Tiny Friend Group

Server structure

Overview

Ten channels, nothing more, for a group that already talks every day and wants the chat, the photos and the plans in one place instead of across three apps. General is the only chat channel on purpose: a friend group does not need an off-topic channel, because everything is off-topic. Media takes the photos, videos and screenshots so they stop pushing the conversation out of view, Quotes keeps the out-of-context lines that become the group's running jokes, and Recommendations is for the show, the song or the restaurant somebody insists on. Plans is where 'who is free Saturday' lives, Birthdays holds the dates and the gift threads, and Need to Know is a read-only channel where the owner pins the things people ask every month: addresses, the wifi password, the shared playlist. Counting is the one bot channel, for the counting game that every friend server ends up playing. Voice is two rooms: Hangout for the call and Second Room for when two people want to play something while the rest keep talking. There is no moderator role. Owner and Admin cover the bot settings, Down for Plans is a self-assigned, mentionable role so 'anyone want to do something tonight' reaches the people who mean it, and Birthday Person is the colour you get for one day a year.

When to use it

Your group chat has become one thread of photos, plans and jokes, and the plan for Saturday got buried under forty messages about a screenshot. This layout keeps the chat as the chat and moves the three things that keep getting lost, media, plans and dates, into channels of their own, with two voice rooms so a call does not have to end when half the group wants to play something.

What makes it different

• Ten channels total, so nothing is dead on day one and nobody wonders where to post.
• Need to Know is read-only: addresses, the wifi password and standing plans never scroll away.
• Down for Plans is a mentionable role, so a 'tonight?' ping reaches only the people who opted in.
• Two voice rooms instead of one: Hangout for the call, Second Room for the two people playing.
• Birthdays keeps the dates and reminders in one place instead of a pinned message nobody reads.

Recommended Vetox setup

• Counting

  Point Counting at #counting so the game has its own channel and a wrong number never derails #general.

• Reminders

  Set a Reminder in #birthdays a week before each date, and one in #plans the morning of anything the group agreed to.

• Self-Roles

  Post a Self-Roles panel in #general for Down for Plans, so people opt into 'tonight?' pings instead of being dragged in.

• Colors

  Turn on Colors so everyone picks their own name colour; in a ten-channel server that is most of the personality.