mirror of https://github.com/zulip/zulip.git
53 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
53 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
# Streams and topics
|
|
|
|
In Zulip, streams determine who gets a message. Topics tell you what the
|
|
message is about.
|
|
|
|
| Conversation model | Who gets it | What it's about
|
|
|---|---|---
|
|
| Zulip | Stream | Topic
|
|
| Email | Mailing list | Subject line
|
|
| Slack/IRC | Channel | -
|
|
|
|
One big difference is that Zulip organizations typically have more streams
|
|
than they would email lists, and Zulip topics are much shorter than email
|
|
subject lines. Here is what it looks like in Zulip.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Streams and topics are the hardest part of Zulip to grasp, but also the most
|
|
rewarding part of using Zulip.
|
|
|
|
If you ever find yourself stuck on writing a topic, just pretend you're
|
|
sending an email, with the topic as the subject line. After a few days
|
|
you'll get used to a more Zulip-y way of doing things, and your topics will
|
|
naturally become shorter (2-3 words is optimum) and take less thought to type.
|
|
|
|
## Why topics?
|
|
|
|
Learning how to chat with topics has a bit of a learning curve, anywhere
|
|
from a few minutes to a few days. Why bother with something so
|
|
complicated?
|
|
|
|
The short answer is that most users spend many hours a day on chat. A little
|
|
investment up front pays huge dividends in access to a more powerful
|
|
communication paradigm.
|
|
A longer answer is [here](https://zulipchat.com/why-zulip).
|
|
|
|
## Replying
|
|
|
|
When replying to a message, the stream and topic are conveniently
|
|
pre-filled. Click on a message to reply, or type `r` to reply to the message
|
|
under the blue box.
|
|
|
|
## Further reading
|
|
|
|
* [Setting up streams for your organization](/help/getting-your-organization-started-with-zulip#create-streams)
|
|
|
|
* [Browsing and joining streams](/help/browse-and-subscribe-to-streams)
|
|
|
|
* [Public and private streams (stream permissions)](/help/stream-permissions)
|
|
|
|
* Browse the articles under **Streams & topics** and
|
|
**Stream management** on the left sidebar.
|