Mail actions
Mail actions are commands you can send via emailing a channel to take an action. The goal of these actions is to make sure that your team members that prefer email instead of using the app can still be productive.
Mail actions basics
Mail actions are always in the form of actionName(). The name is not case sensitive (actionname() or ACTIONNAME() is also valid), though the parentheses at the end are mandatory; that is how you tell Aether Pro to execute this.
If the action needs you to supply any extra bit of information, it will go inside the parentheses. For example, replyTo(7) means a reply to the post numbered 7.
If the action requires some text, such as an email, use double-quotes. For example, addGuest("alice@acme.org") adds alice@acme.org as a guest.
If the action requires multiple variables, use a comma between, and follow the order in the action description. For example, exampleAction("some text here", 42).
Where to put them
Mail actions are always put to the first line of the email you’re sending. For example, if you’re trying to make sure your response is added as a reply to post 7, this is how you would do it:
replyto(7)
Sounds great! I think we can cancel that meeting - seems everyone got to an agreement through here.
Alice
Tips
- Make it the first thing on an email.
- Put a blank line between your action and the rest of the email.
- Only use one action per email. If you use multiple actions, only the last one will be executed. If you need multiple actions, feel free to send them in separate emails.
- Actions except for
replyTo()will make the rest your email be ignored, so you don’t have to worry about the rest of your email accidentally creating a new thread.replyTois special because it controls to whom the rest of the email is posted as a reply to.
Membership types
In Aether, there are three basic types of members, channel members, team members and admins.
Channel members are members that are added to only one channel at a time, and use Aether Pro via email only, with no app access. Channel members cannot create new channels, nor can they add other team or channel members.
A channel member can be a member of multiple channels, but the member has to be explicitly added to every channel (or if public, sign up for them through the web sign-up form.)
If you’ve received an email that says you’ve been added to a specific channel in a team, you’re a channel member.
Team members are members who can sign in with the app or post through email. They can both create new channels and add members themselves. These people are usually core team members of the team.
Admins are members who have either created the team or assigned explicitly by people who have created the team. Admins can do all of the above, plus moderate content, and control other people’s memberships.
Actions available to everyone
These actions are available to everyone, to channel members, team members and admins.
Reply to
replyTo(number) (Takes a number)
Makes your reply go to a specific reply in the email thread. This is useful because it allows you to specifically reply to what you’re talking about, and keeps discussions clean. Use it whenever you can.
Example
replyTo(7): Reply to post #7 on the thread. (Numbers are available on the email you received from the thread.)
Actions available to team members and admins
These actions are available to team members and admins.
Join channel
join() (Takes nothing)
Makes you join the channel you’re sending this email to. It takes no arguments.
Example
join() sent to my-channel@acme.mail.aether.app: Makes you join my-channel channel on acme team.
Leave channel
leave()
Makes you leave the channel you’re sending this email to. It takes no arguments.
Note: If you’re a channel member, you cannot use leave(), If you’d like to leave any particular channel or all channels, you can do so by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of every message you receive.
Example
leave() sent to my-channel@acme.mail.aether.app: Makes you leave my-channel channel on acme team.
Actions available to admins
These actions are only available only to admins. They are intended to make team management easier.
Add guest
addGuest(text)
Note: A guest is a channel member by another name. They’re the same.
Adds an email as a channel member to one of your channels. Channel members cannot sign into the app. They can only get messages and respond via email.
Example
addGuest("bob@gmail.com") sent to my-channel@acme.mail.aether.app: Makes bob@gmail.com join my-channel on the acme team as a guest.
Join everyone to this channel
joinEveryoneToThisChannel()
Makes all members of this team join the channel you’re emailing. This is useful when you add a new channel. Since updates on a channel are only sent out when someone subscribes to it, you might need to tell people to join the channel to start working in it.
This allows you to auto-add everyone to a channel so that they will start getting updates for threads in the channel.
If they have already joined, but had the channel on mute, this will also remove the mute.
Example
joinEveryoneToThisChannel() sent to my-channel@acme.mail.aether.app: Makes every member of the acme team join my-channel.
Join specific member to this channel
joinMemberToThisChannel(text)
Makes one specific member of this team join the channel you’re emailing. This is useful when you add a new channel. Since updates on a channel are only sent out when someone subscribes to it, you might need to tell people to join the channel to start working in it.
This allows you to auto-add a specific member to a channel so that they will start getting updates for threads in the channel.
Example
joinMemberToThisChannel("alice@acme.org") sent to my-channel@acme.mail.aether.app: Makes alice@acme.org join my-channel on the acme team.
