# Channels, What are they?

**URL:** https://meta.discourse.org/t/channels-what-are-they/319105
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [July 29, 2024, 9:41pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/channels-what-are-they/319105 "2024-07-29T21:41:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Showing post:** 2

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### Author: ![Lilly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/meta/user_avatar/meta.discourse.org/lilly/32/575047_2.png) [@Lilly](https://meta.discourse.org/u/Lilly)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2024, 9:54pm UTC](https://meta.discourse.org/t/channels-what-are-they/319105/2 "2024-07-29T21:54:05Z")

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A channel is basically a group chat room, as opposed to DMs (Direct Messages) which are one-on-one chat. more about channels here:

> [@Discourse Chat](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-chat/230881#accessing-channels-and-creating-new-ones-6):
>
> discourse2Summary Discourse Chat adds chat functionality to your Discourse instance.open_bookInstall Guide This plugin is bundled with Discourse core. There is no need to install the plugin separately. Features As mentioned in our [initial announcement](https://meta.discourse.org/t/introducing-discourse-chat-beta/210734) and [most recent update](https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-chat-is-now-available-try-it-out-today/234824), this plugin adds chat functionality to your Discourse so it can natively support both, long-form and short-form communication needs of your online community. Configuration Initial Setup [chat-…

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