The VoIP and instant messaging app, originally designed for gamers, offers a bunch of features that make it appealing as well, including for business use.
Well known to the gaming community, Discord is a chat software that allows you to exchange through text messages or VoIP voice conversations. Originally designed to facilitate exchanges between players during an online game, Discord operates using a system of servers in which several chat rooms, text or voice, can be created.
To start using Discord, you won’t need to create an account or install any software. It is possible to discover the functionalities of the application directly from your web browser, after choosing a username (can be changed later). However, you will need to register your account and verify your email address if you want to keep your username and associated unique identifier.
1. Get started with Discord
To explore Discord, open your web browser and go to the main Discord page and click Open Discord in your browser.
Go to Discord (Free)
Choose a username, check the box to accept the terms of service for the service (having read them, of course), and click the arrow icon to launch the application in your browser without installing anything.
2. Configure your server
A welcome pop-up appears and invites you to configure your server, click on Start.
Choose the name of your server, modify, if you wish, the region selected by default, possibly customize the icon by adding an image and click on Done to validate the creation of your server.
Discord prompts you to Register Your Account. This step, which is not mandatory, can be skipped by pressing the Esc key on your keyboard. An orange banner will then appear at the top of the Discord interface, indicating that the account will be lost if it is not registered.
3. Register your account
To register your account, click on the appropriate button to display the dedicated window if you closed it in the previous step.
Enter your e-mail address and a password and click on Register account. You should, in principle, receive a confirmation e-mail containing a link on which you must click to validate the creation of the account.
Once your account is registered, you will be able to use Discord from your web browser, but also from the dedicated software on PC, macOS and Linux, or the mobile application available on Android and iOS.
Download Discord for Windows (Free)
Download Discord for Mac (Free)
Download Discord for Linux (Free)
Download Discord for Android (apk) (Free)
Download Discord for iPhone / iPad (Free)
4. Discover the interface
If the operation of Discord may seem rather complex at first glance, its interface, divided into four columns, is relatively easy to master.
The left column allows you to access the Discord home page, but also to switch from one server to another. The second column essentially allows you to manage the text and voice rooms of your server. The central window, on the other hand, displays the content of the conversations. Finally, the column at the far right allows you to view the people online, connected to your chat server.
5. Invite friends to join your server
Before you can start a conversation, first invite contacts to your server. Click the Invite People button.
A window showing the link for your server appears. By default, the link expires after one day, but it is possible to modify this parameter by clicking on the star wheel. Then click Copy to copy the link, and share it with your friends. All they need to do is click on this link to join your server and start chatting with you.
6.Create roles
Discord allows for each server created, to create roles that you will then assign to the members of your group.
Each role allows you to define the permissions and permissions that members will have, thus establishing a hierarchy. Once the different roles have been defined, you can assign them to each person who has joined your server, depending on the permissions and privileges you want to leave them.
To create a role, right-click on your server, go to the Server Settings menu, then to Roles.
Then select all the permissions you want to assign to all members, designated by @everyone.
To create an additional role, click the + button, customize the role name, and choose the rules to apply to the role.
Create as many roles as needed, depending on the permissions you want to assign to the different people who will join your server. Once all the roles have been defined, validate them by clicking on Save.
7. Define the roles for your server
The roles you just created will apply for your entire server. To assign roles to your members, go to the Members section in the left column.
For each member registered on your server, click on the + button in front of their name, and assign them a role or several roles.
8. Create a living room
Within your server, two types of lounges are available: text lounges and voice lounges. Each new room created should be seen as a discussion channel. To create a new one, click on the + button.
Choose the type of room you want to create, give it a name and click on Create a room to validate its creation.
9. Assign specific roles to rooms
Although you have defined roles that apply for your entire server, you may want to set up even more specific rules that apply only to rooms.
To do this, click on the star wheel icon to Modify your living room.
Then go to the Permissions menu. By default, all displayed permissions are applied to all users (@everyone).
To customize a member’s permissions, click on the + button displayed in front of Roles / Members and select a user. Then define each of the permissions of your members checking your preferences and validate by clicking on Save.
10. Share content
Discord isn’t just about conversations. The program allows all users to exchange files.
To do this, simply click on the + button next to the message entry field or directly drag and drop an item into the conversation.
Discord supports images, files, and animated GIFs that are no larger than 8MB. It is also possible to embed content from platforms like YouTube directly into rooms, simply by sharing the media URL.
11. Connect your other networks
To increase your chances of adding contacts on Discord, it is quite possible to connect your different accounts on social networks.
To do this, click on the toothed wheel displayed in front of your user name, at the bottom of the window, to access the Settings.
Then go to the Connections menu. Select the platforms you want to connect to Discord and connect your different accounts.
Discord supports your Twitch, YouTube, Battle.net, Skype, Steam Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, Spotify or even Xbox accounts.