Creating your first channel
It all starts with a channel
What is a channel?
A channel is a collection of content on Are.na, made up of both Blocks and other channels.
What a channel becomes is up to you and whoever you share it with. It can be a reading list, an archive of research, a brainstorming canvas, or a collection of ongoing research. It can also be a mindmeld between collaborators, a private headspace for your thoughts, or a poem.
There's no wrong way to use a channel (or Are.na).
Creating a channel
To create a channel, click the "+ New Channel" button at the top right of the screen.
Choose a title for your channel. If you'd rather not think of a title right now, you can always use our random title generator by clicking the icon.
Next, select the visibility of the channel.
Private channels are only visible to you and to people you set as collaborators
Closed channels are visible to everyone but only you (or your collaborators) can add to them
Open channels are visible to every AND anyone with an Are.na account can add to them. Some popular open channels:
Adding content to your channel
There are many ways to get blocks into your channel. For the basics, check out Adding blocks. Once you get the hang of it, try using the Browser extension or even exploring our API.
What can you do with a channel?
Good question! We mostly use channels to keep track of the things we're looking at and we've found that keeping a regular habit of saving things from the world that resonate with you has a positive and additive effect.
We think Are.na is best used as a way to build this kind of catalog for yourself, in whatever way is most meaningful to you.
That said, there's no wrong way to use Are.na. Channels are intentionally open-ended and we've seen an endless variety of uses for them.
Some basic examples of uses to give you some ideas:
But honestly, the list goes on and on! We love people who use Are.na's open-ended structure to make systems for themselves.
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