Slack is valuable pay for… if you are a company. However, if you’re using Slack for an online community, you should probably just stick with the free version.
That’s partly because most of Slack’s paid features aren’t strictly necessary if you’re just using it as a team text platform, but also because the paid options get expensive quickly. Plans start at $7.25 per user per month, which means a community of two dozen will cost $174 monthly, or over $2,000 annually. That might be more than you’d pay for the privilege of joking around with your friends (I’m sure as charming as they are).
Some of those paid Slack features are pretty cool, though, especially having access to your archive of old messages. And it really is possible, if you’re willing to put in a little effort to get that and a few other extras without paying. Here’s how to do it:
Get unlimited Slack message history for free
The free version of Slack only allows users to scroll up or search for messages from the last 90 days — can’t find anything older. Those messages haven’t gone away, though — if you initiate a payment, they’ll all show up.
And there is another flaw. Slack allows admins export all data, which includes the entire backlog of all messages. Just go to Settings & Administration > Workspace settings in Slack’s menu. Settings will open in your browser — there is a Import/Export data in the upper right corner. Click that and you can select a date range and export all messages. Note that free users cannot export Direct Messages (DM) or private channels — only public channels. The actual archives come in the form of ZIP files filled with JSON files, which are not the most readable things in the world. However, it’s all there.
A free tool called Slack Export Viewer can help by converting those files and loading them in your web browser, complete with a Slack-style sidebar for browsing channels. It works — I’ve tested it — but you’ll need a good understanding of the command line to set it up. Another option is JSON Translator, which can convert your ZIP file into a more readable CSV file that you can download and open with Excel or Google Sheets. (The CSV file contains comma-separated data records — hence the name.)
If you want a public archive, check out Slack Saver. You can upload the ZIP file you exported from Slack, and when the conversion is complete, share the link to the entire archive with your entire community. You’ll need to update it from time to time to include more recent posts, but it should still work. Just keep in mind, with web-based services, you’re uploading a complete archive of chats that people might consider semi-private. Make sure your community agrees to that before proceeding.
Get Free Slack Huddles
Slack’s Group Chat is different from audio calls because there’s no ringer — you can just enable Group Chat for any channel, and people can show up if they want. There’s no video, just audio and screen sharing, which makes them perfect for quick impromptu chats.
But Slack’s Huddles isn’t the only tool for the job. You can create a room in Meetingwhich make virtual parties really fun use pixel avatars that can move towards and away from each other. It’s perfect for the kind of drop-in/drop-out conversation that makes Group Chats great. You can even link to the Gather room in the Topics of your Slack channels.
