5 Simple Steps to install the GIPHY integration on your Slack workspace and send popular GIFs to your coworkers. 1. Go to the Apps menu on Slack 2. Add GIPHY
Looking for an explanation for How to use GIPHY in Slack? You're at the right place!
Is your Slack workspace looking a little bland lately? Maybe, it’s time to lighten up! Add some fun to your dull workspace by learning how to use Slack GIPHY!
What could be better than expressing yourself with the help of GIFs? This post will go through the entire process of Slack GIPHY integration.
Moreover, we will also cover a few hidden commands in Slack GIPHY, creating a custom GIF, and a few alternatives to GIPHY.
Before we dive in, let’s see the difference between a GIF and the platform GIPHY.
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The full form of GIF is Graphics Interchange Format. Simply put, it’s just an animated image file.
More than the name, people are confused about its pronunciation. For the unaware, GIF is pronounced as ‘JIF,’ as clarified by the creator of GIF, Steve Wilhite.
On the other hand, Giphy is where you go when looking for GIFs. The platform has the most extensive library of animated GIFs, emojis, and stickers. It was introduced in 2013 by Alex Chung and Jace Cooke.
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Let’s move on to understand more about the Slack GIPHY integration. We’ve divided the entire process into four parts:
To use GIPHY, you first need to enable it in Slack. Here are the steps you need to follow to do just that:
You have to visit Slack and login into your account.
Go to the top-left corner of your workspace and click on Apps.
In the search bar for apps, type GIPHY. You’ll see the app in the results. Under GIPHY, click on the ‘Add’ button.
Selecting Add will open up the GIPHY app page. Here, you need to click on the green button that says, ‘Add to Slack.’
This will lead you to the next page. Here, you’ll notice another green button that says, “Add GIPHY Integration.” Click on it.
Now, as per your preference, you have to configure and customize the settings. Then, hit the ‘Save Integration’ button.
And that’s it! You have successfully added GIPHY to your workspace.
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Now that you’ve successfully integrated GIPHY in Slack, let’s see how to use it:
Do Remember: To activate specific actions on Slack, we use the slash command (/). In our case, we will use the slash symbol before the word GIPHY.
First, join any conversation on Slack. In the message box, type /giphy + a word or phrase related to the GIF you want to send. Suppose you want to send a funny GIF. You’ll type /giphy funny. Then, hit enter.
Based on the term you type after /giphy, you’ll be shown a GIF. You can hit the send button if you are happy with that GIF. If not, click on the ‘Shuffle’ button to look for other options.
Do Remember: At this point, your GIF is not visible to others. You’ll see the phrase ‘Only visible to you’ displayed right above it. So, you can shuffle through and see a preview of the GIF until you hit the send button.
When you do find the perfect GIF, just hit send or press enter. This will post the GIF on Slack.
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Alternatively, you can directly visit Giphy to send a GIF. If you don’t find a GIF you like through the shuffle option, you can go to GIPHY to access their massive library. Here’s what you need to do:
Visit Giphy and type the phrase or word you want in the search bar.
Based on the term you type, it will show you a bunch of GIFs. Click on the GIF that you like.
Once you select a GIF, you’ll see a share button on the right side of the GIF. Click on it.
After copying the URL, go to Slack and open any conversation. Now, paste the link in the message field and press enter. Your GIF is now visible to others!
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You can edit the settings on the GIPHY app in Slack only if you have permission. If you do, the process is relatively straightforward. Here’s what you should do:
Right next to your workspace name, you’ll see a tiny arrow. Click on the arrow and select Settings & Administration within the options.
Within Settings & Administration, click the Manage Apps option. This will open up the App Configuration page.
To find the app, type Giphy in the search bar.
Now, you can change the app settings for Giphy. There are two main settings options:
I) Maximum rating of the GIFs that will be retrieved from Giphy
II) Previews that will show you the image privately before posting.
In short, the first option allows you to access GIFs that are either rated for the General Audience, Parental Guidance, PG-13, Restricted, or the Full library.
On the other hand, the second option allows you to enable or disable the preview mode of the GIF.
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You now know how to use Slack Giphy; step up your GIF game with the Slack Giphy command. We know of at least ten Easter Egg commands related to Giphy!
In the digital world, easter eggs are ‘hidden features’ within a platform. Developers integrate these features to get a few laughs out of users. Like easter eggs, you must find these features using a few commands.
Do you want to get a GIF related to the current weather in your area? All you need to do is type - /giphy # weather <insert your zip code or city name>.
For instance, this is how the command should look for a zip code in San Francisco - /giphy # weather 94105
With this command; you can add Deal With It! Sunglasses to any GIF with a face! Type - /giphy #dwi <insert image link here>
Want to convert your text into a GIF? Use the echo command to echo your thoughts! Type - /giphy #echo <insert your phrase here>
Want to add your own words to a GIF? Use the slack giphy caption command! Type - /giphy #caption <phrase> or /giphy #caption “your quote” link to the GIF.
With this command, you can search for a GIF with a specific quote and even add your phrase to it! Type - /giphy #caption “quote” phrase.
Are you looking to zoom in on a particular GIF? Use the enhance command! All you need to do is add the GIF link to the command. Type - /giphy #enhance <add the image link>.
Want someone else to answer for you? Try using the Giphy 8 magic ball. You could use this command to get GIF-based answers to your questions!
To activate the Magic 8 Ball, type - /giphy #magic8ball Question?
This is what the command should look like in practice - /giphy #magic8ball Is today a lucky day for me?
If you want to combine the best of both worlds, you could try using this command.
Here, you’ll be able to combine a GIF with text. Type - /giphy # mashup Sticker Search Term, Giphy Search Term.
Do you want to send the most popular GIF on Slack for a particular phrase? Then, this is the command you need to use!
All you need to do is type - /giphy # 1 <insert phrase here>. This is what the command will look like for the word ‘wow’ - /giphy # 1 wow.
If you are tired of seeing GIFs in your Slack workspace, try this command. To remove all non-text-based messages on Slack, type - /collapse. This should collapse all GIFs in your conversation.
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If you ever get bored of GIPHY, there are a few alternatives that you could try out. These are Gfycat, The Coding Loves GIFs, Frinkiac, Morbotron, and GoGif.
Before we look at these alternatives, here’s how to add them to Slack:
Just like the slack GIPHY plugin, integrating its alternatives is quite similar. Here are the steps:
Step 1: Within Slack, click on the three dots next to the More option on the left sidebar.
Step 2: Here, you’ll see the Apps option. Clicking on it will take you to the Slack App Directory page.
Step 3: Search for the App and select it from the results page. Next, click on Add to Slack and follow the instructions to install the app.
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Here are five GIPHY alternatives that you can use:
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If you want to personalize your Slack communication, you can add customized emojis and GIFs to your workspace. You could go the extra mile to create a custom GIF. There are four steps involved in making a custom GIF.
First, you must use a GIF editing tool to create a GIF. You could use platforms like EzGIF, GIFntext, Photopea, etc. Also, remember that you can upload images of only 128 KB in Slack. This means that the GIF should be around 2 to 3 seconds long.
Within the GIF editing tool, you’ll be asked to upload an image or video for your GIF. Once you’ve uploaded the GIF, you’ll see various options - crop, resize, rotate, reverse, effects, speed, censor, overlay, etc.
Once you are done editing the GIF, you need to save it in your system.
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Now that you know how to create a GIF, let’s look at how to add custom emojis and GIFs to Slack. The steps to add custom GIFs are as follows:
Right next to the message field in slack, you’ll see a smiley face emoji icon. Under the emoji menu, click on the ‘Add Emoji’ button.
Once you click the Add Emoji button, select the ‘Upload Image’ option under the Custom Emoji tab. Now, upload the image or GIF from your computer.
Next, you need to give your GIF a name. It is best to give it a specific name so that it’s easier for you to remember. Once you’re done, click on save.
To access your custom Emoji or GIF, locate the Slack icon within the Emoji tab. You’ll find all your custom Emojis in there.
Alternatively, you could also type a colon right before the name of your emoji to access it. For instance, if you’ve named your emoji happy day, all you need to do is type ‘: happy day’ in the message field.
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By now, you’ve probably become a Slack GIPHY expert. It is said that people process images faster than text.
This explains the popularity of GIFs in cyberspace. Moreover, we use GIFs to express ourselves on digital platforms. They are also a great way to lighten up your conversations on Slack.
Integrating GIPHY and using easter egg commands will help unleash the full use of GIFs. Since you’ve mastered the art of using GIPHY for Slack, you deserve a GIF for all your hard work.
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Here are some frequently asked questions about GIPHY in Slack:
1. You must have the giphy or other gif apps installed in your channel
2. Click on the + icon in the chat box
3. Select the "Find and Share Gifs"
4. Search for an appropriate term and shuffle options
5. Select the on you like and share them
You can only search for Gifs in the respective channels if you have captioned them, otherwise you'll have to rely on using a new one.
1. Enter the search term in the respective search bar of the channel
2. The post will appear in the search result
3. If you are on slack free tier, there is a limit to no of messages you can access (10000)
4. If the post is not archived, it won't appear in the result section.
Giphy search is very similar to Google's page rank algorithm. It searches for pertinent keywords and tags. GIPHY’s search mechanism is sound, but it’s not perfect. But as you might expect from a site geared towards handling millions of GIF searches a day, it uses a variety of techniques to get you the results that you need. GIPHY also relies on GIFs metadata (tags, colors, category associations, etc.) that aren’t necessarily a part of the GIF itself to output relevant search queries
In this article we have discussed step by step method on how to add gifs to Slack. If you want to add a link or you can drag and drop a downloaded gif just like how you'd do with an image.
Type “/giphy #caption “Whatever you want to enter” Gif Search term or Giphy link”
1. Click on Upload to add content to your GIPHY channel on their website
2. Use this detailed guide on best practices to add tags for more impressions.
3. Add tags and click on upload
4. Once upload, copy the shortened link from GIPHY and paste it on your slack channel
Yes, GIPHY is absolutely free. They run on venture money that they raised years ago.
Once you search for a term on GIPHY, it will give you options to shuffle before posting it on the channel, this is a preview window and you can choose to cancel if it is not to your liking.
1. Click on the workspace name in top left corner of your slack workspace
2. Under settings & administration, go to manage apps
3. Slack webpage with apps details will open
4. Go to GIPHY
5. Click on disable
To create a custom GIF, you should use any GIF editing tools - Imgflip, Ezgif.com, ScreenToGif, etc. Next, upload and edit the image or video you want to turn into a GIF. Finally, save the GIF to your system.
Slack Giphy integration is quite simple. All you need to do is follow these steps -
1) Click on the three dots next to the More option on the left sidebar. Click on the Apps option. This will open up the app directory page.
2) Type Giphy in the search bar and click the ‘Add’ button. Next, click on the ‘Add to Slack’ button. Finally, select the ‘Add Giphy Integration’ and ‘Save Integration’ option.
A point to remember: to activate an app in Slack, you need to use the slash command (/) in the message field.
For Giphy, you need to type - /giphy plus the word or phrase of the GIF you want. So, if you want a funny GIF from giphy, you must type - /giphy funny.
Locate the arrow near your workspace name on the left sidebar to manage app settings on Slack.
Click on the arrow and select Settings and Administration. Then, click on Manage Apps, which will open up the Slack app directory. Finally, select the App Management Settings on the left column.
If you are stuck googling ‘slack giphy preview not working,’ here’s a solution: Check your app settings.
To do this, click on the arrow next to your workspace name on the left sidebar. Next, follow this path: Settings and Administration > Manage Apps > Type Giphy in the search bar. When the app appears in the results, click on it.
This should take you to the integration settings. Within it, see if the enable Giphy preview box is checked.
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