How to Use the Cordary Workspace: Edit Your Discord Server by Hand

The Cordary workspace is where you see your whole Discord server in one place and change it yourself. It sits beside the chat, so you can ask Cordary for the big moves and use the workspace for the fine ones.

This guide goes through every part of it in the order you'll use it. You don't need to read it start to finish. Jump to what you need with the contents list.

Before you start

Three things are worth knowing first.

1. You're editing a draft, not your server. Every change goes into the draft. Nothing reaches Discord until you review it and press Apply. See step 10.
2. You need Manage Server on the server you're editing.
3. Add Cordary with Administrator for the fewest surprises. Cordary can only give a role a permission it holds itself, and it can only reach channels it can see. If something is greyed out, the workspace says why. Our post on adding Cordary your way explains the options.

Step 1: Open the workspace

1. Open a chat for your server.
2. Choose the Server tab in the panel beside the chat.

You'll see your server's name and icon, how many members, channels and roles it has, and the list of everything in it.

If your screen is 1280 pixels wide or more, press Expand into a workspace at the top of the panel. The panel grows, the list sits on the left and the page for whatever you pick sits on the right. The app's sidebar hides while you're expanded. Press Show sidebar to bring it back, or Fold back to a panel to shrink the workspace again. Cordary remembers your choice in this browser.

On a phone or a narrow window, the list fills the panel. When you pick a row, its page slides in over the list, and Back brings you home.

Step 2: Find your way around the list

The list reads like Discord's own sidebar.

• Channels come first, grouped under their categories. Each row shows the channel type, a lock if it's private, and a small tag if the draft changes it.
• Roles is one line until you open it. Roles are listed highest first, with a dashed line marking where Cordary's own role sits: "Cordary can manage roles below."
• Posts lists the messages Cordary will post in this draft, and has a New post picker.
• Server holds Server settings, AutoMod and Cordary in this server.

Each folded section shows a count, and how many changes the draft makes inside it, so you can tell where the changes are without opening anything.

Three tools make the list easier to use:

• Find. Type in Find channels and roles to narrow the list. A category stays visible if it or one of its channels matches. Press / to jump to the box, and Esc to clear it.
• View as. The View as button at the top lets you see the server as @everyone or any role. Channels that role can't see fade out, and a line tells you how many channels the role can see and use. When the draft changes things, you also see what it was Before.
• Read the server again. The refresh button re-reads your server from Discord, in case someone changed it there.

Step 3: Edit a channel or category

Pick a channel and its page opens. Its Overview tab holds the main controls. Each field saves when you press Enter or click away. Esc puts back the saved value.

• Name. Up to 100 characters.
• Topic. On a forum channel this is called Post guidelines.
• Category. Move the channel to another category, or choose No category.
• Slowmode. From off to six hours, for text, voice, stage and forum channels.
• Age-restricted. Members must confirm they're 18 or older to see it.
• Order. Up and Down move it one step among its neighbours. Text channels always sort above voice channels, as in Discord.

Under the controls you'll also see Who can see it, which spells out who can read and post here.

For a category, you get the name and the order controls, plus who can see it.

Add a channel or category

• Press the + beside a category's name for a new channel at the end of it.
• Press New category or New channel outside categories at the bottom of the list.

A new channel opens as soon as it's in the draft, so you can name it. For a new channel you can also pick its type: text, voice, forum, and, if your server has Community on, announcement and stage.

Delete a channel or category

Press Delete channel. You'll be asked to confirm, and the message reminds you that the channel's messages go with it. For a category with channels in it you get a choice:

• Only the category. Its channels move to the top.
• The category and its channels, with their messages.

Deleting only adds it to the draft. If you change your mind, the row shows Keep it. A channel you added yourself isn't deleted, it's simply Taken out of the draft.

Step 4: Set who can see a channel

Open a channel or category, then its Permissions tab. This is Discord's own model, in one place.

1. Pick a role from the row of role chips. @everyone is first.
2. For each permission, choose Deny, Inherit or Allow.

Inherit means "follow the category, or the role's server-wide permissions." Which permissions you see depends on the channel type: text channels show things like Send messages and Pin messages, voice channels show Connect and Speak, and so on.

To set a rule for a role that isn't shown, use Add a role. It lists the roles a member can hold. New role… at the bottom of that list creates a role and opens its rule straight away.

To make a channel private, deny View channel for @everyone and allow it for the roles that should see it. Our guide on why a private channel might not be private explains what can go wrong.

A new channel starts as a copy of its category's rules, as it does in Discord. Cordary also keeps its own access to a channel you hide, so it can keep working on it.

Step 5: Edit roles

Open Roles, then pick one.

The page's header tells you how many channels the role can see and use, and how many powerful permissions it has. Then:

• Name and colour. Pick a swatch, or the default.
• Show members separately. Lists the role apart in the member list.
• Allow anyone to @mention this role.
• Order. Up and Down move the role, but only below Cordary's role.
• Server-wide permissions. Press Edit permissions to open the full list of switches, which you can search. Permissions that need extra care are highlighted.
• See the channels as this role. Jumps back to the list, with View as set to the role.
• Delete. Adds the role's removal to the draft.

Add a role with New role at the bottom of the Roles section.

What's locked, and why

A lock beside a role means Cordary can't change it. It happens for three reasons:

• It's Cordary's own role.
• It's managed by an app or integration. Only that app can change it.
• It sits above Cordary's role. Discord never lets a bot change roles above its own. Move Cordary's role up in Discord's Server Settings → Roles first. Our guide to roles and permissions explains the hierarchy.

A permission Cordary doesn't hold can't be switched on for a role, unless Cordary has Administrator.

@everyone

@everyone is at the end of the roles list. Everyone has it, so be careful. Its page edits the server-wide permissions every member gets. Cordary will never give Administrator, Manage Server or Manage Roles to @everyone, and the switches are locked with a note saying so.

Step 6: Reorder by dragging

You can drag channels, categories and roles in the list. There's no separate mode.

• With a mouse, click and drag a row. A plain click still opens it.
• On a touch screen, press and hold a row for a moment to pick it up, then drag. Swiping still scrolls the list.

An amber line shows where the row will land. A channel can move into another category by dropping it among that category's channels. One drop is one edit, so one Undo takes it back, and a drop that would leave the draft with a problem is refused.

You can also move things without dragging:

• Press Alt + ↑ or Alt + ↓ (Option on a Mac) to move the open channel, category or role one step.
• Use the Up and Down buttons on the page.
• Open a row's menu with a right-click, or by holding a row on a touch screen and letting go without moving. It offers Open, Move up, Move down, and Delete…, or Take out of the draft for something you added yourself.

Dragging is switched off while you're using Find, because the list is then only part of the order.

Step 7: Write posts as Cordary

Open a channel Cordary can post in, then its Posts tab. This is where the welcome, rules and info messages live.

• In this plan lists the posts the draft will make or change in this channel. Each has Edit and Take out. On a post that already exists on Discord, you'll see Undo the edit or Keep it instead.
• Write a post as Cordary is a box for a new message. Type it, optionally switch on Pin it, and press Add to the draft. Press Ctrl or Cmd + Enter to send from the keyboard.

A few rules:

• Posts are plain text. A counter shows how many characters you have used out of 2,000, and the note says pings off, so a post never notifies anyone.
• To mention a channel or a role, or to add a card with a title and fields, ask Cordary in the chat. Text like {role:…} can't be typed here.
• Pinning needs Cordary to hold the Pin Messages permission. The workspace tells you if it doesn't.
• A post with a card or a mention can be taken out by hand, but changing it is a job for the chat.

To post somewhere new, use New post under the Posts section and pick the channel.

Posts go out in Cordary's name and photo for this server. You can change both under Server → Cordary in this server, which is covered in Give Cordary its own name and photo. Cordary only posts and edits its own messages. It never reads what your members write.

Step 8: Change server settings

Open Server → Server settings. The page lists each setting and its value. Press Edit settings to open the form.

• Server name. At least two characters.
• Description, if your server has Community.
• Verification level. From None to Highest.
• Explicit image filter.
• Default notifications. All messages, or only mentions.
• System messages channel, and switches for the welcome message when someone joins, the "Wave to say hi" button, the boost message and server setup tips.
• Boost progress bar.
• Inactive (AFK) channel and Inactive after.

A channel can be picked in these lists but not cleared. To stop using one, ask Cordary in the chat.

Turning on Community

If your server doesn't use Discord's Community features yet, there's a Turn on Community switch. It opens a short dialog, because Discord needs two channels first:

• a rules channel, and
• a Community updates channel, where Discord sends notices meant for admins and moderators.

Pick existing text channels, or let Cordary make them. A new updates channel is made staff only. If you pick one everyone can see, the dialog warns you.

Two things to know. Turning Community on also raises verification to at least Low and the image filter to Scan all members, because Discord requires it. And Cordary never turns Community off, and a rollback doesn't either. The switch needs Cordary to have Administrator.

If you start turning Community on and don't finish, a note on the page says what's missing, with Finish setting up and Turn it back off.

Step 9: AutoMod and Cordary's own settings

Under Server → AutoMod you can see every rule. Each has Delete, or Keep it on one you've already marked for deletion. To add a rule or change its words, actions or exemptions, ask Cordary in the chat. If Cordary can't read AutoMod on your server, the page offers to re-invite Cordary.

Under Server → Cordary in this server you'll find How Cordary appears (its name and photo here) and a list of what Cordary can and can't do on this server, with an option to give it more access.

The welcome screen and Discord's Onboarding are changed in the chat, not by hand.

Step 10: Review and apply

1. Watch the bar at the bottom after each edit. It says what happened: Saved to the draft and checked, or why something wasn't saved or was left out.
2. If the header shows The draft has N problems to fix before review, press See them. The Changes tab lists each one. Until they're fixed, your edits are saved but may not show in the list.
3. Press Undo on the bar to take back your last edit.
4. Open the Changes tab to see everything the draft will do, and the Versions tab to see and restore earlier drafts. Every edit you make is saved as a version.
5. Press Review and apply, then Apply. If a change deletes anything, you'll be asked to confirm.

If something goes wrong later, you can roll back what a run created. Our guide to reorganizing a server without starting over covers planning bigger changes.

About Undo

Undo takes back your own last edit, and only while it's still the newest version of the draft. If Cordary or a connected agent changed the draft after your edit, Undo disappears so it can't wipe their work. You can still restore any earlier version from the Versions tab.

Why is editing paused?

A line under the header tells you.

• "Cordary is editing the draft." Wait for the reply, then carry on.
• "A run is changing this server." Wait for the run to end.
• "This draft was applied." For a draft from a connected agent, start a new chat for further changes.
• "{Agent} can still change this draft. It sees your edits." You're editing a draft that a connected agent is also working on. Both of you can edit, and the agent is told about yours.

Edits are also limited to 60 a minute, so a runaway drag can't flood the draft.

Handy shortcuts

Do this	With this
Jump to Find	/ (when you're not typing)
Go back to the list, or clear Find	Esc
Move the open item up or down	Alt + ↑ / Alt + ↓
Save a text field	Enter
Put the saved value back	Esc
Send a post	Ctrl or Cmd + Enter
Open a row's menu	Right-click, or hold on touch

Quick checklist

• Open the Server tab, and expand it if your screen is wide.
• Use Find and View as to understand what's there.
• Edit channels, roles, permissions and settings.
• Add posts, with a pin if you want one.
• Check the bar for problems after each edit.
• Open Changes and read everything the draft does.
• Press Review and apply.

Edit by hand, build by chat

The workspace and the chat work on the same draft, so use whichever is quicker. Ask Cordary for a whole structure, then polish it here. Or edit by hand, then ask Cordary to do the tedious part. Cordary remembers your edits, and you review the whole thing before anything touches your server.

What changed and why is in our update post, Edit your server by hand in the Cordary workspace.