What Is Slack?
Slack is a workplace collaboration tool that serves as a unified platform for files, tools, and messaging. It’s a form of instant messaging software that contains a wide range of workplace functionalities. You can chat in Slack via two methods: join a channel and talk with others or send a direct message to someone. You need to have knowledge about four aspects in Slack.
- Slack name instance
- Chat window
- Channel lists that you have joined
- People you have direct messaged
Slack channels can be either private .i.e. only members can access it or invite others, or they can be public, which means anyone can access and join them. However, DM always remains private, although you can add more people into them.
All the communications occurs in the chat window. You can view RSS feeds, add gifs, use emoji reactions, reply to messages, and get different whistles and bells.
Why Slack Is Popular?
Slack emerged at a time where there was no major competitor in the industry. Although there were some other chat applications, Slack development an intuitive user interface that excelled at person-to-person and group messaging at the same time. It enabled organizations to get a sense of control over who can access it via the invitation system.
Another advantage was the lack of corporate size. Slack was small enough to be quick and responsive when it comes to the addition of new features, such as 2-factor authentication and emoji reactions. Slack was different for many users, because it wasn’t owned or managed by a big giant.
Some experts opine that Slack’s popularity is attributed to two factors: a high-quality design and an excellent understanding of user needs. Both of these features are the hallmark of popular products, but not many people manage to succeed with this rare combination.
Graphics in Slack
Block Kit is a UI framework used in Slack applications that provides flexibility and control for creating experiences in a wide range of surfaces.
You can edit the appearance and order of information and assist users for your app’s features by composing, sequencing, updating, and stacking blocks. These are reusable components that can be used in most Slack use cases.
You can arrange and stack blocks to build app layouts. The purpose of the Block Kit is to imbue clarity in your application’s communication while at the same time; it allows you to incorporate interactivity.
The essence of using Block Kit is same – whether you compose layouts for tabs, messages, or models.
Here’s how you can build a basic block.
{
"type": "section",
"text": {
"type": "mrkdwn",
"text": "Hi *Fred*, let’s watch _ Breaking Bad_."
}
}
In this example, JSON specifies a “section” block and presents the standard blocks’ structure. Each structure consists of a “type”. The “mrkdown” is used for text formatting.
Image-Charts Integration
You can integrate Image-Charts with any tool – this includes Slack as well. If you share Image-Charts URL in a slack channel, it is only going to show a small image preview. Most likely, it wouldn’t address your needs in terms of size. Uploading the same chart will return a similar result. However, you can use Slack Block API to send large image charts to a slack channel.
Sharing Image-Charts URL directly inside a slack channel will only display a small image preview, it won't be big enough. Upload the same chart and the same result will happen. Here is an example.
[
{
"type": "image",
"title": {
"type": "plain_text",
"text": "Chart RUL",
"emoji": true
},
"image_url": "https://image-charts.com/chart?ichm=eee5082545d27af84c7a3f2af95445080b1b1cc3b3d75a141af1d0c18a1fff27&cht=bvs&chd=s%3Atheresadifferencebetweenknowingthepathandwalkingthepath&chs=700x200&chxt=y&chf=b0%2Clg%2C90%2C03a9f4%2C0%2C3f51b5%2C1&icretina=1&icac=fgribreau",
"alt_text": "chart url"
}
]
Chartio Integration
You can integrate Chartio in any channel that is part of the Slack Workspaces. For adding Chartio to a Slack channel, keep the following steps in mind.
- Navigate to the integrations tab.
- Choose the “+Add Slack Channel” option for integrating Chartio with your Slack account. In this way, you are redirected to Slack’s website. Next, you are prompted to login to a Slack workspace.
- Once you sign in, you pick a Slack Workspace and Channel. Bear in mind that you can only view those channels which you have joined as well as existing direct messages in the dropdown option.
- After choosing the Workspace and Channel, click on “Allow”. Finally, it redirects you to Chartio’s integration page, showing the newly added Slack integration.
Share a Chart to Slack
For sharing a chart on Slack, choose a chart you want to share and open the chart menu. Click on “Share to Slack”, which will cause a pop-up to appear and prompt you to choose the room for chart sharing and create an optional text message. Next you can click on the “Share” button.
Read this post to learn about other tools.
Final Thoughts
Slack is a terrific productivity driver. Introduce it in your workflow to streamline your processes and gain higher efficiency. In case you need any help with sharing charts on Slack, visit our website and send us a message.
