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Slack - Comment vs Reply differentiation


Userlevel 3
Badge +1

I have a client that is trying to reward engagement in her slack group. (point system). 

A user gets 15 points for a new post in a channel, but only 5 points for replying to someone elses post. 

 

trying to figure out if there is a good way in Zapier/Slack to differentiate between a post and a reply to a post? 

 

Trigger is:  New Public Message Posted Anywhere in Slack

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Best answer by TamRazzleDazzle 25 May 2022, 23:34

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4 replies

Userlevel 7
Badge +9

Hey @AppGuyAaron that sounds like a really creative workflow! You might be able to filter your Zap on the difference but I am not 100% sure. Here is how to find out:

  1. Create a new post and test your Slack step to get the available data. 
  2. Use a service like Diffchecker and paste the data into one side.
  3. Create a new reply and test your Slack step to get the available data. 
  4. Paste the data into the other side of Diffchecker (or similar service)
  5. Click “Find Difference” and see if you notice anything that would differentiate the two. If so, that is what you would filter your Zap on. If not, it would appear it isn’t possible.

If this doesn’t work, I am inclined to think this might be a feature request. It looks like a few others might be wanting to get replies as well, based on this thread: 

Keep us posted! We can add you to the feature request if that ends up being the case. 🙂

Userlevel 7
Badge +14

Hi @AppGuyAaron 

Good question.

In Slack, if the message is a reply via a Thread it will include these 2 data points in the trigger:

  • thread_ts
  • thread_ts_time
Userlevel 5
Badge +7

Hey there @AppGuyAaron - looks like Troy and Jesse both came in with some pretty stellar resources at helping you get from A to B. 

 

I was just going to chime in and say that if your client is interested in any other reward/gamification ideas to give a shout in the Community anytime! I’m a gamification nerd (as are a few folks on our team) and I love to talk shop about how we help reward and incentivize membership. 

 

Hope these answers helped you get to a solution, if not please do let us know. 

 

Best,

Rachael

Userlevel 3
Badge +4

Let us know how you make out @AppGuyAaron! I just wanted to summarize all this great info in the meantime 😊So it looks like Jesse’s response was to try and filter your Zap following these steps: 

  1. Create a new post and test your Slack step to get the available data. 
  2. Use a service like Diffchecker and paste the data into one side.
  3. Create a new reply and test your Slack step to get the available data. 
  4. Paste the data into the other side of Diffchecker (or similar service)
  5. Click “Find Difference” and see if you notice anything that would differentiate the two. If so, that is what you would filter your Zap on. If not, it would appear it isn’t possible.

and Troy wanted to mention that a Slack Thread will include these two data points in the trigger: 

  • thread_ts
  • thread_ts_time

Hopefully this will help differentiate between a reply and a post in Slack!