Slack unveils its easy-to-install Slash Commands, allowing individuals to use third-party apps and services. On the team communication app, users can now use functions of certain apps, including Foursquare to get place recommendations, Lyft to catch a ride, Dribbble to bring up images using keywords, Poncho to check on weather forecasts and Blockspring to maximize the team's productivity.
On Aug. 25, 2015, Slack introduced its Add to Slack button, and these new Slash Commands are activated via the said button. Once turned on, users can immediately take advantage of third-party apps. Also, the Slash Commands can post privately and publicly into channels.
"For outside apps and services that have written code to talk to our new API, you just click a button to add it to your own Slack team," Slack says on its website.
First up, getting a ride with Lyft. By typing in "/lyft gohome" at the office, a ride will automatically be sent to the user's registered work address. The user can then type in "/lyft eta" to get an estimation of the car's arrival time and cost between the two locations, and if the command is followed by an address, it will check how long it'll take to get a car there.
Next up, let's tackle Foursquare, where users can get a ton of place suggestions. For example, typing in "/foursquare dinner near" and following it up with an address will yield Foursquare's top three recommended restaurants nearby. It's not limited to restaurants, though, as the app can also search for any other establishments as well.
Moving forward, let's get on with Dribbble. Users will be able to bring up images by typing in "/dribbble" followed by any keyword, where presenting specific images to the team will be a lot easier.
To check on the weather using Poncho, simply key in "/poncho" followed by a zip code, and the app will display the forecast in that area. On the other hand, Blockspring offers a variety of functions to get data depending on the user's configuration. For instance, typing in "/blockspring image-recognition" followed by an image file's location will yield key words related to the image.
On top of those, the Slack team also added in some functionality for developers, allowing them to respond publicly to commands, respond up to five times to a command, attach photo and text to their responses and even customize the formatting, name and icon of their responses tailored to their product or service.
Slack's Slash Commands can definitely improve a team's productivity and provide convenience. Also, the firm hired Twitter's April Underwood to lead its platform team, which focuses on adding more third-party integrations for the team messaging app.
