Reading tab
This is the first tab in the dashboard's server settings. It decides which messages the bot reads and how. How to open it and how [Apply] works are covered in A tour of the dashboard's server settings.
Switches and values are saved when you press [Apply]. Lists are saved as soon as you add or remove an item. Names in parentheses are the names used in the old Discord /server settings. You can search by those names too.
What to read
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Read outside the voice channel (Read Outside Users) | Also reads people who aren't in the bot's voice channel | On |
| Attachment notice (File Info) | When someone sends a photo or file, says something like 'sent a photo' | Off |
| Forward notice (Read Forwards) | Says '○○ forwarded a message' before a forwarded message | Off |
| Reply notice (Read Replies) | Says '○○ replied to △△' before a reply | Off |
| Read spoilers | Also reads hidden text (||…||). When off, only the hidden part is skipped | Off |
| Read site titles | When someone sends a link, reads the page title like 'sent a ○○ link' | Off |
Read outside the voice channel
This is on by default. When it's off, the bot only reads messages from people in the voice channel it's in. If someone who isn't in the voice channel writes in the same text channel, the bot skips it.
Attachment notice
Attachments, stickers and custom emoji are grouped by type and announced at the end of the sentence.
| Type | Examples |
|---|---|
| Photo | png, jpg, gif, webp |
| Video | mp4, mov, mkv, webm |
| Audio | mp3, wav, m4a, flac, ogg |
| Document | txt, pdf, docx, hwp, xlsx |
| File | Anything not listed above |
| Sticker or emoji | Discord stickers, custom emoji |
- The number isn't read out. When there are 2 or more, they're grouped, like 'several photos'.
- Stickers and emoji sent with text aren't announced. They're announced only when sent without text.
- Links are always announced, like 'sent a link', regardless of this setting.
Forward notice and Reply notice
- Replies to your own message aren't announced.
- If a message is forwarded and 'Forward notice' is on, no reply notice is added.
Read spoilers
When it's off, only the hidden part is skipped and the rest is read. If the whole message is hidden, the bot reads 'sent a spoiler'.
Read site titles
When someone sends a link, the bot fetches the page's title and reads 'sent a ○○ link'. If it can't get the title within 2 seconds, it reads 'sent a link'.
When many people write
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Read the writer's name | When the writer changes, their name is read first | Off |
| Read at the same time | When several people write at once, reads them overlapping instead of waiting | Off |
| Split left and right | Overlapping voices are split between left and right | On |
| Lock nicknames (Lock Nickname) | Uses Discord names instead of personal nicknames | Off |
'Split left and right' only takes effect when 'Read at the same time' is on.
Read the writer's name
When the writer changes, the bot reads "name, message" in that order. Even if the same person keeps writing, the name is read again once 60 seconds have passed since it was last read. Reply and forward notices already include the name, so no extra name is added.
Lock nicknames
When the bot calls someone by name, it uses their Discord name instead of the nickname they set. This applies in these places:
- The name read when someone mentions another person in a message
- Names in forward and reply notices
- Names in join and leave alerts
It doesn't stop people from changing their nickname. They can still save one, but while this setting is on, it isn't used for reading. When you turn it off, saved nicknames are used again right away.
Reading rules
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Message length limit | Choose either a character count or a reading time. Longer messages get 'The message is too long to read' | 200 characters |
| Message prefix | If set, only messages starting with this symbol are read. The symbol itself isn't read | Empty (All messages) |
Message length limit
Choose 'Characters' or 'Reading time' to decide what counts as too long. It starts at 200 characters.
| Limit by | Range | Not read |
|---|---|---|
| Characters (default) | 10–200 characters, in steps of 10 | Messages longer than the set number of characters |
| Reading time | 5–30 seconds, in steps of 1 | Messages that take longer than the set time to read |
- 200 characters is the most the bot can read at once. Even with a reading time, messages over 200 characters aren't read.
- Reading time is estimated ahead of time from the voice and speed. Audio isn't generated for messages over the limit, and no credits are used for them. With some voices, 200 characters take a little over 30 seconds.
- Switching the limit type clears the other value.
- When translating, the translated sentence is measured. Even a short original can become 'too long' if the translation is longer.
- If a reply or forward notice is what pushes a message over the limit, the notice is left out and only the message is read.
A 'maximum characters' limit set in the old Discord /server menu shows up here as the character limit.
Message prefix
You can set up to 8 characters. Leave it empty to read every message. For example, if you set it to !, then !hello is read as 'hello', and messages that don't start with ! aren't read. Messages that don't start with the prefix don't trigger auto-join either.
Whose messages to read
Every list is saved as soon as you add or remove an item. Press [Clear all] in a list's title row to empty that list at once.
| List | What it does | If empty |
|---|---|---|
| Channels to read | Reads only messages in the channels you add | Reads messages in all channels |
| Channels to read, per bot | A bot you set reads with its own list instead of the list above. Bots you don't set follow the list above | All bots share 'Channels to read' |
| Roles to read | Reads only people with the roles you add | Reads everyone's messages |
| People not to read (block, blacklist) | Doesn't read messages from people you add | Reads everyone |
Channels to read
Pick a channel in 'Choose a channel to add' to add it, and remove it with the × next to its name. You can add text channels, announcement channels and the chat attached to a voice channel. You can't add threads.
WARNING
Once you add even one channel, it becomes 'read only here'. Channels you didn't add aren't read. On the other hand, [Clear all] doesn't block anything, it unblocks. Press it and messages in all channels are read. It saves immediately, with no confirmation.
NOTE
Even if you add a text channel, threads inside it aren't read. To have threads read too, empty this list.
A bot reads only one text channel, decided when it joins. This is true even if the list has several channels.
| How the bot joined | Text channel it reads |
|---|---|
/join | The channel where the command was used. Always read, regardless of this list |
| Auto-join | The channel where the message that triggered auto-join was posted |
A bot called with /join ignores the 'Channels to read' and 'Voice channels to join' lists. If a channel that isn't on the list is being read, it's usually because someone used /join in that channel. Once you remove the bot with /leave, the next auto-join follows the list again.
The chat attached to a voice channel shows in the list as '#general (voice channel)', so you can tell it apart from a text channel with the same name.
Channels to read, per bot
At first, all our bots, such as Yeonhong and Yeonha, share the 'Channels to read' list. Set a bot separately only when you want it to handle different chats. For example, Yeonhong can read #chat while Yeonha reads #games.
- Pick a bot in 'Pick a bot to set separately' at the bottom.
- A group for that bot appears, starting with a copy of the current 'Channels to read' list. The channels that bot reads don't change the moment you pick it.
- Add channels with that group's 'Choose a channel to add', and remove them with the × next to the name.
- It's saved as soon as you add or remove a channel.
- If a bot's own list is empty, that bot reads messages in every channel.
- Press [Use the shared list] to make that bot follow 'Channels to read' again.
- If no bot is set separately, it shows 'All bots share the list above'.
- With auto-join, only a bot that can read the channel the message was posted in comes in.
- When you call a bot with
/join, it reads the channel where you used the command, regardless of this list, as before.
You can also set voice channels to join for each bot. → Voice channels, per bot on the Join & alerts tab
Roles to read
Pick a role in 'Choose a role to add' to add it. @everyone and roles that only bots have don't appear in the list. Messages from people without a role to read don't trigger auto-join either.
This is separate from 'Separate guests'. Guests' messages are still read if they match this list. See the Permissions tab as well.
People not to read
Enter a person's Discord ID and press [Find]. Once it's checked who it is, an 'Add ○○' button appears. You have to press this button to add them.
TIP
To get an ID, turn on 'Developer Mode' in Discord Settings › Advanced, then right-click the person's profile and choose 'Copy User ID'.
| Blocked | Not blocked |
|---|---|
| Reading that person's messages | Commands (/join, /user settings, etc.) |
| Auto-join triggered by that person's messages | Join and leave alerts |
| Soundboard sounds triggered by that person's messages | Chatting itself (their messages are still posted) |
If you also want to stop their name being announced when they join or leave, turn off the join and leave alerts on the Join & alerts tab.
Bot and webhook messages
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Read bot messages | Also reads messages from bots in 'Bots to read' | Off |
| Read webhook messages | Also reads posts made by webhooks | Off |
| Add names | Reads the sender's name before bot and webhook messages | On |
| Bots to read | With 'Read bot messages' on, only bots added here are read | Empty |
'Add names' only takes effect when 'Read bot messages' or 'Read webhook messages' is on.
IMPORTANT
If 'Bots to read' is empty, no bots are read. This is the opposite of the channel list. If you've turned on 'Read bot messages', be sure to add the bots to read.
- Copy the bot's ID from its profile, paste it and press [Find]. If you enter a person's ID, you're told "That's not a bot ID".
- Bot and webhook messages are read only when a bot is already reading in a voice channel. They don't trigger auto-join.
- Bot and webhook messages don't play soundboard sounds.
- If too many bot and webhook messages arrive in a minute, some are skipped.
Webhook messages
Turn on 'Read webhook messages' to have posts made by webhooks read too.
- It's a single on/off switch with no list to pick from. When on, every webhook post in the channels being read is read.
- The message text is read. If there's no text, the embed's title or description is read.
- Replies to slash commands don't count as webhooks, so they aren't read.
Read messages
| Setting | What it does | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Delete read messages | Deletes messages after they've been read and the set time passes | Off |
| Delete after | Waits this long after reading, then deletes | 30 seconds |
Choose 'Delete after' from 5, 30 or 60 seconds. It only takes effect when 'Delete read messages' is on.
WARNING
The bot needs the 'Manage Messages' permission to delete messages. You can check whether the permission is missing with [Check permissions] on the Bots tab.
Order to check when messages aren't read
The bot filters messages in the order below. If a message is caught at one step, the later steps aren't checked.
- Messages starting with
// - Maintenance
- The bot isn't in a voice channel and auto-join is off
- People not to read
- Channels to read
- Roles to read, message prefix
- Not the text channel this bot handles (if another bot handles that channel, that bot reads it)
- Read outside the voice channel
- Matches a soundboard word
You can see where a message was caught under 'Reading issues' on the Bots tab. The rules for how messages are cleaned up before reading are in How the bot reads text.