How to Set Up Channels and Categories in Fluxer

Channels are where conversations happen in your community. Categories group those channels so members can find what they're looking for. This guide walks through creating, organizing, and configuring both.

Creating Channels

Right-click anywhere in the channel sidebar and select Create Channel. Give it a name, choose whether it's a text channel or a voice channel, and optionally assign it to an existing category. Click Create and it's live.

Text channels are for messages, files, embeds, and reactions.
Voice channels let members hop into real-time audio and video calls.

You can create as many channels as you need, but start small. It's easier to add channels as your community grows than to clean up a cluttered sidebar later.

Creating Categories

Categories are collapsible groups that organize your channels visually. To create one, right-click in the channel sidebar and select Create Category. Give it a name and it'll appear as a new section.

Drag channels into a category to group them. You can also assign a category when creating a channel.

A few well-named categories go a long way. Something like General, Voice, and Info covers most small communities without overcomplicating things.

Organizing Your Channel List

Drag and drop to reorder channels within a category or move them between categories. You can also drag entire categories to rearrange their position in the sidebar.

Members can collapse categories they don't need by clicking the category name. This helps keep the sidebar manageable even in communities with lots of channels.

A few tips for keeping things tidy:

Put your most-used channels near the top.
Group related channels together (all gaming channels in one category, all project channels in another).
Don't create a channel until there's a real need for it. Empty channels make the community feel dead.

Channel Settings

Click the gear icon on any channel to open its settings. Here are the ones worth knowing:

Topic sets a short description that appears at the top of the channel. Use it to explain what the channel is for.
Slowmode adds a cooldown between messages. Useful for busy channels where conversations move too fast, or for channels like introductions where you want people to put thought into their posts.
NSFW marks the channel as containing mature content. Members have to confirm they want to view it before entering.

Channel Permissions

By default, channels inherit permissions from the community's roles. But you can override permissions on a per-channel basis for more control.

Open a channel's settings and go to the Permissions tab. From there you can add roles or individual members and set specific allows or denies. Common uses:

Read-only announcement channels. Deny Send Messages for @everyone, then allow it only for admins or a specific announcement role.
Private channels. Deny View Channel for @everyone and grant it to the roles that should have access.
Mod-only channels. Same idea as private channels, but limited to your moderation team's role.

For the full picture on how roles and permissions work together, see How to Set Up Roles and Permissions.

Common Setups

There's no one-size-fits-all channel structure. Here are a few starting points for different types of communities.

Small Friend Group

#general for everyday conversation
#media for sharing links, images, and videos
Voice category with a single hangout channel

Keep it simple. A handful of channels is plenty when everyone knows each other.

Gaming Community

Info category: #rules, #announcements
Chat category: #general, #off-topic, #looking-for-group
Games category: one channel per game your community plays
Voice category: a few voice channels for different group sizes

Project or Team

General category: #announcements, #general
Work category: one channel per project, workstream, or topic area
Voice category: #meetings, #coworking
Meta category: #feedback, #mod-chat (private to the team)

Start with one of these and adjust as your community tells you what it needs.