blog posts

What Is Discord And What Features Does It Offer?

What Is Discord And What Features Does It Offer?

Discord Is A Free Group Chat Platform Equipped With The Ability To Stream And Send Text Audio Or Video Messages And Improves The Way Users Interact, Especially Gamers.

Today, many messaging and group chat platforms have different features and communication facilities for gamers. Among these platforms, Discord can be considered the popular messenger of gamers. Of course, the users of this platform are not limited to gamers, and due to being free and having extensive features, other users also use this platform.

For example, businesses use Discord as their central communication platform to communicate with their company members or customers. In addition to publishing news about their products, game manufacturers use this platform to support and communicate with gamers to view feedback and inform them about existing bugs. They operate in their games.

Discord mobile application

In addition to the web version, Discord runs on both computers and smartphones and has been developed for all three operating systems: Windows, iOS, and Android. Compared to other platforms, this platform requires little bandwidth and has a short response time, and it allows communication with other software such as Twitch, YouTube, and Spotify. This article explains more about the Discord platform, its history, how to use it, and its features.

What is Discord?

Discord is a free platform for communicating between users, especially gamers, and organizing this communication to improve their interaction. This platform is based on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology and is used to make video and audio calls and send messages.

Discord

Discord can be introduced as a chat application similar to Skype, TeamSpeak, and Slack. Initially developed his platform to create harmony between gamers and facilitate communication. Still, today, it is open to the public, and everyone can use the features of this platform. When using Discord, you will encounter the following concepts:

  • Server: Spaces in Discord created by different groups focusing on a specific topic. Large servers are primarily public, But membership in some servers is done by receiving an invitation from the creator of that space or other members. Any user can create a public or private server; some even earn money from Discord by creating special servers.
  • Channel: Sections on Discord servers are organized by topic, text, and audio related to the same issue.
  • DM or GM: A direct message in the form of text, audio, or video (DM) or a message in the same format sent to a group (GM) on the Discord platform.

History of Discord

In 2015, Jason Citron launched the Discord platform for the first time. He first published the Discord membership address on the Reddit website, and the users of this website gradually installed Discord out of curiosity and got to know its features. Discord gradually became popular among Twitch streamers and professional gamers, and many people supported it, and large companies also announced their readiness to cooperate with the Discord platform.

When Discord launched, Jason Citron chose the slogan ” Chat for Gamers” to represent the platform’s focus on gamers. Still, over time, this slogan was changed to ” Chat for Communities and Friends,” and Discord became available to other users.

Discord creator

According to published reports, the software version of Discord had more than 250 million active users in 2019 alone. As we said, using the Discord platform is free for users; However, to benefit from some of its features, such as Discord Nitro, you will need to purchase an account and pay in dollars.

Discord’s superiority over other similar platforms

The user interface of the Discord platform is very similar to applications such as Slack or Skype. This platform allows for interaction between gamers and their organization in a simple way and is used as a social tool for text, audio, and video group chats. And in addition to all this, it is also equipped to search for users, channels, and servers.

It can say that the combination of Discord’s many features with the best parts of similar applications such as Skype and Slack provides users with a simple user interface and makes it an ideal platform for the interaction of users with similar interests.

Discord versus other platforms

When creating servers in Discord, users can specify different options for specific users and other ways to configure these servers. These options and customizations include facilitating server management and the ability to reward active users and define different access permissions.

Being free to use Discord and accessing it from a browser or application on different operating systems and platforms are other advantages compared to Skype or Slack. There are also many bots in Discord, each of which is created to do something. Some are used for server management and some for playing music; these bots generally help interact or prevent certain events.

Training to install Discord

Discord runs both under the web and is developed in the form of software for desktop or mobile. To create a user account in Discord, you can do this through the browser and software under Windows or mobile. Next, we will explain how to download and install the Discord application in the Windows environment and on the phone.

Install Discord on Windows

After entering the discord.com website, click on the “Download for Windows” option. After downloading the installation file, run it, and after installing the application, click on its icon on the desktop to enter the Discord platform.

Install the desktop version of Discord

By running the Discord program after installation, you will see the account login page. If you have registered on this platform in the past and created an account, enter your account details and click on “Log In”; Otherwise, select the “Register” option to enter the user account creation page.

Creating a Discord account 1

Creating a Discord account 2

Installing Discord Windows

Enter your email address, username, password (at least eight characters), and date of birth on the account creation page. Make sure to enter your date of birth accurately and remember it. If your user account is stolen or you forget its details, you can prove that you are the original owner of the performance only by declaring the correct date of birth.

After creating an account and confirming this process through the email you entered, Discord will ask you to choose your desired public server from among the various discussions and log in; Of course, you can postpone doing this to another time and enter the central space of the program.

Installing Discord on mobile

Discord software cannot download through Iranian application stores such as Bazaar or Market. After downloading the Discord software, you must create an account to log in and use the free features of this application. Depending on the operating system, you can use the Android Play Store or the iOS App Store to use this platform on your phone.

Free download Discord for Android mobiles from Google Play

Free download of Discord for iOS mobiles from the App Store

Create a Discord account

Discord inside Iran is restricted; So, so before starting the registration process, use the appropriate IP changer software. In the next step, you can create an account for yourself either by mobile phone number or email. Please note that due to the restrictions imposed.

After choosing your desired email, username, and password (at least eight characters), finally, by filling in the field related to the date of birth, select the acceptance option “I have read the rules,” and then confirm your registration with an email confirmation. After creating an account, type your username and password in the specified fields the first time you log in to Discord and log in to your account.

Creating a server in Discord

When you log in to your account, Discord will ask you to create a server or log in to a server (public or by invitation). Setting up a Discord server allows users to promote their products and content and create a space for the interaction of their user community members by providing different channels on their server. The process of creating a server in Discord is not tricky. In other words, if you have an account, you can create a Discord server for free in just a few steps:

Click on the + sign in the menu on the left side of the Discord software. In addition to the possibility of creating ready-made templates such as gaming and academic activities and friends, you can create your server by choosing “Create My Own.” In this section, you have to determine whether the server you want is for you and your friends (For my friends and me) or set it up for a specific group (For a club or a community). Of course, it is also possible to skip this part. In the next step, in the “Server Name” section, choose the desired name for your server and then a photo for your group profile. In the end, click on the Create option to create your server.

After creating the server, Discord will ask you to choose a topic for activity on your server, and after selecting the issue, you will be able to choose people to invite to your server. You can still send this server address to others with (seven days to expire). Like some steps, you can postpone this step to another time. After creating the server, you can create text channels (Text Channels) or voice channels (Voice Channels) for it so that the members and users of the server can interact with each other.

Text chat in Discord

Discord, like other social networks and messaging applications, is equipped with text chat functionality and supports adding a GIF file or adding an image to that text using the upload option on the left side of the text box. On this platform, it is possible to edit or delete the sent text message. To edit the text, click on the pencil icon on the text, and to delete it, select the delete option from the three dots in the corner of the text box. One of the cool features of Discord’s text chat is Markdown, which allows you to be bolditalicize, underline parts of the text, and markup to warn about spamming information (like game stories).

Markdown feature

On the Discord platform, users can react to text messages received from other users or sent by themselves with different emojis. Select the “+” icon next to the letters and the desired emoji to use emojis.

Voice chat in Discord

The Discord platform is also equipped with the ability to send and receive voice chats. In this platform, as soon as you enter an audio channel, the computer’s microphone turns on automatically. If you want a group audio conversation, click on the phone icon in the user list.

Send a friend request on Discord.

By logging into your account, you can view your online friend’s list or send friend requests to your friends through the Add Friend option and add them to your friend’s list in Discord. The dummies icon on the right has a section called Activity that shows what activity your friends are currently doing on this platform.

Add a friend in Discord

The way to add other users to your friend’s list is to send a request with your ID sender ( username and number next to it ) or add their username from above in the Add Friend section. After creating your friend’s list, you can send them private text or audio and video messages.

Example:

User#45670

Role definition in Discord

Users can be grouped in a server depending on their activity. It means that the server owner can, with the help of bots and choosing levels on his server, enable the server members to receive roles by reaching different levels.

Role sweating in Discord

Although Discord roles are decorative, their presence can motivate members and increase their activity on the servers. To create and define functions such as Moderator and Guest for other server members, you must do the following steps in the server settings section and the Role section:

  • First step: On the left and top sides of the software, click on the server’s name from the hamburger menu and enter the server settings section.
  • Step 2: In the User Management -> Permissions section, select the “Roles” option. In this section, everyone is written by default, and you can define and add a new role by clicking on “+.”
  • Third step: Next, you can enable or disable different accesses for roles from the Role Settings section. To give admin and server administrator access to members, you need to enable the “Administrator” option.
  • Step 4: After defining the desired roles and settings, select the “Save Changes” option to save. It is enough to find the desired user from Server Settings -> Members and click on his name by selecting “+.”

Discord commands and bots

Discord platform bots will help you manage a server better if you own a server. There are various bots in Dixword that are made officially and unofficially. Each of these robots has multiple uses and can be used with different server settings. There are different types of bots on the Discord platform, and below we will introduce some of them and the most representative ones:

Discord bots

  • Member management bots prevent spam, links, repeated messages, obscenity, etc. Some famous management bots are Groom, QuaBot, EasyThreads, EasyThreads, and Scam.
  • Music playing bot: Music playing bots are the most famous, most used, and oldest bots on the Discord platform; some have had problems working recently due to YouTube statements and warnings. The best bots for playing music on the Discord platform are Karuta, ProBot, Nekotina, Bongo, and ZeroTwo.
  • Member leveling bots: Leveling bots in Discord can define different levels for users and server members and increase their status depending on their activity and presence. Frogmore, Pepe Manager, AdviceBot, QuaBot, and MimiBot are some of the best leveling bots on the Discord platform. These robots create a competitive environment on the server and increase the motivation of the members to work on the server.

Countless bots have been created with various uses in the world of Discord, and the types introduced in this article are only a part of them. Another feature available on the Discord platform is various and valuable commands on the Discord server that appear by typing “/” in the text writing section. Some of the most popular Discord commands are:

  • username@: Mentioning a user on the server using the username
  • @here or everyone@: Mentioning all users of the server
  • gypsy/: search for Gif file
  • nick/: Change nickname (short name)
  • TTS message/: using the text-to-speech feature to read text aloud
  • spoiler message/: putting a spoiler mark to hide a part of the text
  • me/: Italicize the following text

Connect Discord to other apps

Users can connect their user accounts to some software such as GitHub, Epic Games, Spotify, YouTube, Twitter, and Twitch on the Discord platform. To do this, enter your ID in each displayed account from the settings at the bottom of the Discord application and the Connections section.

Connect other apps to Discord

Connecting user accounts of other social networks to Discord turns this platform into a space beyond the social network. This feature allows you to find gamers with similar interests more quickly.

What is Nitro Discord?

Nitro is a non-free service of the Discord platform, for which you need to buy a monthly ($10) or annual ($100) dollar subscription. Nitro subscribers can boost their favorite servers, create multiple profiles and personalize them, send and receive longer messages or larger files, and enjoy more features for their account.

Nitro service in Discord

By purchasing an essential Nitro subscription, users can use two boosters or boosts to upgrade their servers; Of course, the number of these boosters can be increased by paying more money. Server owners can also use boosts to provide all features to all users.

Some of the features that boost provide users are access to more emojis, better sound quality for voice chat, customization of server appearance with animated icons and other graphics, and creation of a custom dedicated URL to introduce the server better.

The Nitro user account has three levels with different access and capabilities:

  • Level 1 account features: more than 50 emojis than the free account, 15 customizable emojis, animated icon for the server, 128 kbps sound quality for voice conversation, video streaming (Go Live), 720p resolution, and 30 fps frame rate. And the possibility of accessing the three-day archive of discussed topics.
  • Features of the second level account: more than 50 emojis than the first level account, 15 customizable emojis, animated icon for the server, 256 kbps sound quality for voice conversation, video streaming (Go Live), 1080p resolution, and frame rate. 60 frames per second, access to a three-day archive of discussed topics, and 50 MB of upload space for all server members
  • The level 3 user account features more than 100 emojis than the level 2 user account, 30 customizable emojis, the animated icon for the server, 384 kbps sound quality for voice conversation, video streaming (Go Live), 1080p resolution, and 60 frame rate. Frames per second and 100 MB of upload space for all server members

To access a level one account, you need two boosts, a level two account needs seven increases, and a level three account needs fourteen gains.

Stream on Discord (Go Live feature)

Discord has an attractive “Go Live” feature that allows server owners to share live gameplay. It is enough to click on the word “Go Live” on the left side of the screen simultaneously in the voice conversation (Voice Channel), and after selecting the game and playing it, stream your gameplay. The Go Live feature is not only used for game streaming. And you can use it to share any streaming media or application running on your system with other server members.

Stream on Discord

As you can see in the picture above, in the audio channel, the person who is streaming video content is identified by displaying a sign next to his name.

Discord internet consumption

Each of the facilities that Discord provides users, such as text, audio, video, or streaming chats, uses the Internet. The amount of data consumption for each facility cannot be accurately determined. Overall, the desktop version of Discord consumes more data than the mobile version; Because on this platform, there is no specific limit for the shared content, and the quality of received images, videos, and writings is also better than the mobile version.

Discord data consumption on each platform depends on various factors, such as the programs running in the background, the user‘s Internet bandwidth, and the type of use of the members.

For example, continuous streaming and video and audio calling use more data than texting and sending photos. However, Discord voice calls consume the least amount of data among similar platforms such as Skype (approximately 25 MB per hour).

Video calls consume approximately 270 MB, and text messages between 280 KB and 28 MB (depending on the number of photos sent or received in the conversation) on the Discord platform. In general, we can say that Discord consumes less of your Internet in addition to better quality compared to other similar platforms.

Common Questions

What is Discord?

Discord is a free platform for text, audio, and video communication that users, especially gamers, can use to communicate quickly, coordinate to play multiplayer games, and share their gameplay with other users.

Is Discord free to use?

Yes, Discord is a free platform. Only to access some more features on this platform, such as streaming gameplay with 1080 and 4K resolution and hearing high-quality sound in voice chats, and benefiting from personalization features, you need to buy a Nitro dollar subscription.

How much Internet does Discord use?

Discord internet consumption varies depending on the user’s usage and execution platform. Overall, the desktop version of Discord consumes more data than the mobile version. This platform works more optimally compared to similar platforms such as Skype.