[+] Table of Contents





Console



For users who are comfortable with command lines, you can use the console mode. It is accessible via the webview, SMS, and Slack. The main interaction method is through handles and slash commands, which you can use to send messages, configure the account, or access special features.

From the webview, click on the "show console" link in the upper right. This will show the console view in the right hand panel.

From SMS, you can send the commands at any time. If you want the full experience, send the command:

/console enable

and it will change the responses and notifications sent to your phone via SMS into the console format.

From Slack, you can preface any Muxgram command with /muxgram and use it directly within the Slack channel. You do not need to include the slash for Muxgram commands when using them in Slack, but it will still work if you include them.

For example, if you wanted to use the following Muxgram command:

/list

in Slack, then the corresponding command would be:

/muxgram list

but it would still work if you included the slash in front of the Muxgram command, i.e.

/muxgram /list

The following documentation assumes you are in console mode or have it enabled. If you are using Slack, console mode is inherently always on, since slash commands are always available. If you want to display the Muxgram handles in the Slack thread conversation header posts, then you can enable them using the following command:

/muxgram slack handles enable

Messages


You can send a message to a user by typing in their handle first then your message, i.e.
In Webview and SMS:
@johnsmith Hello! Nice to meet you!
In Slack:
/muxgram @johnsmith Hello! Nice to meet you!

To make things easier, if you happen to have only one user with the first name of "John", you can type in just "@john" instead of his full name. If you have only one user with a first name that starts with "J", you could even shorten it further to "@j". If there are multiple users that match those first set of letters, then it will return an error and not send the message.

If you want to send a message to a few users, you can use a list of user handles separated by commas to send a message, i.e.
In Webview and SMS:
@peter,paul,mary Are you going to the party tonight?
In Slack:
/muxgram @peter,paul,mary Are you going to the party tonight?

You can send a message to an unknown user by using their 11 digit phone number prefixed by a "+", i.e.:
In Webview and SMS:
+14152003446 Hello, thanks for reaching out.
In Slack:
/muxgram +14152003446 Hello, thanks for reaching out.

When you receive a message and have console mode enabled, you will get a text message with the message prefixed by their handle, which is always their first and last names concatenated together, i.e. "@johnsmith". If you get a text message from somebody who has not signed up, you can still get the message depending on your /proxy setting, but it will be prefixed by their phone number, i.e. "+14152003446" instead of their handle.

Users


Adding Users


You can use the "/user" command to add a new user manually. If you send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/user +14157778888 John Smith
In Slack:
/muxgram user +14157778888 John Smith

then it will create a new user with that name and number. The first parameter is the phone number and the second is the name of the user. The name can just be their first name, first name and last initial, or their full name. The phone number must always be 11 digits (currently US only, so must always start with "1") with no spaces or other characters. When you use this command, it will silently add the user and not tell them that they have been added.


User Information


To see a list of all of your users, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/list
In Slack:
/muxgram list

and it will respond back with a list of all the users that have signed up to your account. If you add a user handle to the command, i.e.
In Webview and SMS:
/list @john
In Slack:
/muxgram list @john

then it will return all the information about that one user (i.e. name, phone number, etc.). There are many other ways to use the "/list" command, but we will mention them later once we introduce some other concepts.


Renaming User Handle


If you would like to change the handle name for a given user, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/rename @johnsmith @jacksmith
In Slack:
/muxgram rename @johnsmith @jacksmith

The first term is their current handle and the second term is the new handle name.


Renaming User Name


If you would like to change the name for a given user, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/rename @johnsmith Jack Smith
In Slack:
/muxgram rename @johnsmith Jack Smith

The first term is their current handle followed by the new name of the user.


Removing Users


If you want to remove a user for some reason, whether they ask to be removed or if you want to remove them for some other reason, the command is "/rm". So to remove the user @john, just send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/rm @john
In Slack:
/muxgram rm @john

and it will remove that user. If you want to manually add them back, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/restore @john
In Slack:
/muxgram restore @john

This will restore the old user with the entire conversation history preserved.

To get a list of all the users you have removed, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/list removed
In Slack:
/muxgram list removed

If you want to block a user and never receive any messages from them again, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/block @john
In Slack:
/muxgram block @john

and it will block that user. If you want to unblock them, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/unblock @john
In Slack:
/muxgram unblock @john

You can also remove and block unknown users.
In Webview and SMS:
/rm +14152003446
In Slack:
/muxgram rm +14152003446

In Webview and SMS:
/block +14152003446
In Slack:
/muxgram block +14152003446

If you remove an unknown number, it will permanently delete the conversation history. If you block an unknown number it will preserve the conversation history, but will block all messages from them. If you want to unblock the unknown number, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/unblock +14152003446
In Slack:
/muxgram unblock +14152003446



Superusers


The people who are answering and responding to users are called "superusers". To add more superusers, you first need to have them sign up for your Muxgram account via the sign up page:

https://muxgram/youraccountname

Once they have signed up, you can turn them into a superuser by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/su @peter
In Slack:
/muxgram su @peter

and to remove them as a superuser, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/rm su @peter
In Slack:
/muxgram rm su @peter

Once they become superusers, they will receive all the messages from your users and have access to all the commands.

For Slack, all users who have access to the Slack channel can have superuser access. For the Professional plan, all users can use Muxgram console commands directly in the Slack channel and can log into the webview. For the Standard plan, Slack users in the channel cannot use any Muxgram console commands but everybody can log into the webview though only one user can concurrently use the webview at a time.

Tags


Tags are a powerful tool to help organize and to develop a profile of your users. When you reference tags in commands, they are always prefixed by a "#" symbol.


Adding Tags


The simplest way to tag a user is by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/tag @john #coffee
In Slack:
/muxgram tag @john #coffee

The first term is the command, the second is the user you want to tag, and the third term is the tag. You can tag multiple people with multiple tags by including multiple users and tags separated by a comma.
In Webview and SMS:
/tag @peter,paul,mary #coffee,music
In Slack:
/muxgram tag @peter,paul,mary #coffee,music

You must prefix the list of users with "@" and the list of tags with "#". Also tags can only contain lowercase letters and numbers with no spaces.

Once you have added tags to some users, you can use them to send messages to them as a group by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
#coffee Let's go get some coffee!
In Slack:
/muxgram #coffee Let's go get some coffee!

You can also use a combination of tags to direct a message. There are two ways to combine tags. One is using the "|" symbol to separate the tags, which denotes an "or" combination. If you had some users who were tagged with #coffee and some that were tagged with #tea, you could send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
#coffee|tea Who wants to meet up for a hot beverage?
In Slack:
/muxgram #coffee|tea Who wants to meet up for a hot beverage?

which would send the message to users who were tagged with either #coffee or #tea.

Another is using the "&" symbol to separate the tags, which denotes an "and" combination. If you had some users who were tagged with #coffee and some that were tagged with #chicago, you could send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
#coffee&chicago Who wants to get some coffee?
In Slack:
/muxgram #coffee&chicago Who wants to get some coffee?

which would send the message to users who were tagged with both #chicago and #coffee.

There is one more interesting way to use tags, which are minus tags to exclude specific users. If you want to send a message to everybody with a specific tag, expect for a couple people, then you could use the minus tags, like the following:
In Webview and SMS:
#friends-@peter I'm planning a surprise birthday party for Peter, can you come?
In Slack:
/muxgram #friends-@peter I'm planning a surprise birthday party for Peter, can you come?

By adding the "-@" at the end of the tag and specifying a user handle, it will send the message to everybody who is a #friend but will not send the message to Peter.

There is a special tag that is used to identify all of your users, which is #all. If you use this tag with any action it will reference all of your users. There is also a special tag to identify only the superusers, which is #su.

Tags can be used to target a set of users in many of the commands we mentioned previously. If you want to know who has the tag #coffee, you can use the "/list" command and send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/list #coffee
In Slack:
/muxgram list #coffee

Another way to automatically tag users is when they signup to your Muxgram account. If you add a hash to your Muxgram signup page URL, i.e.

https://muxgram/youraccountname#nbafinals

then anybody who signs up via that URL will be automatically tagged with #nbafinals.


Removing Tags


You can remove a tag from a user by using the "/rm" command and sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/rm @john #coffee
In Slack:
/muxgram rm @john #coffee

Just like when you add tags, you can also remove multiple tags from multiple users at the same type by comma separating the users and tags, i.e.
In Webview and SMS:
/rm @peter,paul,mary #coffee,music
In Slack:
/muxgram rm @peter,paul,mary #coffee,music


Short URL


The short URL feature automatically replaces URLs found in any message that you send with a unique short URL that is specific to each user, so that when a user clicks on the short URL it will send a message to the superuser telling them that a specific user opened a specific URL. You can enable this feature by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/shorturl enable
In Slack:
/muxgram shorturl enable

You can disable the short URL feature by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/shorturl disable
In Slack:
/muxgram shorturl disable

If you want to see the current status of the short URL feature, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/shorturl status
In Slack:
/muxgram shorturl status


Postcards


Postcards is a feature to take your text message and turn it into an image. It is both a fun way to share your thoughts and questions, but it is also a way to overcome the character length limits of SMS. Most carriers support concatenated messages, so long messages usually appear correctly for most users, but sometimes it can break up the messages into separate text messages and worst of all send them out of order. Postcards helps solve this issue, but also it adds a bit more personality to your communication with your users.

To use this feature, all you need to do is to preface any message you send with the /postcard command:
In Webview and SMS:
/postcard #mindfulness Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake.
In Slack:
/muxgram postcard #mindfulness Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand - and melting like a snowflake.

This will convert the text into the following image:

Postcard

The default background color is orange. You can change default background color of the postcard by sending the message:
In Webview and SMS:
/postcard color green
In Slack:
/muxgram postcard color green

You can also set background color when you send the postcard:
In Webview and SMS:
/postcard color green #all Hello world!
In Slack:
/muxgram postcard color green #all Hello world!

The currently available colors for postcards are: red, blue, yellow, purple, green, orange, pink, brown, gray, and black.

Templates


Templates allow you to store frequently used responses or text into a special tag that you can then insert into any message that you send. You can create a template by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/template welcome Hello, my name is John. Nice to meet you and thanks for signing up to chat with me!
In Slack:
/muxgram template welcome Hello, my name is John. Nice to meet you and thanks for signing up to chat with me!

The first term after the command is the template tag name and after that is the message you want to associate with that tag name. The tag name must be all letters and numbers and no spaces. To use this template, you insert the tag name into your message surrounded by %, i.e. %welcome%. So if you want to use this welcome tag in a message, you can send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
@janedoe %welcome%
In Slack:
/muxgram @janedoe %welcome%

As you can see, this can make it easier to respond to commonly asked questions or comments and you can use multiple templates in your message. There is also a special template called %name% which can be used to insert the first name of a user, so if you are sending the same message to multiple users, each message can be personalized to them specifically by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
#music Hi %name%! What is your favorite band?
In Slack:
/muxgram #music Hi %name%! What is your favorite band?

If you want to see a list of all the templates you have created, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/list templates
In Slack:
/muxgram list templates

And if you want to see the contents of a specific template, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/template welcome
In Slack:
/muxgram template welcome

If you want to delete a template, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/rm template welcome
In Slack:
/muxgram rm template welcome


Responses


Responses allow you to have an automatic message sent to a new user when they initially sign up. You can create a response by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/response # Thank you for signing up! How did you hear about us?
In Slack:
/muxgram response # Thank you for signing up! How did you hear about us?

The first term after the command is the template tag name, which in this case is just a # denoting that this message is the default message sent to any new user. After the tag name, there is the message you want to send to new users. The tag name must be all letters and number and no spaces.

If you are using tags for your sign up page link, for example:

https://muxgram.com/youraccountname#music

Then you can have a different signup messsage for users who enter through that link, by using a specific tag with the /response command:
In Webview and SMS:
/response #music Thanks for signing up. What kind of music do you like?
In Slack:
/muxgram response #music Thanks for signing up. What kind of music do you like?

If you want to see a list of all the responses you have created, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/list responses
In Slack:
/muxgram list responses

And if you want to see the contents of a specific response, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/response #music
In Slack:
/muxgram response #music

If you want to delete a response, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/rm response #music
In Slack:
/muxgram rm response #music


Bots


Bots are automatic systems that can process and respond to messages from users. One simple example is @hellobot. If a user sends the message "Hi", the @hellobot will catch this and automatically send back a message saying "Hi". There are more sophisticated bots, but this simple example gives you the basic idea.

You can see the list of available bots by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/bot available
In Slack:
/muxgram bot available

If you want more information about a bot, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/bot info hellobot
In Slack:
/muxgram bot info hellobot

If you want to enable a bot, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/bot enable hellobot
In Slack:
/muxgram bot enable hellobot

If you want to disable a bot, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/bot disable hellobot
In Slack:
/muxgram bot disable hellobot

If you want to see a list of all the bots you have enabled, use the /list command by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/list bots
In Slack:
/muxgram list bots


Settings


Signup


If you are getting too many people signing up to your Muxgram account, you have a couple tools to help you manage the traffic. One simple tool you can use is to turn off the sign up page by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/signup close
In Slack:
/muxgram signup close

You can turn it back on by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/signup open
In Slack:
/muxgram signup open

If you want to know if signups are open or closed, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/signup status
In Slack:
/muxgram signup status

If you want to allow only a limited number of additional people to sign up, then you can use the "/limit" command. If you only want to allow 20 more people to sign up, just send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/limit 20
In Slack:
/muxgram limit 20

and it will automatically turn off the signup page once that limit has been reached.

To turn signups back on after the limit has been reached, you can either send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/signup open
In Slack:
/muxgram signup open

or you can set a new limit, i.e.
In Webview and SMS:
/limit 10
In Slack:
/muxgram limit 10

To see how many signups are left, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/limit
In Slack:
/muxgram limit


Mute


If you have too many SMS notifications being sent to your account, you can mute all SMS notifications for just your number by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/mute enable
In Slack:
/muxgram mute enable

You can turn off mute by sending the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/mute disable
In Slack:
/muxgram mute disable

If you want to see the current status of mute, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/mute status
In Slack:
/muxgram mute status


Proxy


If you do not want to receive messages from anybody who has not signed up, you can use the "/proxy" command to not forward text messages from unidentified users. To turn off proxy forwarding, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/proxy off
In Slack:
/muxgram proxy off

By turning off proxy forwarding, you will never see their text messages and they will get an auto-reply telling them that they have sent it in error. If you want to receive messages from unknown users, but also send them to your sign up web page, then send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/proxy redirect
In Slack:
/muxgram proxy redirect

This will send users who message you with a text message of "Thanks for your message. Please let us know your name by signing up at.." and includes a link to your Muxgram sign up web page.

If you want to enable the proxy again, then send the message:
In Webview and SMS:
/proxy on
In Slack:
/muxgram proxy on

When the proxy is on, it will just pass along messages from unknown users directly to you without any auto-reply back to them and you can then respond them by directly referencing their number in your message, i.e.
In Webview and SMS:
+14157778888 Hello, thanks for reaching out.
In Slack:
/muxgram +14157778888 Hello, thanks for reaching out.

If you want to see the current status of the proxy, then send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/proxy status
In Slack:
/muxgram proxy status

and it will return the current status of the proxy (i.e. on, off, redirect).


Renaming Account


If you would like to change the account handle name, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/rename account @newaccountname
In Slack:
/muxgram rename account @newaccountname

The last term is the new handle name for the account.

If you would like to change the account name, send the command:
In Webview and SMS:
/rename account New Account Name
In Slack:
/muxgram rename account New Account Name

The last term is the new name for the account.


Deactivate Account


If you want to deactivate your account, you can use the deactivate command:
In Webview and SMS:
/deactivate
In Slack:
/muxgram deactivate

This will permanently delete your account and you will lose your phone number. You will also not be refunded for the remaining usage for the month.




Next Section: Account Settings