I recently deployed Mattermost for my family to use as a central communication system. We’re scattered all over North and South America, and the recent death of my uncle brought to light the need for a rapid communication system for the whole family that includes offline notifications.

In line with owning my own data, Mattermost makes the most sense. It’s IRC with a GUI, and it’s not Slack.

This post exists as a small guide to getting started after people log in for the first time.

• Messaging Basics gets you started with basic text commands
• Configuring Notifications will help you make the app more or less chatty
• Formatting Text will show you how to augment your text with Markdown styling that will clarify your meaning
• Organizing Conversations explains the difference between public and private channels and direct messages.
• Mentioning Others explains how to trigger notifications for others when you want to get their attention
• When you’re ready, Executing Commands will show you how to set your status and do other things without using the mouse
• You can stay logged in but set yourself to Away or Offline to pause notifications. More info on how to do that is here