Discord is a free community communication software designed for communities. Users can create or join servers that they are interested in. The basic unit in a server is a “channel”. This article will explain how to create and manage Discord channels and introduce the 5 types of channels.
What are “Channels” and “Categories”?
“Channels” are the basic units within a Discord server, similar to the concept of Facebook or Line groups. However, multiple “channels” can exist within a Discord server, and authorized community members can freely communicate between different channels.
“Categories” can be thought of as a folder concept. Many different channels can be stored under the same “category” and used as a tool for classification and permission management.
How to Create a Channel?
Click the right mouse button on any blank space in the left channel list of the Discord server to see the “Create Channel” option in the popup menu.
Create Channel
Create a Public Channel
Create a public channel that all community members can see. Simply select the channel type and name the channel.
Note that besides text and voice channels, which are default channels that can be created, the three types of channels, forums, announcements, and stages, require the “Community Server” feature to be enabled before they appear.
Choose channel type
Create a Private Channel
If you want to restrict visibility of the channel to only certain members of the community, in addition to selecting the channel type and completing the channel naming, you need to toggle on the switch for the private channel. Then, set the permission groups that are allowed to see this channel. By doing so, the private channel is successfully created.
Create Private Channel
How to create categories?
Click the right mouse button in any blank area of the left channel list of the Discord server, and you will see the option “Create Category” in the popped-up menu.
Create Category
Create a Public Category
Create a public category that all members of the community can see by simply naming the category.
Create Public Category
Create a Private Category
If you want to restrict visibility of the category to only certain members of the community, in addition to completing the category naming, you need to toggle on the switch for the private category. Then, set the permission groups that are allowed to see this category. By doing so, the private category is successfully created.
Create Private Category
Make Good Use of The “Category” Function to Manage Channel Groups.
Usually, there are multiple channels in a Discord server. If there are only a few channels, managing each channel separately is not a problem. However, once the number of channels increases, the “Category” function becomes very useful, helping to keep the server layout tidy and manage channel groups.
To illustrate the concept with an analogy, if “channel” is a file, then “category” is a folder. All kinds of “channels” can be organized under a “category.” Simply put channels with similar permissions in the same category, and when you need to modify the channel permissions, you can adjust them from the “category.”
“Channel” Permissions Can Be Synchronized with “Category” Permissions
Each category has independent channel permissions that can be set. Discord also provides the function of synchronizing permissions with the “category,” which can complete the channel permission settings with one click.
For example, if I set up a category called “General,” which is visible to all members, I still made some permission adjustments. When I move any “channel” to this “General” category, Discord will prompt whether to synchronize the “channel” permissions with the “category.” After clicking the synchronization, the permission settings of this “channel” will be consistent with the “category.”
Sync permissions
In addition, you can right-click on each channel, select “Edit Channel,” and check if the permissions are already synchronized with the “Category,” or if you want to set different permissions separately.
Check if “Channels” have synchronized permissions with “Categories.”
5 Types of Discord Channels
Discord currently has 5 different types of channels, each with different functions and purposes, providing server managers with more flexibility to customize their servers.
- Text Channel: Send messages, pictures, GIFs, and emojis.
- Voice Channel: Gather and communicate through voice calls, video calls, and screen sharing.
- Forum Channel: Create an organized environment for discussions.
- Announcement Channel: Publish important updates about the server.
- Stage Channel: Host events, expert panels, and Q&A sessions for listeners.
Text Channel
This is the most widely used type of channel in Discord servers. You can send messages of various types, including text, links, and attachments. You can customize the types of messages that can be sent through role permissions and channel permissions.
How to Create a “Thread”?
As mentioned earlier, the basic unit in a server is a “Channel,” but under a text channel, you can also create a “Thread,” which is similar to a “sub-channel” under a “Channel.” Each channel can have multiple “Threads,” and each “Thread” can be set as a “Public Thread” visible to everyone, or a “Private Thread” visible only to certain members of a specific role.
There are two ways to create a “Thread” in a text channel:
After entering the channel, click on the “Threads” icon in the upper right corner to see which threads have been created for this channel, and you can also create a new thread.
Create a thread in a text channel – method 1
After entering the channel, hover over a specific message with the mouse and select the “Thread” icon that appears in the upper right corner to create an extended discussion thread for the specified message.
Create a thread in a text channel – method 2
Voice Channel
This type of channel allows community members to open voice, video, and screen sharing features. In a June 2022 update, the voice channel also added the ability to attach text channels, allowing text communication within voice channels.
Enabling Text Channel in a Voice Channel
Hover your mouse over the voice channel and then click “Open chat”.
Enabling Text Channel in a Voice Channel – method 1
Move your mouse to the upper right corner of the voice channel screen and then click “Show chat”.
Enabling Text Channel in a Voice Channel – method 2
“Voice Activity” and “Push-to-Talk”
Discord has two modes for voice chat, namely “Voice Activity” and “Push-to-Talk”. The default mode is “Voice Activity”, while “Push-to-Talk” requires users to set a keybind to use it.
Voice Activity
When a user’s microphone detects sound and has permission to speak, the sound will be automatically transmitted.
Push-to-Talk
Users must press and hold the designated push-to-talk keybind to transmit sound while speaking.
Push-to-Talk requires to record keybind
Forum Channel
On September 14, 2022, Discord launched a new channel type for all servers called the Forum Channel. The user experience of using Forum Channels is like browsing forums such as Reddit, and 9GAG, where each post has its own thread and all discussions related to the same post are collected together.
Announcement Channel
This is a text channel with special settings that allows other users in your server to choose to “Follow” the content of the Announcement Channel. This way, when there is any message released in the Announcement Channel, followers will also receive the content of this Announcement Channel in their own server.
This channel is not used to interact with community members, but to promote or communicate important messages.
Stage Channel
This can be considered as an advanced version of a voice channel, where only people on stage have speaking rights, and others must have permission or be invited to speak on stage by raising their hand.
Stage Channels are especially suitable for hosting lecture-type events, where several speakers can share their thoughts on stage.
“Create Event” Feature
Stage moderators with permission can see a special interface in the Stage Channel, which includes Discord’s “Create Event” feature.
“Create Event” feature
The “Create Event” feature can also be opened by server administrators by clicking on the server name in the upper-left corner of the main interface and selecting “Create Event”.
“Create Event” feature
The “Create Event” feature consists of 3 steps:
Step 1: Select the channel to host the event
Select the channel to host the event
Step 2: Fill in event details
Fill in event details
Step 3: Promote the event using a link
Promote the event using a link
Complete event setup
After completing the setup, all authorized server members can see the event information in the top left corner of the main menu. Clicking on the event will reveal more details about it.
Displaying Event Information
