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# Getting your organization started with Zulip # Getting your organization started with Zulip
This comprehensive guide explains in detail everything that the Use this as a checklist to get your organization off to a great start.
administrator of a new Zulip organization needs to know to get off to a
great start with Zulip.
## Configure your Zulip organization ## Organization settings
Review and potentially * Set a policy for [who can join the organization](/help/manage-who-can-join-and-invite).
[tweak the organization settings](/help/review-your-organization-settings)
to match your organizations needs.
- Set a policy for who can join the organization. If youre setting * Configure [allowed authentication methods](/help/configure-authentication-methods).
up Zulip for your company, you can restrict new users to those from
your companys email domain. You can also allow new users to join
without being explicitly invited.
- Add an organization [icon and description](/help/create-your-organization-profile) for Zulip to * Add an organization [icon and description](/help/create-your-organization-profile) to
customize your login/registration pages as well as how your customize your login/registration pages as well as how your
organization appears in the desktop and mobile apps. organization appears in the desktop and mobile apps.
* Do a [quick review](/help/review-your-organization-settings)
of all the organization settings available.
## Create streams ## Create streams
Most communication in Zulip happens in streams, and the streams you Most messages in Zulip are sent to streams. Streams are similar to chat
create can help encourage types of conversations youd like to see rooms, email lists, and IRC/Slack channels, in that they determine who
happen in your organization. Streams are similar to chat rooms, email
lists, or channels in IRC or Slack, in that they determine who
receives a message. A few important notes: receives a message. A few important notes:
- For small teams, it's often good to start with a small number of streams, * It's often better to start with fewer streams, and let the number of
and let the number of streams grow organically. streams grow organically. For small teams, you can start with the default
- You can use any character in stream names, including spaces and streams and iterate from there.
characters from non-Latin alphabets.
- You can
[set the default streams](/help/set-default-streams-for-new-users)
new organization members are subscribed to when they join.
The most important thing to do when naming your streams is to help * For very large organizations, we recommend using a consistent naming
instill and support the culture you want to have in your organization. scheme, like `#marketing/<name>` or `#mk/<name>` for all streams
pertaining to the marketing team, `#help/<team name>` for
`<team name>`'s internal support stream, etc.
- If your team is small, you can start with the default streams and * Add clear descriptions to your streams.
iterate from there.
- For larger organizations, it can be helpful to have a consistent,
documented naming scheme. For example, help forums might have names
like `help/git`, `help/javascript`, etc., so that they appear
together in the left sidebar.
[Slacks article on channel naming](https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/217626408-Organize-and-name-channels)
has a lengthy version of this advice.
- Add clear descriptions to your streams.
These articles contain great ideas for streams you might want to create Some relevant help articles are
in your organization:
- [How the Recurse Center uses Zulip](https://www.recurse.com/blog/112-how-rc-uses-zulip) * [Create a stream](/help/create-a-stream)
- [The Zulip community](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/contributing/chat-zulip-org.html#streams)
## Understanding topics * [Set the default streams](/help/set-default-streams-for-new-users)
for new members.
Zulips topics are life-changing, but it can take a bit of time for * [Rename a stream](/help/rename-a-stream)
everyone to learn how to use them effectively. Expect there to be a
few rough edges at the beginning as people learn how to use topics
effectively.
- Topics play the role of the subject line in an email. They allow for ## Understand topics
long-running conversations, and make sure the discussion about the
new logo design isnt interrupted by lunch plans or scheduling for Zulips topics are life-changing, but it can take a bit of time for everyone
the offsite. to learn how to use them effectively. It helps a lot if there are at least a
- Though the analogy to email subject lines is strong, topics in Zulip few people who understand the conversation model at the beginning.
should be short, e.g. “logo” or “logo design”, not “Thoughts about
the new logo design”. * Read our [guide to streams and topics](/help/about-streams-and-topics),
- Topics really shine for asynchronous communication. and send it out to a few people who you think would be good stewards of
- When starting a new conversation, use a new topic, just like you the organization.
would when starting an email thread.
- In the left sidebar, Zulip will by default show the 5 most recent * If you're unsure at all, create an account on the
topics in a stream as well as any topics with unread messages. You [Zulip community server](https://chat.zulip.org) and see what topics look
don't need to do anything to "archive" old topics -- they will like there.
naturally disappear from recent topics when other topics replace
them as the most recent. ## Set up integrations
Zulip integrates directly with dozens of products, and hundreds more through
[Zapier](/integrations/doc/zapier) and [IFTTT](/integrations/doc/ifttt).
The [integrations page](/integrations) has instructions for integrating with
each product.
## Familiarize yourself with Zulips featureset ## Familiarize yourself with Zulips featureset
As the administrator of your Zulip organization, you'll be the initial As the administrator of your Zulip organization, you'll be the initial
expert teaching other users how to use Zulip. It's valuable for you expert teaching other users how to use Zulip.
to familiarize with Zulips featureset so you can point other users to
what they're looking for.
- Check out the keyboard shortcuts, message formatting, and search * [Review your settings](/help/review-your-settings), and skim the article
operators, available via the gear menu in the upper right of the names here on the left sidebar.
app.
- Check out the settings, organization settings, and this * Learn the basic [keyboard shortcuts](/help/keyboard-shortcuts) (`n`, `r`, `c`, and `End`).
documentation site to browse user and administration options.
- If you can't figure out how to do something important, ask * Bonus: learn [Markdown message formatting](/help/format-your-message-using-markdown).
[support@zulipchat.com](mailto:support@zulipchat.com) about the
feature. It might already exist, and if not, we love hearing about * If anything is confusing or feels missing, tweet `@zulip`, ask on the
what features people want! [Zulip community server](https://chat.zulip.org), or email
[support@zulipchat.com](mailto:support@zulipchat.com). We love hearing
from new administrators!
## Invite users and onboard your community ## Invite users and onboard your community
- If you wish to delete messages before starting onboarding, hover over a * [Delete any test messages](/help/edit-or-delete-a-message#delete-a-message-completely)
message and click on the 'message actions' menu on the far right, then select you want to delete.
'delete message'. * Use the `#zulip` stream to answer questions and share tips on how to use
- Use the “#zulip” stream to share tips on how to use Zulip Zulip effectively.
effectively. * If you have an existing chat tool, make sure everyone knows that the
- If you have an existing chat tool, make sure everyone knows that the
team is switching, and why. The team should commit to use Zulip team is switching, and why. The team should commit to use Zulip
exclusively **for at least a week** to make an effective trial; exclusively **for at least a week** to make an effective trial;
stragglers will result in everyone having a bad experience. stragglers will result in everyone having a bad experience.
- Help your users get used to following topics and creating new ones * If [community topic edits](/help/community-topic-edits) are enabled,
when they start a new conversation. It usually takes a few encourage a few people to help rename topics for the first few days, while
conversations to get used to topics, but once they do, theyll never everyone is still getting used to the new conversation model.
want to go back! Using Zulips topic editing features to correct
mistakes can help minimize confusion.
If your organization is large,
[Slack's guide](https://get.slack.help/hc/en-us/articles/115004378828-Onboard-your-company-to-Slack-)
for how to effectively roll out a new chat solution at a large company
in stages is great advice.
## Set up integrations
Zulip integrates directly with dozens of products, including all major
version control and issue tracking tools, and indirectly with hundreds
more through [Hubot](/integrations/doc/hubot), [Zapier](/integrations/doc/zapier),
and [IFTTT](/integrations/doc/ifttt). Set up notifications for the products
you use! A few recommendations:
- A products logo is a great choice of avatar for an integration with
that product.
- For internal tools, find a cute icon for the avatar!
- Pay attention to how your integrations are configured. If
increasing activity means an integration becomes spammy, consider
moving it to its own stream or configuring it to only send
notifications for a subset of events.
## Bonus things to setup ## Bonus things to setup
- [Link to your Zulip instance](/help/join-zulip-chat-badge) from your * [Add custom profile fields](/help/add-custom-profile-fields)
GitHub or wiki page with a nice badge.
- [Automatically linkify](/help/add-a-custom-linkification-filter) - [Automatically linkify](/help/add-a-custom-linkification-filter)
issue numbers and commit IDs. issue numbers.
- [Write custom integrations](https://zulipchat.com/api/integration-guide) - [Write custom integrations](https://zulipchat.com/api/integration-guide)
for your communitys unique tools. for your teams workflow.
- If your users primarily speak a language other than English, - If your users primarily speak a language other than English,
[set a default language for your organization](/help/change-the-default-language-for-your-organization). [set a default language for your organization](/help/change-the-default-language-for-your-organization).
- [Add custom emoji](/help/add-custom-emoji) for culturally important - [Add custom emoji](/help/add-custom-emoji), at the very least for
images, at the very least including your organization's logo. your organization's logo.
- Link to your Zulip instance with a [nice badge](/help/join-zulip-chat-badge).
- Send feedback to the Zulip development community! We love hearing - Send feedback to the Zulip development community! We love hearing
about problems (however minor) and feature ideas that could make about problems (however minor) and feature ideas that could make
Zulip even better. Zulip even better.
## Managing your Zulip community
Here are some tips for improving the organization of your Zulip community over time:
- If users are confused about which stream to use for what, consider
renaming streams to make the usage more obvious, and/or adding
descriptions to the streams.
- If a stream has too much happening on it, especially very different
things (for example, both short, important announcements and long,
low-importance discussions), consider splitting it. You can do this
easily by copying the membership of the existing stream when
creating a new stream.
- Periodically think about creating new streams for culture you want
to foster in your organization. For example, the Zulip development
community has a “learning” stream where people post links to great
resources they found, and the Recurse Center community has a
“Victory” stream for celebrating success.
- Periodically garbage-collect streams that are no longer
useful. Dont worry — if you delete a stream, the old stream history
is still searchable, and old links will still work.
- If youre running your own Zulip server,
[keep it up to date](https://zulip.readthedocs.io/en/latest/production/maintain-secure-upgrade.html)!