Slack 2.0 Migration FAQ

Beginning with the 23.10 release, Simpplr is upgrading our original Slack integration (Slack 1.0) to the new Slack integration (Slack 2.0).

Why are we doing this?

Simpplr's current Slack integration is built on Slack APIs that have been deprecated, which has caused the integration to break for some of our customers, resulting in a poor experience. There have been many comments and discussions from customers and Simpplr team members about usability issues with the current Slack 1.0 integration.

Our Slack 2.0 integration is built using the latest Slack APIs and fixes the issues customers were having with the unfurl preview no longer displaying. As we built this new integration, usability was our main focus along with adding new features and functionality.

What new features are in Slack 2.0?

When building Slack 2.0 we heavily relied on product enhancement requests submitted by customers to help shape and guide the improvements that we built, which resulted in the following improvements:

• Customize App Name and Icon 
  • This allows app admins to brand the Slack bot to better match their organization.
• Type and search site feed connection
  • Slack 1.0 required users to copy and paste Slack channels to link Simpplr sites to a Slack channel. Now you can type the name, and we filter out non matching results.
• Smarter grouping of site feed settings
  • Grouping of replies and or comments tied to site feed posts gives a better experience
• Click 2 chat 
  • Users who enable Slack will now have a Slack badge on their profile, which allows a quick access to start a Slack DM. Slack badge also displays in the Simpplr People list.
• Promote/Sharing flow updates
  • Promoting content can now be posted in up to 5 Slack channels, and Sharing content to 1 channel using the type and filter method. Content promoted or shared will be displayed by the user promoting/sharing (not by Slack bot) to further enhance engagement.
• Unfurl cards
  • We’ve updated and improved most of the rich previews that users will see when copying and pasting links, sharing, and promoting content. Now there's less clutter to present the content in a rich clean preview.
• Disable unfurl for sites
  • Site owners and managers can enable/disable unfurling of content on their sites. This can be helpful for a private site that might contain confidential information. When sharing content from a private site with unfurl previews, we will show a warning message to the user. 
• Threaded responses
  • abc

What steps are required to upgrade?

We made the upgrade process for App managers straightforward and easy. From the Manage > Application > Integrations > Messaging menu, upon clicking Upgrade in Simpplr, in the background we will disable Slack 1.0 integration, remove Slack 1.0 app bot, install the Slack 2.0 app bot and land the App manager on the Slack authorization page. This results in a migration process that only requires two clicks for the App manager (one click on Simpplr, one click on Slack auth page). There will be no need to disconnect your Simpplr environment from Slack.

What happens after the upgrade?

After the upgrade to Slack 2.0, all sites configured to use the ‘Site feed to Slack channel’ integration will need to be reconnected and reconfigured, and all users will need to reconnect their Simpplr profiles to their Slack accounts. The main Slack Integration Knowledge Base article walks you through these steps.

What if I don’t want to upgrade?

Slack 2.0 integration is a superior, up-to-date product offering, and Simpplr will be focusing our development efforts only on that integration going forward. We will keep our Slack 1.0 integration active for two releases, or six months, post 23.08 release (August, 2023), but will not be doing any dev work or fixing any issues that are brought up.