Add Billy to a Slack channel
Add Billy to a Slack channel and choose who gets celebrated, the posting time, timezone, language, weekend handling and the style of the celebration message.
SlackUpdated Oct 5, 20263 min readTo add Billy to a Slack channel, a Billy admin clicks ➕ Add channel in the admin settings and fills out two short forms. Each channel has its own settings, and you can add as many channels as you like.
Using Microsoft Teams? The channel is picked when you add Billy to a team: see change Billy's settings in Teams.
Step 1: Click Add channel#
In the admin settings, click ➕ Add channel.
Step 2: Fill out Add channel (1/2)#
| Field | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
1. Which channel should be used to post? |
Where celebrations are posted. Public or private channels (not channels shared with other organizations). | None |
2. Who should be celebrated in this channel? |
All workspace members or Channel members only. |
Channel members only |
3. Do you want to celebrate work anniversaries too? |
Check Yes, I do! to celebrate work anniversaries too. |
Off |
4. Which language should be used to post? |
Language of the celebration posts, the intro post and the Excel template: English, Français, Español, Português or Deutsch. |
Your Slack language |
5. Would you like Billy to automatically collect dates by contacting members? |
Billy messages members to ask for their dates, and contacts newcomers. | On |
Click Next ➡️. Billy posts its intro message in the channel and, if automatic collection is on, messages the members whose dates are missing (unless they were already asked for this channel in the last 12 hours). See messages Billy sends.
Step 3: Fill out Settings (2/2)#
This second form is optional: if you close it, the defaults below apply.
| Field | Options | Default |
|---|---|---|
When do you want the celebrations to be posted? |
Every hour from 6:00am to 6:00pm | 9:00am |
In which timezone? |
About 100 timezones | Your Slack timezone if listed, else America/New_York |
What announcement frequency should Billy use? |
Post on the actual day, Group weekly (announced on Mondays), Group monthly (announced on the 1st) |
Post on the actual day |
When would you like to celebrate events on weekends / public holidays? |
On the actual day, Move to Friday / Before, Move to Monday / After (only with daily posts) |
On the actual day |
Do you want to include a GIF in celebration messages? |
On or off | On |
Do you want to include a @channel tag in celebration messages? |
On or off | Off |
Which style would you like to use? |
Formatted or Classic |
Formatted |
Click Update to save.
How grouping and weekend moves work, with examples: weekends, public holidays and grouped announcements. To skip public holidays too, add your public holidays.
Formatted or Classic#
Formatted shows each person on their own line with their profile picture:
Classic is a single line of text:
With GIFs on, a random GIF is added below the message:
More details: what Billy's celebration message looks like.
If the channel disappears from the list#
If posting is restricted in the channel, Billy can't post its intro and drops the channel from Active channels. Allow Billy to post in the channel's settings in Slack, then add the channel again. See fix Billy when it can't post in a channel.