keyword notifications for their product names and other related terms, so they can quickly join relevant discussions.

Inclusive language

Every kind of communication can lead to misunderstandings, especially when the communication is primarily virtual and consists of mostly text. Slack conversations, like nonverbal cues, facial expressions, and body language, can easily lack nuance. While emojis, GIFs, etc. can help, Slack’s format makes it all too easy to write in a way that can confuse intent and unintentionally marginalize or ostracize individuals or groups.

Our Slackbot

We’ve customized our Slack account, so we can easily share a reminder when we feel a member has communicated in a way that may marginalize another member.

Reminders won’t appear all the time, but if one is added to your conversation, please understand that it is not meant to blame or shame. We recognize that the majority of instances are not intentional and are most likely born from habit. These reminders are a nudge in the direction of continually improving our community, to better support our diverse population, and to include all voices in the conversation.

Our guidelines

The following guidelines help us maintain an environment of respect and mutuality while communicating with each other:

• Use people-first language, meaning in your word order. For example, instead of talking about your blind friend, refer to them as your friend who is blind. In fact, avoid sharing others’ personal characteristics (gender, race, religion, ethnicity, physicality, etc.) unless they’re directly pertinent to the conversation. Before disclosing this information, ask yourself how it advances the conversation for others to know your friend is blind at this moment?
• Refer to others in the same way they talk about themselves. This includes their pronouns, preferred name, and other aspects of their identity. If you’re unsure, you can refer to their Slack profile, search Slack for context in prior conversations (“@[username]” or “from:@[username]”), or ask for clarification in a private message.
• Avoid talking about others as victims. Phrases like “suffering with” or “challenged by” may seem more polite than other options, but they can encourage or foster pity or condescension toward the person described by your language as well as shame or embarrassment on the part of that person. As in previous bullet points, put the person and their perspective first. Ask yourself whether you know enough about the other person’s situation to judge whether, in the context of your conversation, they are disadvantaged.
• While using terms like “crazy” or “insane” are common colloquially, doing so can minimize the impact of mental health. When describing the intensity of a situation, use terms like “strenuous”, “incredible”, “lucky”, “unlikely”, or “atypical” instead. Similarly, describing circumstances as “normal” or “basic” can unintentionally shame those experiencing them otherwise.
• Be mindful of the diversity within our group. Instead of greeting people with a “Hi, guys,” consider “Hello, everyone.” Coming up with an appropriate alternative term is welcome, e.g. “earthlings” or “Truck Sheepers”. Instead of making the claim that “we all love karaoke,” stick with “many of us love karaoke.”

For more on inclusive language

• https://open.buffer.com/inclusive-language-tech/
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People-first_language

If you witness or are subject to unacceptable behavior

Any and all interactions in our community, including our Slack account, are governed by our Code of Conduct. If you witness or are subject to unacceptable behavior, please contact one of our Slack administrators or use our contact form.

Submit an anonymous report

If preferable, you can submit an anonymous conduct report.