Discord/101

Discord 101 an introduction

About

Discord is a centralized software service which can be accessed on the web or via standalone applications. It's comparable to other chat environments like Skype, Google Chat, Chime, Slack, etc. but more capable and flexible. It's especially comparable to Slack, in that it supports a certain amount of rich-text formatting (see: formatting).

There is no charge for basic membership; there is a paid "Nitro" level, which they have been pushing harder more recently (as of 2023), but at this point it just provides "flair"-like benefits.

Once you create an account on Discord, you can use that account in multiple servers or for direct messages with other users (groups of up to 10 are supported) without a server. You can also create multiple accounts, and switch between them.

Servers

A "server" (aka "guild") is a space which is only accessible to its members; membership is controlled by the server's administrators, who are appointed by the server's "owner". When you create a server, you are its "owner" -- though you can transfer ownership to another user in the server if you wish. When ownership is transferred, the new owner receives all the same superpowers that the original owner had, and could even demote or remove the original owner (who only retains whatever powers are granted by the administrative permissions they have).

Within a server are one or more "channels", which are spaces where conversation actually take place. Channels can be "public" to the server (everyone can view/post), or "private" (only certain people can access them, and a larger group may only be able to read and not post). There are also a lot of specific acts within a channel which can be selectively allowed or forbidden to different people/groups.

For each server you are in, you can (optionally) set a display-name that is different from your default/global account setting.