Book Image

Supercharge your Slack Productivity

By : Moshe Markovich
Book Image

Supercharge your Slack Productivity

By: Moshe Markovich

Overview of this book

Slack is an online communication tool that allows workplace teams to collaborate efficiently, effectively, and securely. It’s the leading channel-based messaging platform used by millions to align their teams, unify their systems, and drive their businesses forward. As a developer, you can use Slack to create tools such as bots that handle and maintain routine and time-consuming tasks. If you’re looking to set up a Slack workplace or build a Slack bot or app, this is the book for you. In this book, you’ll explore scenarios that show you how to set up a Slack workplace, build a Slack bot, or integrate your favorite tools. You’ll also learn how Slack can help you create a more collaborative, efficient, and coordinated work environment from any location. As you advance through the chapters, you'll find out how to manage your tasks and boost your business productivity by automating the trivial tasks. You'll also cover more advanced features such as using a Slack bot to complete tasks, including automating message responses and accessing personal reminders. By the end of this Slack book, you'll have learned how to use Slack effectively to communicate with your team and build bots and have gained a solid understanding of how the platform can help you to progress in your industry.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
1
Section 1: Slack Overview
7
Section 2: How to Use Third-Party Applications and Bots
12
Section 3: How to Build Your Own Bots

Using external and paid frameworks

If building your bot yourself is still a priority for you and your team, it may make more sense to purchase a framework rather than the actual bot or app itself. We learned in Chapter 10, Building Your Own Bot, that there are existing frameworks within Slack, such as Block Kit and Bolt, but we have yet to discuss using them as a paid or external option.

In this section, we'll focus on different types of frameworks outside of Slack, both free and paid, such as Botkit, Microsoft Bot Framework, and Amazon Lex.

Botkit

When it comes to free, for me, Botkit is the go-to framework option. This open source developing tool aids in building bots for Slack such as chatbots as well as apps and custom integrations. Open source essentially means a type of software where the code is released under a license in which the owner has the right to use, change, and distribute to others. Botkit provides a built-in source for hundreds of already-existing...