Discord

Discord is a communication platform, which we will use in CS 110 for sharing announcements, getting help, and interacting with each other.

PLEASE be sure to do all the tasks described in this document. If you don’t understand something or run into trouble, get help!

Overview

Discord has servers and channels. “CS 110” is the server, and you will likely join others (e.g. CS 111, CS 235, and others also use Discord).

There are several channels in the CS 110 server. Channels help organize the conversations by providing themes or audiences.

Some channels are text channels. You communicate in these channels by typing.

Others are audio/visual channels. Joining these channels is like joining a zoom meeting.

When typing a message, you can mention someone in order to send them a notification and make sure they see the message. You mention someone using the @ symbol. For example, if there was a student with the username MartinJones, including @MartinJones in your message will send Martin a notification.

You can also mention groups of people, like the TAs. To notify all the TAs of your message, use @ta.

Often you want to reply to a message that has been posted by someone else. You should typically use the “create thread” button (the icon with the # symbol) to respond. Creating a thread is like creating a little side conversation.

Finally, you can message people directly using Direct Messages (DMs). Click on someone’s username and send them a message. A seperate channel for that direct conversation will be created.

Setup

Join Discord

You will find the invite link for the CS 110 Discord server in Canvas.

If you don’t already have a Discord account, you will be prompted to make one. Your Discord account will allow you to join other CS course servers, such as the 111 and 235 servers, among others you may find relevant.

Settings

Once you have joined the CS 110 server, you will only have access to the “welcome” channel. To get access to the other channels, please type @ta followed by your preffered first name and last name (e.g. @ta Shane Reese).

The @ta will notify the TAs of your message. They will then set your server nickname (the name your classmates will see) to the name you provide. They will also add you to the other channels on the server.

We also encourage you to set your avatar (the image associated with your account) to a picture of yourself.

Channels

The following channels may be of interest to you:

• Your lecture channel (e.g. bean-lecture or jones-online)
  • For conversation with those in your lecture - a great place to get and give help from your classmates.
  • Also a place for instructors to share specific announcements or instructions with their students.
• Your lab channel (if you are registered for a lab section, e.g. lab-section-007 or lab-section-013)
  • For conversation and collaboration with your lab peers - get and give help from your labmates and lab TA.
• #announcements: where instructors and TAs will share important information about the course
• #random: where you can share whatever you want with your course peers. Have fun! Use good judgment.
• #help: another great place for getting and giving help - everyone in the course has access to this channel.
• Breakout rooms: great for instant group video chats with peers, TAs, etc.
  • You can also do 1:1 video through a direct message (DM)

Etiquette

• Always be courteous. Observe the Honor Code.
• Prefer to use threads instead of replies when responding to someone’s post, unless you think the reply is something most other users will also want to see.