Slack Guidelines
Slack serves as the main communication platform for the Zeek community outside of the mailing lists. It’s important that conversations stay on topic in each channel, and that everyone abides by the Code of Conduct. There are over 50,000 members who should all expect to have a positive experience.
Chat is searchable and public. Do not make comments that you would not say on a video recording or in another public space. Please be courteous to others.
Zeek adheres to the Zeek Code of Conduct throughout the project, and includes all communication mediums.
The Slack admins can collectively be reached by messaging @zeek-admins. If you have an administrative issue or question, please DM (direct message) that group.
The Zeek Slack Workspace is archived and made available from time to time. There is no explicit interval.
Slack Archive Download (This link will be shared once we start archiving the Workspace)
Please do not engage in any proprietary company specific conversations in the Zeek Slack instance. This workspace is meant for conversations related to Zeek.org’s open source topics and community. Proprietary conversations should occur in your company Slack and/or communication platforms. As with all communication, please be mindful of appropriateness, professionalism, and applicability to the Zeek community.
Please note, all slack communication should be considered public, even if DM.
Some channels have specific rules or guidelines. If they do, they will be listed in the purpose or pinned docs of that channel.
The channels #general and #development are generally the best places to discuss any problems you’re seeing with Zeek, unless there’s a more specific channel related to your particular issue (e.g., for a specific subproject). Please note, however, that GitHub remains the canonical place for recording issues and tracking their resolution.
The public Zeek Slack channels are not the place to report an issue, or request a feature, related to Slack itself. DM the admins instead at @zeek-admins.
What if you have a problem with an admin?
Send a DM to another listed admin (see above) and describe the situation. If it’s a code of conduct issue, please send an email to conduct@Zeek.org and describe the situation.
Channels and user groups are managed by the Zeek Admins To add a channel please message @zeek-admins
- Channel names must be 21 characters or less in length (Slack limit) and approved by the Zeek Admins. In the request, include some details regarding the purpose of the channel.
- Channels should be dedicated to Zeek programs/projects and community.
- Channels should NOT be :
- Company specific
- Private channels with the exception of: code of conduct matters, mentoring, security/vulnerabilities, project management, or leadership.
- Special accommodations will be made where necessary.
After you submit your request the Slack Admins and/or the Zeek LT will review and follow-up with any questions. Once it is approved, the channel will be created.
If you would like to delegate the Channel management please send a request to @zeek-admins and the admins will be able to assist you.
Admins must adhere to the general Zeek project moderation guidelines.
Additionally, admins must ensure they have 2-factor auth enabled for their account and mention they are a Slack admin in the “What I do” portion of their profile. This message should also include the timezone they are representing.
Be mindful of how you handle communication during stressful interactions. Administrators act as direct representatives of the community, and need to maintain a very high level of professionalism at all times. If you feel too involved in the situation to maintain impartiality or professionalism, that’s a great time to enlist the help of another admin.
Try to take any situations that involve upset or angry members to DM or video chat. Please document these interactions for other Slack admins to review.
Content will be removed if it violates code of conduct or is a sales pitch. Admins will take a screenshot of such behavior in order to document the situation. The community takes such violations extremely seriously, and the admins are empowered to handle it swiftly.
@all, @here and @channel should be used rarely. Members will receive notifications from these commands. Remember Zeek is a global project – please be kind.
Admins are tasked with processing requests for channels and other things such as bots, tokens or webhook.
Channel requests should be reviewed for their relation and relevance to the Zeek Project and community. Typically channels should be dedicated to Zeek projects/programs and community.
In general, use your best judgment.
Once two Slack admins have reviewed and agreed to sponsor the channel, they will sign off on the Channel Request. Once approved the channel will be created.
For the reasons listed below, admins may inactivate individual Slack accounts. Due to Slack’s framework, it does not allow for an account to be banned or suspended in the traditional sense, merely inactivated. See Slack’s policy on inactivated accounts for more information.
- Spreading spam content in DMs and/or channels.
- Not adhering to the code of conduct set forth in DMs and/or channels.
- Overtly selling products – NO SALES/MARKETING PITCHES
BE CAREFUL
To inactivate a user, and optionally remove their content (spam). First, double check you have the correct user by verifying their Slack Member ID. Spammers may try and fake or assume the identity of another user.
Once verified, find a message from the offending user. Then select “More actions”, the “…” to the right of a message from the offending user. Then select “Report message”.
This will open a contextually aware prompt only available to Slack Admins with the options to deactivate the user and remove all content from them over the past “X” minutes/hours.
Report any actions taken to the other slack admins, and if needed the Code of Conduct Committee.
These Slack guidelines are modeled after the Kubernetes Community Slack Guidelines.