Mattermost

Supported by LT&I	Yes
Cost	Free
Privacy	Compliant with FIPPA and Institutional Policies
Bandwidth	Low
Equipment	Web browser; microphone/webcam optional

What is Mattermost?

Mattermost is an online communication and collaboration platform that serves as an open-source, self-hostable alternative to platforms like Slack and Teams.

What Can You Use It For?

Uses

Support collaborative and discussion-based learning in your class
Workplace team communication
Project management using Mattermost’s Boards and Playbooks

Benefits

Mattermost can be used for group or individual communication any time – synchronously or asynchronously – and on any device. This enables group, course, or team members to be more connected, but don’t worry, you can customize your availability and notification settings!
Mattermost doesn’t require a TRU login credential, so you can easily bring in community members or industry professionals to your discussions.
Key features include file sharing and BigBlueButton integration for synchronous video conferencing.
Can serve as a more dynamic alternative to the standard discussion forum, and can help foster a sense of community by providing students and instructors with a free or a structured space to collaborate, chat, and ask questions.

How Are Other Faculty Using Mattermost?

Stories of OpenETC in Action
Mattermost Education Case Studies at the University of British Columbia

How Can You Access It?

Contact learningtech@tru.ca and we will be happy to help you get started with setting up a Team in Mattermost. A Team is the basic organizing structure in Mattermost and could be a department, a class, a project etc. In your email, please provide the following:

Your name
Your desired team name
A shortened version of the URL

Following your request, we will create the team, send you the team ‘invite link’ and give you ‘team admin’ permissions for your team.

As team administrator you will be able to invite other users to the team, configure team settings, and create your desired Channel structure.

How Do You Use It?

Mattermost is very intuitive and easy to learn. It enables users to organize and communicate through teams, channels, and direct messages. Centralize your classroom or workplace communication in one place while making it easily searchable and accessible from any device.

Discussions within a channel or private message are conveniently framed on one page, while also allowing replies to specific messages to create threaded discussions. View the screenshots below for an overview of Mattermost’s functionality.

Teams: the basic organizing structure. Could be a department, class, project, etc.

Channels: used to organize communication by topic or smaller groups. Can be set to public or private.

Direct Messages: used for direct, private messaging.

Usage Tips

You can drag and drop files and other attachments. Web URLs will link when you hit enter.
Entries can be pinned to keep them at the top.
Use @ plus the username to tag users in your message. They will be notified. You can also use @all or @channel to notify everyone.
Utilize the search function to easily search for messages or files. You can also utilize hashtags to isolate all the tagged messages.

Mattermost responds to Markdown text formatting commands for things like headings, bold/italic, bullet/numbered lists, tables, etc. Refer to the figure below for an overview of some common commands.

Retrieved from https://docs.mattermost.com/channels/format-messages.html.

There are two ways to access:

Plugin icon/menu in upper-right corner. This drops a meeting button in the channel which any channel member can use.
Click on a user’s name/avatar and select “Start BigBlueButton Meeting.”

Enter /poll “Question” “Answer” “Answer” in the text editor to create a quick poll within the channel. Not entering answers will create a simple yes or no poll.
Poll settings: additional poll customization options are available by adding the following:
- anonymous: votes are displayed anonymously
- progress: display results while the poll is still active
- public-add-option: allow users to add additional response options

Mattermost User Guide

Comprehensive documentation covering Mattermost Channels, Boards, and Playbooks.

Learn More