Teams, Channels, and Roles#

Mattermost organizes your collaborations into teams and channels, and controls what you can see and do through roles.

Teams#

Teams bring together groups of people working on related projects or shared goals. Teams often correspond to organizational departments, project groups, or any collaboration unit needing a dedicated area for discussions. Every team provides its members access to shared channels, file uploads, and other resources.

Teams are typically private, ensuring that only invited members can join and view team-related communications.

If you’re a member of more than one team, a team sidebar displays to the far left. Drag teams to reorder them, or use keyboard shortcuts to navigate between teams.

Channels#

Within each team, channels serve as dedicated spaces for specific topics, projects, or departments. Think of channels as virtual meeting rooms where ongoing discussions and file-sharing happen. Channels are where most of the collaboration happens, allowing team members to communicate, share files, and work together effectively. Mattermost supports various types of channels to suit different needs:

Public Channels: Accessible to all team members, these channels are great for open discussions and general announcements.
Private Channels: Restricted to specific members, they are ideal for sensitive conversations or project-specific collaboration.
Direct and Group Messages: Mattermost also allows private 1:1 or small group conversations outside of channels for up to 8 people.
Default Channels: You’re automatically added to the Town Square channel by default. You can’t leave or archive this channel, or convert it to a private channel. Enterprise customers can configure additional default read-only broadcast channels.

Channels you no longer need can be archived and deactivated. Archiving a channel marks it as read-only to preserve channel history. You can continue to access archived channels, unless your system admin has disabled your ability to do so.

Roles#

Mattermost roles define who can do things within a team or channel. Roles are an essential aspect of Mattermost, as they enable organizations to customize user permissions to meet security and collaboration requirements effectively. By assigning roles, administrators control access levels and ensure that users can collaborate effectively without compromising security.

Key Mattermost roles include:

System Admin: Responsible for overseeing the entire Mattermost workspace, managing settings, and creating teams and users.
Team Admin: Manages a specific team, including creating and managing channels and inviting users.
Channel Admin: Controls operations within specific channels, including managing access and moderating discussions.
Members and Guests: Non-admin roles for active participants (Members) and external users with restricted access (Guests).