Channels for Your Organization and How to Use Them

Channels for Your Organization and How to Use Them

Well hello there, people!

Channels.
If you've signed into Cliq and set up your organization, you're bound to have come across this word on the left side panel.
You probably know that channels provide a space for you to carry out conversations with your fellow colleagues on any topic, but do you know that Cliq has separate channels for every type of work that you may have to take up? No, really!
 
Channels can be classified based on their levels: 
 
1. Organization
As the name suggests, organization channels are for everyone in the organization. It is open to all users and anyone can search for and join these channels.
 
2. Team
Team channels are meant for collaborations within a team as only the team members will be able to view and join these channels.
 
3. Personal 
Personal channels as the name suggests are for your personal use. Only the users added in the channel will be able to view and take part in the conversations.
 
NoteOrganization and Team channels can further be classified into "Invite only" and "Open to all" channels.
 

Channels
Open to all
Invite only
Organization


Team


Personal
-


 
How can they help? Let's find out!
To know about how to create a channel, head on over to our help guide.
 
1. Want to include the entire office in your conversation?
Say you’re part of the HR team. Wouldn't it be awesome if you can create a space that’s open to everyone from your organisation to view and join, making it easier to send any important announcements or circulars? The mentioned example, "#Announcements" is also a special type of organization channel where you can restrict the members of your organization from being able to post anything on there. This means you can send out announcements to everyone without worrying about your information getting lost in the chatter. 
A channel that is open to everyone in the organization that they can join as and when they wish to is called an organization channel. For example, the channel #General, can be used to converse with everyone in the organization.



Now, wait. It doesn't end here.
 
You might have seen while creating a channel, an option to set it as "Invite Only".
Now, say a marketing campaign is planned and it requires contribution from people from various teams and roles, say from content to design and even web developers. Wouldn't it be cool to have an exclusive workspace for these people alone to collaborate and brainstorm? This is when you turn your channels into an "Invite Only" channel. For example, "#Marketing Campaigns". Now, you have a space to collaborate and work, exclusively open to only the people involved. 



2. Want to talk to just your team?
Let's say you're part of the Sales team of your organization and you would like to discuss with your team about deals and customer requirements. What do you do? 
Create a team channel, of course! For example, "#deals-won".
 
Team channels make it so much easier to have a conversation with just your team and not worry about having other members of your organization being privy to the same.



Can I collaborate with multiple teams?
Also a valid question. Say, you're part of the HR team and you've just recruited a bunch of new people. You need help from the Administration team to onboard them. To make sure both teams are on the same page, you can simply create a multiteam channel "#onboarding" with the HR team and the Administration team. So, now you have people from both the teams collaborating in one space. Sounds neat, doesn't it?

 

Moreover, just like in organization channels, you have the option of changing the team channel settings to "Invite Only" here as well.
 
 
3. Looking for an informal space to converse with your colleagues casually? 
Want to plan a team outing? Or simply looking for a space to talk about your favourite music? 
Voila--personal channels are what you should go for. For example, "#weekend outing"
True to its name, a personal channel is for unofficial purposes where you can have just a casual conversation with your fellow colleagues. 



 But why can't I just create an Invite Only Channel?
You may wonder this because why not simply create an organization channel and mark it as “Invite Only”, right? However, it has to be noted that an Invite Only channel at any time can be converted back to an “Open to all” channel whereas a Personal channel will always remain as “Invite Only”. Imagine if your #weekend outing plans were to suddenly come to open and have everyone in your organization be able to view the same. Not cool, right? This is where personal channels come in handy.
 
 
So there you go! These are the list of channels you need to get your work flowing. Do let us know in the comments below how channels helped you with your team collaboration!
 
 
Cheers,
Divya V
Zoho Cliq








    Access your files securely from anywhere







                            Zoho Developer Community




                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Digest


                                                  • Functions


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner


                                                  • Word of the Day


                                                  • Ask the Experts



                                                            • Sticky Posts

                                                            • New in Zoho Chat : Search for contacts, files, links & conversations with the all new powerful 'Smart Search' bar.

                                                              With the newly revamped 'Smart Search' bar in Zoho Chat, we have made your search for contacts, chats, files and links super quick and easy using Search Quantifiers.   Search for a contact or specific conversations using quantifiers, such as, from: @user_name - to find chats or channel conversations received from a specific user. to: @user_name - to find chats or channel conversations sent to a specific user. in: #channel_name - to find a particular instance in a channel. in: #chat_name - to find
                                                            • New in Zoho Chat: Threaded conversation at its finest best

                                                              Perform effective team communication in Zoho Chat with our new 'Reply' option.   Converse and stay focussed on the parent conversation, rather than getting entangled in the web of several, never-ending sub threads.   To reply to a certain message, all you need to do is hover to the left hand side of the message. Then, click on the three dots to open a pop up menu. Here, click on the Reply button and type the reply to the message in the compose box and press Enter.   Voila, that was pretty simple. 
                                                            • Changes in Cliq iOS app notification due to iOS 13 and Xcode 11

                                                              Hello everyone! With the iOS 13 update, Apple has updated its policy on usage of VoIP push notifications. Over the past few months, we tried our best to provide a similar experience with the updated policy.  Changes in iOS 13:  With iOS 13, Apple mandates all VoIP push notifications to be reported to the CallKit framework as a new call. If a VoIP push notification is not reported to the CallKit within a designated time window, iOS will terminate the app. If enough VoIP push notifications are not
                                                            • What's new in Zoho Cliq - June 2020 updates

                                                              Hello again, everyone! I'm back to share with you the recent feature improvements and updates that we've pulled together for enhancing your experience in Cliq. Here's what's new this June for you all in Cliq's web and iOS app! New on Cliq Web: Drag and drop files to a chat in your left side panel   Now you can drag and drop attachments from your open conversation window to a specific chat or channel in the left side menu without opening it. Swift up actions and collaborate efficiently with Cliq's
                                                            • 4 Things You Should Do Once You Get Started with Cliq

                                                              Hey there, new user!  You've successfully logged in and set up your organization and you're all set to start working. What's next? Buckle up because here are 4 essential things you need to do first in order to get the most out of your Cliq experience:   1. Invite your colleagues   Now that you've set up your Cliq for business, you need to bring in all your employees, of course, because how else can you collaborate with them?   To invite your colleagues to Cliq, head on over to the Admin Panel which


                                                            Manage your brands on social media



                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources



                                                                      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                        Zoho Books Resources


                                                                          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                            Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                              Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                Qntrl Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                      Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                      • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                        CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                      • Kaizen

                                                                                        Kaizen

                                                                                      • Functions

                                                                                        Functions

                                                                                      • Meetups

                                                                                        Meetups

                                                                                      • Kbase

                                                                                        Kbase

                                                                                      • Resources

                                                                                        Resources

                                                                                      • Digest

                                                                                        Digest

                                                                                      • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      • MVP Corner

                                                                                        MVP Corner







                                                                                          Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                          Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                          Get Started Now


                                                                                            Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                              Zoho Writer

                                                                                              Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                              Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                Zoho CRM コンテンツ



                                                                                                  Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                      ご検討中の方




                                                                                                              • Recent Topics

                                                                                                              • Verifying Zoho Mail Functionality After Switching DNS from Cloudflare to Hosting Provider

                                                                                                                I initially configured my domain's (https://roblaxmod.com/) email with Zoho Mail while using Cloudflare to manage my DNS records (MX, SPF, etc.). All services were working correctly. Recently, I have removed my site from Cloudflare and switched my domain's
                                                                                                              • API Support for Creating Invoices with Batch-Tracked Items

                                                                                                                Hi Zoho Community, I am working on an integration where we create invoices in ERPNext and push them to Zoho Books. I need to send batch-tracked items (batch numbers) when creating invoices. I could not find any reference in the Zoho Books API documentation.
                                                                                                              • Amendment effective date

                                                                                                                Hi everyone, I noticed that the amendment effective date mentionned in my amendment is not right. Indeed, when a contract is amended several times, it states the previous amendment and their effective date. However, the effective date stated is always
                                                                                                              • Show both Vendor and Customers in contact statement

                                                                                                                Dear Sir, some companies like us working with companies as Vendor and Customers too !!! it mean we send invoice and also receive bill from them , so we need our all amount in one place , but in contact statement , is separate it as Vendor and Customer, 
                                                                                                              • STOCK history in zohosheets

                                                                                                                is it possible to get historical stock value using stock function in zoho sheets? i could not see from and to period in the helper document.
                                                                                                              • Auto sync Photo storage

                                                                                                                Hello I am new to Zoho Workdrive and was wondering if the is a way of automatically syncing photos on my Android phone to my workdrive as want to move away from Google? Thanks
                                                                                                              • Agent password reset

                                                                                                                Hi Zoho support, I would like to ask if there is a way the admin can reset a password of an agent? Regards
                                                                                                              • Can receive but not send messages in Zoho Mail

                                                                                                                Hello! I was able to configure my email client successfully in that I can receive messages just fine. However, when I send messages out, they seem to go out fine (I don't receive any errors or anything), but the recipient does NOT receive those messages.
                                                                                                              • Mail is sent twice!

                                                                                                                Been using Zoho for a while now. Installed Zoho for someone else and some weird things are happening. Mails are being sent twice. He is using Thunderbird as an email client. I already read about email being duplicated in the sent folder. But in my case
                                                                                                              • Can't login IMAP suddenly

                                                                                                                Since this evening I'm getting the error: You are yet to enable IMAP for your account. Please contact your administrator... IMAP always been enabled in my account and was workign fine for the past 7 years. Already tried turning IMAP off and on again.
                                                                                                              • Sending of username did not succeed: Mail server pop.zoho.com responded: User already specified

                                                                                                                I am having issues receiving emails from Zoho in Thunderbird. I am getting the above error. The first error tells me Authentication failed, and prompts me to enter in my password. Then I get the above error. I can receive emails when I log in online to
                                                                                                              • Bug tracking

                                                                                                                Hi, does anyone know how to track errors during picking or packing? This way I can keep track and see how to improve and prevent errors in this area.
                                                                                                              • Migration of corporate mail environment from Yandex 360 to Zoho mail

                                                                                                                I have to migrate a corporate mail environment with an existing domain from Yandex 360 to Zoho mail. It is vital to migrate all users with all the data. I have read the article on this topic using MacMister Email Backup Software just now and have some
                                                                                                              • I'm unable to send mail pthrough Zoho SMTP programmatically

                                                                                                                This has been working for years, but today it's been offline all day long. I see nothing anywhere on your site about this. I'm not the only one experiencing this. Downdetector has a spike of reports today
                                                                                                              • Can no longer send email via Django site

                                                                                                                This was working fine as of 11/7/25. Now I am unable to send user verification emails from a Django site on a AWS lightsail sever. When a user attempts to register the following error occurs. I have also attempted to send a test email via the shell and
                                                                                                              • unable to send email but able to receive email

                                                                                                                my email address is info@securityforceservices.ca
                                                                                                              • Login to server failing

                                                                                                                When trying to retrieve my mail, I am getting this error message -- Login to server pop.zoho.com with username (my email address) failed. It gives me the option to retry, enter password, or cancel. Then I get this message -- Sending of username did not
                                                                                                              • Configuration failed: 200 response not received for POST request.

                                                                                                                Hello, I am trying to set up a webhook to connect with an Salesforce but I receive the following error from Zoho: Configuration failed: 200 response not received for POST request I have tried testing it on webhook.site as well and receive the same error
                                                                                                              • Zoho Migration Assistant not working

                                                                                                                Hello, I am trying to use you Migration assistant to migrate emails from Rediff to Zoho. I am stuck in the first step. After downloading the migration tool, I copied the link to verify user credentials, however, after pasting the link in the browser,
                                                                                                              • Paid Support Plans with Automated Billing

                                                                                                                We (like many others, I'm sure) are designing or have paid support plans. Our design involves a given number of support hours in each plan. Here are my questions: 1) Are there any plans to add time-based plans in the Zoho Desk Support Plans feature? The
                                                                                                              • Scheduled Reports - Do not send empty report

                                                                                                                Hello, We are intensively using reports in the CRM, especially for sales managers.  When data is empty, they still receive an email. Can you add an option to avoid sending the report when data is empty?
                                                                                                              • Contacts Missing — PeopleSync/Zoho Mail

                                                                                                                English: In our company we use ManageEngine Mobile Device Manager (MDM), Free edition, to manage corporate mobile devices. Our usage policy does not allow personal Google accounts on these devices; therefore, Google account sync is blocked through MDM.
                                                                                                              • Best way to integrate Zoho with mobile app for managing customer requests with real-time notifications?

                                                                                                                Hello, I'm building a solution for a travel company where customers submit requests through a website, and the sales team manages these requests through a mobile app. The Requirement: Customers fill a form on the website (name, email, number of children,
                                                                                                              • Kaizen #57 - Mass Update API in Zoho CRM

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! Welcome back to yet another post in the Kaizen series. This week, we will discuss the Mass Update API in Zoho CRM. In this post, we will cover the following: 1. Introduction 2. Mass Update Records API  3. Schedule Update and Get Status
                                                                                                              • Getting Attachments in Zoho Desk via API

                                                                                                                Is there a way to get attachments into Zoho Desk via an API?      We have a process by which a zoho survey gets sent to the user as a link in a notification.    The survey has several upload fields where they can upload pdf documents.    I've created
                                                                                                              • Multiple currencies - doesn’t seem to work for site visitors / customers

                                                                                                                I am trying to understand how the multiple currency feature works from the perspective of the website visitor who is shopping on my Zoho Commerce site. My site’s base currency is US Dollars (USD) but my store is for customers in Costa Rica and I would
                                                                                                              • Pincode based Product Restriction

                                                                                                                we have different types of products. 1) Very bulky items like plywood. 2) Too delicate items like glass These type of products we want to sell to local customers. Other products we want to supply all over India. There should be an option to restrict products
                                                                                                              • Can multiple agents be assigned to one ticket on purpose?

                                                                                                                Is it possible to assign one ticket to two or more agents at a time? I would like the option to have multiple people working on one ticket so that the same ticket is viewable for those agents on their list of pending tickets. Is something like this currently
                                                                                                              • Related Lists filter

                                                                                                                I have Contacts showing in our Accounts module. I customized the Contacts module with an Employment Status field, with the following picklist options: "Primary Contact", "Secondary Contact", "Active Staff(not a main contact)", and "No longer employed".
                                                                                                              • Standalone custom function not generating logs

                                                                                                                Why dont't standalone custom functions generate logs when the're called from another function? I have some functions (workflow, buttons and blueprint) that have common parts, so I put that part in a standalone function which is called from the others.
                                                                                                              • Add "Reset MFA" Option for Zoho Creator Client Portal Users

                                                                                                                Hello Zoho Creator Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to request an important enhancement related to Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for client portal users in Zoho Creator. Currently, Creator allows us to enforce MFA for portal users,
                                                                                                              • Support Bots and Automations in External Channels

                                                                                                                Hello Zoho Cliq Team, How are you? We actively use Zoho Cliq for collaboration, including with our external developers. For this purpose, external channels are a key tool since they work seamlessly within the same interface as all of our other channels
                                                                                                              • Urgent Security Feature Request – Add MFA to Zoho Projects Client Portal Hello Zoho Projects Team,

                                                                                                                Hello Zoho Projects Team, We hope you are doing well. We would like to submit an urgent security enhancement request regarding the Zoho Projects Client Portal. At this time, as far as we are aware, there is no Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) available
                                                                                                              • Creator HTML page refresh

                                                                                                                Hi, I have added around 5 different html snippets in single creator page. I understand, I can refresh the entire page from page script using Navigational URLs https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/kb/creator/developer-guide/others/url-patterns/articles/navigational-urls
                                                                                                              • Zoho Desk - Custom Module Related List Columns on Tickets

                                                                                                                I have a custom module in Zoho Desk called Asana Tasks, each task has a lookup to a Ticket. On the Ticket I want to see the columns of the Asana Tasks in the related list . Is there a way to do this? Right now it just has the name of the record and I
                                                                                                              • What is your opinion of the new UI?

                                                                                                                Hi Everyone, I would like to see what everyone thinks of the new Zoho One Dashboard. I don't get it, but perhaps I'm missing something. What are your thoughts?
                                                                                                              • What are the OAuth scopes needed to access the Zoho MCP server?

                                                                                                                I think I'm authenticating with the MCP server endpoint successfully using a bearer token but I can't successfully initialize an MCP session. I'm using the official MCP Python sdk (https://github.com/modelcontextprotocol/python-sdk). I get as far as here
                                                                                                              • cant upload images in signature- urgent help needed. ta!

                                                                                                                HI, I have been trying to insert the company logo in the signature. i have tried it several times since yesterday, the longest I waited was 1 hour and 12 minutes for the pop up window to upload a 180 KB .jpg file. what am i doing wrong..  an urgent reply will be appreciated,  Ta
                                                                                                              • Account blocked for IMAP use

                                                                                                                Hello, My email client (Evolution) can't sync mail anymore. It gives the error: "Your account is temporarily blocked for IMAP use. This may happen if you exceed the maximum number of simultaneous IMAP connections allowed. Kindly try again after some time."
                                                                                                              • Is SMTP included in the free plan?

                                                                                                                My client has a Zoho Mail Free 14 day trial that ends tomorrow. She has set up a domain email address with SMTP on a third party app and is wondering if it will continue working once her plan downgrades to the free forever plan. Thanks
                                                                                                              • Next Page