zulip/templates/zerver/help/create-a-stream.md

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Create a stream

In Zulip, streams are like mailing lists in an email tool; each has a set of subscribers. Your current subscriptions are visible in the left sidebar. Streams can be either:

  • Public streams - Public streams are for open discussions. All users can subscribe to public streams and discuss there.
  • Private streams - Private streams are for confidential discussions and are only visible to users who've been invited to subscribe to them.

Create a new stream

{!subscriptions.md!}

  1. Click the plus () icon to the right of the Filter Streams input.

    !!! warn "" Note: If you do not see the plus () icon, it is probably because your organization's administrators have disabled stream creation for ordinary users. If that's the case, then you need to ask them to make creating streams available to other users, or you will have to ask an administrator for help creating each particular stream.

  2. After clicking the plus () icon, the right side of the Subscriptions page, labeled Add New Stream, will now display options for creating a stream.

  3. Enter the title of your stream in the Stream name input. If you designate your stream as public, the Stream name will be displayed under the Streams on the left sidebar. Your stream name must be unique to all other stream names and can be no longer than 60 characters.

    !!! tip "" You can optionally enter a brief description of your stream in Stream description to give other users a general idea of what's being discussed in your stream. The description can be seen under the stream name in the stream overview.

  4. The Stream accessibility option controls the privacy of your stream. There are two options:

    • Anybody can join - This option makes your stream public and accessible to all users.

    • People must be invited - This option makes your stream private. Only users you invite will be able to access this stream.

  5. If your stream is public, you can choose to alert users about the new stream by clicking the Announce stream checkbox. Users who have been added to the new stream will always be notified, but if the Announce stream feature is enabled, all users will be notified of the stream's creation.

  6. To automatically subscribe a user to your stream, scroll down to People to add and tick the checkboxes with the names of the users you want to add.

    !!! tip "" To search for specific users, enter their usernames in the Filter names box.

  7. Once you are ready to create your stream, click the Create button located at the bottom right of the window. The stream will now appear in the left sidebar for the users that you subscribed.