InterviewUC&C17 Nov 2023 · 8 min read

Slack Canvases: How to use Canvas in Slack

Slack Canvases help teams share knowledge in one place, with templates, Salesforce, Jira and Figma integrations.

Slack Canvases are a new way for companies to streamline collaboration and enhance productivity in the digital world. Introduced at the Dreamforce event, the Slack “canvas” feature aims to bridge the gaps between employees in the changing world of work.

According to Slack, in larger organizations, teams and departments often struggle to find information and gain access to the same tools in today’s cloud-driven world. On average, knowledge workers spend up to 4.5 hours a week just tracking down information.

With customizable Slack canvases, teams can more easily organize and share information at scale. These digital hubs can include everything from files and text to rich media and data. Teams can even use templates to create specific canvases for different purposes, like onboarding.

So, how do you get started? Here’s everything you need to know about how to use Canvas in Slack.

What are Slack Canvases? The Basics

First introduced in 2022, Slack Canvases are collaborative hubs where teams can share content and work on projects together. The tech leader says the Canvas tool can help companies find, manage, and share knowledge in a unified space, sidestepping productivity bottlenecks.

Slack Canvas has captured significant attention in a world where tools like Slack are becoming the modern HQ for many businesses with hybrid and remote teams. It makes it easier for users to share knowledge and integrates with various tools, aligning insights from across your technology stack in one place.

With Slack Canvases, companies can:

Capture and curate knowledge: A Slack Canvas gives organizations an evergreen environment for organizing and sharing information. Canvases can include all kinds of media, from links to files, images, videos, and systems of record (from Salesforce).
Collaborate in real-time: Users on Slack can access canvases during collaborative sessions, co-editing content, leave comments for colleagues, and create threads.
Design workflows: With the updated Slack platform, teams can use Slack canvases to build automated workflows without coding requirements. You can design workflows for everything from approvals to reporting issues.

Like the broader Slack platform, Slack Canvases also integrate with various other tools in your ecosystem, from Salesforce, Jira, and Figma. This allows users to access these tools within their Canvas without jumping between apps.

How to Access Slack Canvas: Getting Started

In April 2023, Slack announced Canvas would become the central hub for knowledge generation and sharing within its application. Every conversation or channel in Slack now has an in-built canvas for storing and organizing information.

You can see the “Canvas” icon at the top of the channel conversation, next to the button that allows users to start a huddle with their colleagues.

If you’re on a paid plan, you can create Slack Canvases without linking them to a specific DM or channel and share them with team members or bring them into huddle chats.

No matter whether you choose to access a canvas in a conversation or create a canvas on its own, certain features are always available, such as:

Autocomplete: Typing “#” into a chat box will allow you to mention a channel or use @ to mention people in your community.
Custom emoji: Custom emoji options will appear in the emoji picker whenever you work on a canvas.
In-line objects: You can add link previews, files, images, and more directly to your canvas and drag and drop elements to wherever you need them.

It’s also possible to view and edit existing canvases via the Slack app on your mobile device.

How to Use Slack Canvases: The Two Options

As mentioned above, there are two ways to access Slack canvases. The first is to take advantage of the canvas already included in every channel and direct message. Anyone with access to a channel can see Channel canvases, while DM canvases are visible to just the DM users.

On a desktop or mobile, you can access an existing canvas by clicking on the canvas icon in the top right corner of the conversation. Clicking on the canvas icon will open a new screen. If you have permission to post in the conversation, you can start adding content straight away.

Alternatively, you can create a new standalone canvas for anything you’re working on using a paid Slack plan. You might create project briefs, checklists, or even meeting notes, which you can share in any Slack conversation. It’s also possible to make a canvas “private” for your eyes only.

To create a standalone Canvas, click the “+” button in the Slack sidebar and click the Canvas icon. When you start typing, the canvas will open in a new window with a formatting bar at the bottom.

Clicking on the formatting icon will give you various options, such as creating paragraphs, bullet point lists, and checklists. The formatting bar also gives you access to the “+ Insert Objects” button. Here, you can add media directly to your canvas, such as:

Video or audio clips
Dividers
Workflows
Images
Additional Slack canvases
Files

Once you’ve added your content to your canvas, you can adjust its position. Click the six dot icon on the component and drag it to your preferred location. This icon also allows you to add comments to a section or copy a link included in a component.

To share a canvas, click the “Share” button in the top right corner. This will open a popup where you can select the team members you want to collaborate with.

Slack Templates and Ideas for Canvases

If you’re new to using Canvases and you need a little inspiration, Slack has you covered. When you click the button to create a Canvas in Slack, you’ll see various template options underneath the “Blank Page” option for things like to-do lists and checklists.

Slack also has a Canvas Gallery available to find pre-built templates for different needs. To access this gallery, click the “Canvas” tab under “More” on your left sidebar, or open an empty canvas and select “See more templates.” Options include templates for:

Employee onboarding: This template helps to structure the onboarding process for new hires, offering your employees the tools, resources, and data to succeed in their new role.
Monthly newsletter: Ideal for company-wide and team announcements, this template leverages layouts, placeholders, and content blocks for newsletters.
Out-of-office plans: If certain team members take time off, you can use the “OOO” template to keep work moving when people aren’t available.
Sales enablement: The Sales enablement hub template is excellent for getting teams up-to-speed on an upcoming launch and boosting productivity; you can even add Slack clip tutorials.

Editing and Working in Slack Canvases

Slack created its Canvases feature to boost collaboration and productivity in today’s evolving world of work. They’re easy to use and great for sharing information with team members. You can even @mention people and leave comments on Canvas segments.

To edit a canvas and add your content, you’ll need editor access. Admins can share “view only” access with specific team members or provide editor access to anyone.

If you can’t access a canvas, ask your channel manager to switch permissions to “anyone who can post in the channel.”

Users can add media to a canvas by clicking the “+” icon or typing to enter text. To leave comments on a Canvas, for feedback or discussion purposes, you’ll need to open the canvas you want to work in and find the section you wish to comment on.

Select the six dots icon next to the component, and click “Add Comment.” You can then press “Enter” to add the comment to the canvas. Comments on Slack Canvases work similarly to messages in threads, and replies will appear in your Activity and Threads views on Slack.

You can use the “Filter” button to sort comments by most recent, archived, and unread.

To mention people in a canvas and send them an instant notification, simply type the @ symbol followed by the person’s name. As long as your canvas is shared with the person you mention, they’ll see a badge notification appear next to the “Canvases view” in their sidebar.

Managing your Canvases

Just as working in Slack canvases is pretty straightforward, managing your existing canvases is easy, too. If you’re using a channel or DM canvas, click the canvas icon to interact with the hub within the conversation. You can’t delete these canvases, but you can delete all the content and start fresh with new workflows and media.

To access and manage your standalone canvases, click on the three dots at the bottom of the right-hand menu on the Slack app. Select the “Canvases” option from the list that appears. You can then use the “Filter” and “Sort” options to organize your canvases. Alternatively, users can search for the Canvas they need by name.

Select the three-dot icon next to your chosen canvas to manage a specific canvas. This will allow you to share the canvas with other users, view canvas details, copy a link, or save your canvas for later. You can also delete a standalone canvas here.

Discovering the Benefits of Slack Canvases

Slack Canvases might not be as exciting to business leaders as the slew of new AI-focused tools introduced by the brand, but they’re still helpful. The feature was designed to address the problem of managing and organizing content in an ever-evolving digital space.

Slack Canvases are extremely easy to use and intuitive. They retain all the formatting and links from anything you copy and paste into the hub. Additionally, they offer a range of ways to curate all of the necessary workflows, information, and media you need into one convenient environment.

With Slack Canvas, users can keep track of to-do lists, monitor and plan projects, foster real-time collaboration, and even streamline workflows. It’s a feature worth checking out if your company is already collaborating with Slack.

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