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Stay in the know with your fellow volunteers, read the latest volunteer spotlight, and learn about current events happening in the Volunteer Nation.


Eleanor Cotton
Eleanor Cotton

Paula Restrepo's Blog


Using Twist in the Literature Community

Twist & Project Communication 

If you started a new literature community project in the last week, you may have noticed that we are starting to use Twist for project communication. We've had some questions pop up as a result, so I thought we'd answer those so they can benefit others in a FAQ style blog post!
  
 How do I access the Project channel in Twist?
 You can access the project channel by clicking the Discussion Group tab in your project site. It will pop open another browser tab with your project channel.

How do I post messages in the Twist project channel?
Please click the relevant thread and type in your comment in the field at the bottom, then click Post. Please don't start a new thread each time you post.
Remember to use @mentions (@ then type in the person's name you wish to notify in particular).


Where do I find project channels for Textbook Community projects?
We have not yet moved textbook community project communication to Twist. They will still use Google Hangouts which are accessed using the Hangouts link at the project site (for now).


Twist screenshot showing channel list on left

I'm lost...where do I find my project channel?
If you logged into Twist directly instead of coming to it through the project site and can't find your project channel, remember to look in Channels. It will start with Project and channels are listed in alphabetical order:
If you use Twist on a mobile device or smaller screen, the channels may not appear until you hover over/tap the left side of the app.


Why are we doing this again? (I don't like change!)
Our communication methods prior to Twist had several issues, i.e., user caps on Google hangouts, login issues and user conflicts with Google Groups, inability to edit or delete comments in Google hangouts, etc.
We really appreciate your understanding and patience so much as we make this switch!


How will I know when my narrator/listener makes a post?
If they used an @mention with your name and you set Twist to email you when you have an @mention post, you should receive an email notification from Twist when there's a new post. Notification settings are accessible using the bell icon at top right in the Twist app.


When I click on the Discussion Group tab, it pops up a message that says to check my email.
If you're new to Twist, you'll need to click Join Now in the confirmation email from Twist. Click the Continue with Google button and choose any other channels you'd like to join and then click Join Channels. You'll see the project channel on the left; the channels are listed alphabetically. In addition, the Discussion Group link at the project site will work now that you've joined Twist.

 
Thanks again for joining us on Twist and learning this new communication tool! We appreciate you so much and please reach out to vol-support@learningally.org with any additional questions or concerns about Twist!

Introducing Twist...a new way to communicate!

Let's Twist!

As you've probably heard, we’ve seen a lot of new volunteers since March and the limitations of Google Chat, our old messaging client, have become more apparent. We need a better way. We need to be able to keep all our volunteers and staff members connected in easy to manage groups, with a centralized interface, and easy to use tools.
 
So say hello to Twist!
 
Twist is a modern communication tool that provides us with a flexible and easy forum for community discussion. With apps for macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, Linux, and the web, our conversations will stay synced across all devices. Visit Twist's download center for details on the different versions available!
 
The roll-out for this new tool will be gradual, starting with the large Chat hangouts like the Virtual Water Cooler, Literary Salon, Listener Bureau, Training Hangouts, and QA Hangouts. When those groups have changed over, and everyone is comfortably using Twist, we can  move Project communication too. Starting with Literature projects, and then Textbooks. We’ll allow for a few months to complete this transition as we all get accustomed to this new tool! Once complete, we’ll have all volunteers working and chatting together in the same teams with the ability to join larger group conversations too!
 
We added a text Twist Reference Guide to our Resources page and we encourage you to watch this introductory video about Twist! 
 

 

The link to join Twist is here: https://twist.com/j/2abbc2863c6e85d3502548e77f1f59e0  Please join the conversation!