Team Channels
Channels are the backbone of team communication in UltiStackr. Think of them as dedicated lanes on the field — each one serves a specific purpose and keeps conversations organized so nothing important gets lost in the stack.
Default Channels
When you create a team, UltiStackr automatically sets up two channels to get you started:
General Channel
The default General channel uses the Everyone audience, so every team member can read and post messages there. It’s the perfect place for:
- Day-to-day team conversation
- Sharing highlights, photos, and post-game banter
- Casual coordination and quick questions
- Building team culture between practices
All team members — owners, coaches, managers, and players — have full read and write access to the General channel.
Announcements Channel
The default Announcements channel also uses the Everyone audience. All team members can read it, while only coaches, managers, and the team owner can post.
This is where you’ll find:
- Practice schedule changes
- Tournament logistics and travel details
- Roster updates and role assignments
- Important deadlines and team-wide notices
Everyone can read the default Announcements channel. A scoped Announcement channel is visible only to its selected audience, while posting remains limited to coaches, managers, and the team owner.
Channel Permissions and Audiences
Each channel type has a specific permission model that determines who can post:
| Channel Type | Who Can Read | Who Can Post |
|---|---|---|
| General | The channel’s selected audience | Audience members |
| Announcements | The channel’s selected audience | Coaches, Managers, Owner only |
Channel permissions follow the team’s role hierarchy. If you need to adjust who has coaching or manager privileges, head to Roles & Permissions.
Choosing an Audience
When a coach, manager, or owner creates a General or Announcement channel, they choose one audience:
- Everyone — all current team members
- Season — members of one season roster
- Custom — selected team members
A Season audience stays synchronized with that season’s roster. Adding or removing a rostered player also adds or removes their linked account from the channel automatically. If a rostered player’s account is linked or unlinked later, the channel membership updates to match. If the season is deleted, the channel keeps its last synchronized member list.
The audience type is locked when the channel is created. Staff can add or remove members later only on Custom channels; Everyone and Season channels continue to follow their fixed audience rules. The channel creator always remains a member, including after automatic roster synchronization.
When members are added or removed after creation, UltiStackr records the change as a system message in the conversation so participants can see that its membership changed.
Choose the audience carefully before creating the channel. If you need a different audience type later, create a new channel with the right scope.
Group DMs
Sometimes you need to have a conversation with a few specific teammates rather than the whole squad. That’s where Group DMs come in.
Creating a Group DM
- Navigate to the Communication tab on your team page.
- Tap the New Message button.
- Select two or more teammates from the member list.
- Start typing — your group conversation is created instantly.
Group DMs work just like channels: you get real-time messaging, read receipts, reactions, and polls. The only difference is that they’re private to the participants you selected.
When to Use Group DMs
- Coordinating with your handler line before a tournament
- Coaching staff discussions about lineup decisions
- Planning a surprise for a teammate’s birthday
- Any conversation that doesn’t need to involve the whole team
Archiving Channels
Over time, you might accumulate channels or group DMs that are no longer active — like a channel from a tournament that ended weeks ago. Rather than deleting them and losing the conversation history, you can archive them.
How to Archive
- Open the channel or group DM you want to archive.
- Tap the channel settings icon (gear icon in the channel header).
- Select Archive Channel.
- Confirm the action.
What Happens When You Archive
- The channel moves to the Archived section in your channel list.
- All message history is preserved and remains searchable.
- No new messages can be sent in an archived channel.
- Archived channels can be unarchived at any time by a coach, manager, or the team owner.
Archiving is a great way to keep your channel list clean without losing any conversation history. Think of it like filing away your game film — you might not watch it every day, but it’s there when you need it.
Tips for Organizing Your Team’s Communication
- Keep General light and social — It’s the team hangout space. Save formal updates for Announcements.
- Use Group DMs for line-specific talk — Your O-line handlers don’t need to see every D-line strategy discussion.
- Archive when a conversation runs its course — Finished planning that road trip to Nationals? Archive the DM and clear the clutter.
- Check Announcements regularly — Coaches put important info there for a reason. Don’t be the person who shows up to practice at the wrong field.
Next up: Messaging — learn about real-time messaging, editing, and read receipts.