Configure your server

You need permission to access Settings. Managing ranks and role mappings also requires rank management; importing people requires staff management. Only the StaffNest owner can transfer ownership.

For a shorter Discord-based setup, start with /setup.

Run the setup check

1. In My servers, open the getting-started area and choose your server.
2. Run the configuration check.
3. Review the bot, channels, ranks, team and role checks.
4. Follow the setup or fix link for each relevant issue.
5. Refresh the diagnostic after changes.

A check marked unavailable is not a successful check. The diagnostic does not send Discord messages. Discord changes can take roughly fifteen seconds to appear.

Check the bot’s permissions

Open Settings → Bot. If needed, invite or reinvite the bot through the provided link and review the requested permissions in Discord.

Use	Discord permissions to check
Notifications and buttons	View Channel, Send Messages, Embed Links in the selected channel.
Role synchronization	Manage Roles; the bot’s role must be above the roles it assigns.
Discord moderation actions	The action’s kick, ban or timeout permission, and a valid role hierarchy.
Private tickets	Appropriate channel and access management permissions in the selected category.

Check category and channel overrides as well as server permissions. A StaffNest panel role does not change Discord permissions. When using the official bot, you do not need to create a Discord developer application.

Choose language and notification channels

1. In Settings → General, set Bot language to English and save.
2. In Settings → Bot, load or refresh the Discord channel list.
3. Select channels for the notifications you use: announcements, absences, sanctions, meetings, applications and reports.
4. Choose a role to mention only when necessary; otherwise keep No ping.
5. Save and check the selected destinations.

Use staff-only channels for internal information. Channels can be configured gradually.

For tickets, Bot language controls automatic labels and default texts. Your custom texts and category names stay as written. After a language change, republish the opening panel and refresh existing ticket messages if needed: choose the ticket language.

Absence reasons can be published

Configure an absence channel before inviting members to use /absence. Without one, the bot may publish the request in the channel where it was submitted. If the configured channel cannot be reached, the request may still be saved: check before submitting it again.

Create ranks and map Discord roles

1. Open Settings → Ranks → Add rank.
2. Enter a name, color and level. Higher levels are higher in the hierarchy.
3. Open Settings → Roles and refresh the Discord roles.
4. Under Role → rank mappings, associate each relevant Discord role with a StaffNest rank.
5. Review all mappings, run Sync now, then inspect the added, updated and deactivated counts and the Staff directory.

Synchronization imports people with mapped roles and can deactivate profiles that no longer match. Review mappings before running it on an existing team. If someone has several mapped roles, the highest-level rank is used. Former or blacklisted staff are not automatically reinstated.

The bot needs Manage Roles and a sufficiently high role to update Discord roles when ranks change. A rank describes hierarchy; panel permissions are separate.

Set command permissions

Open Settings → Permissions → Bot commands, select allowed panel roles for each action, and save. Have a member verify the result.

Saving a command with no roles selected means all staff, not nobody. Unconfigured sanction commands still require sanction-management permission. Absence-panel setup defaults to the settings permission. /setup initially restricts sensitive commands to the owner; delegate them deliberately afterwards. Action-specific permission checks still apply.

The /staffnest, /tasks, /departments and /meetings menus also use panel permissions. Discord integration settings control command visibility separately. Wait about a minute after a permissions change and reopen the command.

Use /sanction add to select a sanction type. Permission rows such as /sanction warn represent actions within that flow, not additional slash subcommands.

Set common behavior

Settings → General also controls your community’s name and type, automatic absence approval and applicant DMs. Enable automatic approval only when absences do not need a manager’s decision; it applies to panel and Discord submissions.

Settings → Appearance customizes public pages with an accent color and optional publicly accessible logo and banner URLs. These settings do not change the bot’s avatar or Discord roles.

You may enable a Public page under General. A custom link uses 3–30 lowercase letters, numbers and hyphens. Review the actual public page before sharing it. Turning off the team page does not close open recruitment positions.

Invite the team

Create or import staff profiles first, then share StaffNest sign-in or an Invite link from Staff. The link connects an existing profile; it does not grant arbitrary visitors staff or administrator access. See invitations.

If a role, channel or server is missing, check Discord permissions, refresh the list, and consult troubleshooting.

Refresh the language of existing ticket messages

After saving Bot language, choose Preview message updates under Settings → General. You need Settings, Configure tickets and Manage tickets permissions. The preview lists the opening panel and messages for active tickets you can access, in batches of 100. Check the saved language, then confirm.

Automatic labels are updated; categories, subjects and custom text remain as entered. The results identify updated messages and those needing a retry. Once every message has been attempted, you can continue to the next batch even when a message is missing; previous failures remain visible in the results. Reload the preview to start again from the first batch. If settings or tickets change, reload the preview. Deleted messages, messages belonging to another bot, closed tickets and other historical posts are not recreated or changed by this assistant.