Discord Guide - GatlenCulp/PVSG-Government GitHub Wiki
Welcome to PVSG, and welcome to Discord! Discord is still a work-in-progress platform, but a very powerful one, and for this reason, it is very important to understand how to use it. This comprehensive guide is designed to cover the basic functions of Discord, so that you can start using PVSG with minimal difficulty.
1. Verification
2. Interface
3. Basic user setup
4. Customizing notifications
5. File viewing and uploading
6. Markdown formatting
7. Discord links
Assuming that you've already created a Discord account, you will be able to enjoy all of the basic functions that Discord has to offer. However, it's very important to claim your account by verifying your email address. This will ensure that you keep your DiscordTag (your Discord username) and ensure that you remain in PVSG. To claim your account, just click the Resend button at the top of Discord in your web client. It's also recommended to download the desktop client for whatever operating system (Windows, macOS, Linux) you use. Discord works relatively well in the browser client, but to get the most functionality out of Discord, it's better to have the desktop client installed.
Click the link in the email which Discord sent you, and you're good to go!
PVSG, along with most of Discord, is a server. Servers act as individual hubs consisting of channels grouped into categories. Channels are either text channels (text/media) or voice channels (VoIP). You can switch between text channels, but in Discord, you can only join one voice channel at a time. To join a text channel or voice channel, simply click on it. To leave a voice channel, click the Disconnect button in the bottom-left corner of the screen. The text channels and voice channels within any server are displayed in a list on the left-hand side of Discord. The column on the very-far-left-hand side of Discord is the server list, a list of all of the servers you are in. You can switch servers by clicking on the appropriate icon. Considering that you're reading this guide, this is probably your first time using Discord, so it's okay if PVSG is the only server in your server list. Any time you create or join a server, it will appear as a circular icon in the server list. To create or join a server, click the "+" icon at the bottom of the server list. (Creating a server on Discord is absolutely free!)
You can also rearrange your server list by dragging server icons up and down!
The column on the right-hand side of Discord is the user list, a list of all of the users who have access to the current text channel. The user list shows everyone's status (Online/Idle/Do Not Disturb/Streaming/Offline) and their playing status (what game they are playing. Remember, Discord was designed for video game communication!) The user list is also very useful for messaging people, as right-clicking on someone in the user list will open a menu, with a Message button to directly message other users. This also works everywhere usernames appear (chat section, voice channel lists). This menu also includes a Profile button to open a user's profile.
You can also left-click on anyone in the user list to open an information window with a link to their profile, a list of their roles in the current server, and your "note" (see #2.7).
You can check your Direct Messages via the icon in the top-left corner. The user list will be replaced by the Direct Messages list, where most recent conversations appear at the top. Once you become used to PVSG, you will most likely have more Direct Messages with more users, and thus, there is a useful search feature if you are looking for a specific user. The Direct Message search feature can also be used to start a Direct Message conversation with any Friend.
On the Direct Messages screen, in the Friends tab, you can add Friends by clicking the Add Friend button at the top of Discord in order to easily message other users at another time. To add Friends, enter their DiscordTag and click the Send Friend Request button. In the Friends tab, you can also see your Friends list, a list of all of your Friends on Discord.
The instant invite feature of Discord is the easiest method for inviting new members to PVSG. You can generate an instant invite to PVSG by clicking the "Create Instant Invite" button next to #welcome-log, right-clicking on #welcome-log (and selecting "Instant Invite"), or using this link.
For more information on Instant Invites, see Discord's official guide Instant Invite 101.
Below the connection information and Disconnect button are the Mute, Deafen, and User Settings buttons. The Mute button digitally mutes your microphone, while the Deafen button disables voice channel audio. Both of these are useful if you need to go AFK.
In the user menu (see #2.7), you can adjust that user's voice channel volume by adjusting the User Volume slider. This is extremely useful, as everyone's microphone has a different sensitivity. You can also mute another user (client-side only!) by clicking the Mute button in the user menu, which has the same effect of setting their User Volume to 0%.
You can mention other users or roles using "@<username>" or "@<role>". Mentioning a user triggers a push notification on their side. You can also mention a user by right-clicking them in the user list and clicking the Mention button in the menu. In PVSG, role mentions are extremely useful, as they allow you to trigger a push notification for everyone with a specific role (class roles!)
Example 1: @blockw#5232 (username)
Example 2: @english I - omahony (role)
If you are mentioned in PVSG or any server, and you do not receive a push notification, recent mentions can be viewed by clicking the Mentions icon ("@" symbol) in the top-right corner of Discord.
To log out of Discord, the Log Out button can be found at the bottom of the User Settings (see #3) menu. To completely exit the application (on Windows), which the "X" button in the top-right corner of Discord does not accomplish, you will need to navigate to the taskbar and locate the Discord icon. You may need to expand the notification area to find it. Right-click the Discord icon, and select "Quit Discord."
If there is a new Discord update, a green Update Ready! icon will appear in the top-right corner next to the "-" icon.
Along with the Profile, Mention, and Message buttons, the user menu found by right-clicking a user's name in the user list contains many useful features.
- Add Note - adds a "note" to a user which will appear on that user's profile in every server on your client
- Invite to Server - directly messages a user with an instant invite link to any server
- Add Friend - adds a user
- Block - blocks a user
- Roles - views a list of a user's roles in the current server
Discord has five separate online statuses that allow you to decide how your user appears to others. To change your status, left-click your user avatar in the bottom-left corner of the Discord client.
The status selection menu will pop up. Online is the default status, represented by green. You will automatically switch to Idle (yellow) if you're AFK for a certain amount of time, but it can also be manually selected in the pop-up status selection menu. Do Not Disturb (DnD) (red) disables all desktop notifications when manually selected. You will automatically switch to Offline (gray) if you completely log out of Discord, but you can set yourself to Invisible which makes your user appear completely offline. Additionally, if you stream on Twitch or YouTube Gaming, you will automatically switch to Streaming (purple) when you stream.
The Discord search function incorporates a few different tools and filters to help you find what you need in PVSG or any server.
Using the search function, you can refer to anything sent in PVSG as far back as its inception (August 2017). To search, just click the search bar in the top-right corner of Discord, or use Ctrl+F (Windows) or ⌘+F (macOS). This will bring up a window with available search options. Using these search options will filter your next search. As of Discord v0.0.301, there are seven filters that you can use:
- from - narrows search results to a specific user
- has - narrows search results to messages containing links, embeds, files, videos, images, or sound
- in - narrows search results to a specific channel
- before, during, after - narrows search results to a specific time range
- mentions - narrows search results to messages mentioning a specific user
Example: from:blockw#5232 in:#general during:2018-11-03
Once you've made your search query, the list of results will appear in the Search menu on the right-hand side of Discord. You can select a recency (sorted chronologically) or relevancy (sorted relatively to your search query) sorting method.
You can then click the Jump button in the top-right corner of your desired message.
Once you've been set up in PVSG by a MOD, you can check out your User Settings menu and other menus to do basic user customization. Settings that affect your user profile, and aren't server-specific, the User Settings menu is the place to start. It can be found by clicking the gear icon next to your username.
The User Settings menu allows you to change your username, upload an avatar, enable Two-Factor Authentication, change your password, and more.
You can connect your Twitch, YouTube Gaming, Battle.net, Skype, Steam, or any other accounts with your Discord account within the Connections tab. To connect these other accounts with your Discord account, simply click on its respective icon and Discord will take you through the process of integrating your account.
On the Privacy & Safety tab, you can manage who can add you as a friend, as well as Data Privacy controls. Data privacy controls allow you to disable Discord data collection if you want to.
On the Voice & Video tab, you can set your input device (headset, microphone) and output device (headphones, speakers), adjust input/output volume, and switch between Voice Activity and Push-to-Talk (PTT). Voice Activity is the default method of voice communication, where Discord automatically determines your microphone's input sensitivity and allows you to speak in voice channels. Push-to-Talk is a less common method of voice communication where Discord requires you to set a PTT keybind, and in order to speak, the keybind must be actively pressed. It is recommended to use Voice Activity, but PTT is required in PVSG's Meetings voice channel. The Input Sensitivity section includes a slider to adjust the sensitivity of your microphone, in order to avoid picking up background noise.
The Notifications tab allows you to adjust notifications as well as sound notifications.
The Language tab allows you to change the UI language.
In the Appearance tab, you can select your Discord theme, message display method, chat font scaling, and zoom level. The Cozy message display method is the default method, which displays user profile pictures, which the Compact method does not. Chat font scaling and zoom level allow you to change the font size in the chat window and zoom in and out. With that being said...
Discord's notification settings allow you to customize how often you want to be notified. Notification settings consist of per-server notifications and global notifications. In the User Settings menu, there is a Notifications tab for editing global notification settings.
Here, you'll be able to adjust whether or not you receive desktop notifications (if you're using the desktop app), and Text-To-Speech (TTS) messages. You'll also be able to adjust Discord's sounds.
To edit per-server notifications in PVSG, click the V icon next to the server name, and click the "Notification Settings" option.
This menu allows you to mute PVSG, suppress @everyone and @role mentions (although suppressing @role mentions is not recommended), and choose the frequency of desktop notifications (if you use the desktop app) in PVSG.
You can also mute individual channels in both PVSG and other servers, by clicking the Mute icon in the top-right corner of Discord. Muting a channel prevents unread indicators and notifications from appearing unless you are mentioned. As an extension of muting channels, you can hide them. To hide muted channels in PVSG or any server, click the V icon next to the server name, and click the "Hide Muted Channels" option.
In text channels in PVSG, you can upload pictures, GIFs, and other media as long as each file is under 8MB in size. To do this, you can drag-and-drop media directly from your computer, use Ctrl+V (Windows) or ⌘+V (macOS) to paste images stored on the clipboard (very useful for screenshots!), or click the Upload File button next to the Message box.
Not only can you upload pictures, GIFs, and other files, but Discord also supports Soundcloud and YouTube embeds in text channels as well! Just enter a SC or YT URL and Discord will embed your video/song in PVSG for anyone to watch or listen to.
Discord uses Markdown, a simple plaintext formatting system that helps you emphasize your messages. Most of Markdown involves adding a few characters before and after your desired text to change it. Here's how to use Markdown.
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Italics - *text* OR _text_
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Bold - **text**
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Bold Italics - ***text***
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Underline (not supported by GitHub) - __text__
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Underline Italics - __*text*__
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Underline Bold - __**text**__
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Underline Bold Italics - __***text***__
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Spoiler
Spoiler||text||
If you don't want to use Markdown, you can include a backslash ("\") character in front of your otherwise Markdown statement, and it will "escape" the Markdown formatting, meaning that you will be able to see asterisks, underlines, or tildes as they would normally appear.
One-line code blocks are made by wrapping text in backticks ("`"). (e.g. `text`)
Multi-line code blocks are made by wrapping text in three backticks ("```"). (e.g. ``` text1
text2``` )
Syntax highlighting can be used to denote a specific language and highlight text within a code block, by typing the name of the language immediately after the first three initial backticks.
One-line blockquotes are made by typing a greater-than sign (">") at the beginning of a line of text. (e.g. > text)
Multi-line blockquotes are made by typing three greater-than signs (">>>") at the beginning of a line of text. (e.g. >>> text1\ntext2)