Installing and Configuring the Slack for Forecast integration

Slack for Forecast empowers project teams to work on and keep their tasks and projects updated more efficiently. With the integration it is possible to get real-time project notifications within a dedicated Slack channel, preview task information, add comments and manage them without having to login to Forecast. Additionally, it is possible to track time spent on each task directly from Slack. Personal Forecast notifications can also be configured to be pushed to Slack, so team members can keep up with their updates, directly where they communicate, during their day.

Slack<> Forecast Overview

This article covers:

• Installing the Slack integration
• Configuring the Slack integration

Related article:

• Using the Slack for Forecast integration

Installing the Slack integration

To install the integration, you'll need Project owner permissions at a project level to be able to connect to your Slack workspace. In addition, you'll need permission to install apps in your Slack workspace. 

To install the Slack for Forecast integration

1. Click Admin in the top bar. 
2. Select Integrations from the dropdown. 
3. Click on the Slack icon, within the section 'File sharing, productivity & content'.
4. Click on the Add to Slack button, which will redirect you to authenticate in Slack.
   1. If you are not logged in to Slack on your browser, authenticate following the steps provided.
   2. If you are already logged in to your Slack workspace, grant permission to Forecast to connect to your Slack workspace.
      
5. Your Forecast account is now connected to your Slack workspace.

Configuring the Slack integration

Now that Slack is connected to your workspace, the next steps will be to link your Slack user profile to Forecast, configure your personal notifications and configure your projects Slack integration settings. 

Within Forecast it is possible to configure which projects should be connected, the type of notifications to receive at a project level, and individuals can configure what personal notifications to receive in Slack. 

Linking your individual Forecast profile to Slack 

For users to be able to preview Forecast data in Slack and to get personal notifications, it is necessary to link the Forecast user with Slack. If this step isn't performed, users get a warning message when previewing task/project information in Slack.


 

To link the Forecast user profile with Slack

1. Click on the profile icon on the top-right.
2. Select Profile from the drop-down.
3. Scroll to the bottom towards the Slack section.
4. Click on the 'Link' button.
5. In the new window, click Allow to allow Slack to access your profile information.
   

Linking a project to a Slack channel

After the integration has been enabled by an administrator at the account level, administrators or project owners must manually link the preferred projects to their Slack channels.

To link a project to a Slack channel

1. Click Projects in the top bar. 
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown. 
3. Click on the project you wish to link. 
4. In the left side panel, click Settings. 
5. Click Integrations.
6. Within the Slack section, select the Slack channel to link the project to. 
   
7. Select the type of notifications that should be pushed to Slack (see Configuring project notifications below).

To disconnect a project from a Slack channel

1. In Forecast, click Projects in the top bar. 
2. Select All Projects from the dropdown.
3. Select the project you wish to disconnect. 
4. In the left side panel, click Settings. 
5. Select Integrations.
6. Within the Slack section, click the 'x' next to the channel to disconnect.

Configuring project notifications

You can set up the integration to send Forecast project specific updates directly to a Slack channel. After linking a project to a Slack channel within the Project's Slack integration settings, it is possible to configure which types of notifications the Slack channel should receive for this project:

• Task creation: notify the Slack channel of whenever a task is created.
• Task deletion: notify the Slack channel whenever a task gets deleted.
• Task status changes: notify the Slack channel whenever the status of a task changes. 
• Task commented on: notify the Slack channel whenever a comment is added to a task.
• Project stage changes: notify the Slack channel whenever the stage of the project changes.
• Project name/description updates: notify the Slack channel whenever name or description of the project change. 
  

Configuring personal notifications 

After your Forecast profile has a corresponding Slack account linked to it (see Linking your individual Forecast profile to Slack) you can configure your personal notification settings so that your in-app notifications are sent to Slack in addition to, or instead of, inside the platform.

To toggle on personal Slack notifications

1. Click on the profile icon on the top-right.
2. Select Profile from the dropdown.
3. Click on the Notifications settings tab on the top of the page.
4. Within the Notification settings page, toggle on the notifications for the events you want to receive on Slack under the 'Slack' column.