Setting up Sprinto

The short version#

Invite Sprinto, then run /sprint . That’s it. A sprint is running, waiting for you and others to join.

Sprinto sets nothing up when he joins your server. He doesn’t post anything, create a channel or a role, or write any settings. He just works, straight away, in every channel he can see and post in. If you never touch a single option on this page your sprints will still run.

Everything below is optional. I’ve tried to put more useful stuff first.

Worth doing first#

Make a dedicated sprint channel (or two)#

Sprinto usage can quickly overwhelm any chat room, so almost all servers create a dedicated sprint channel with a name like #writing-sprints, #sprints-and-excerpts or something thematically appropriate for their server like #sprinting_dojo.

Sprinto rarely gets used when he has to share a general #bots channel with other bots. Some servers add multiple sprint channels, for example one for short spontaneous sprints (#sprints-10-to-20-min) and one for longer sprints (#sprints-21-to-45-minutes). Some servers add and remove sprinting channels as demand goes.

Each channel can have one sprint running at a time. Sprints in different channels run independently.

Rename the @Sprinto role#

Rename the @Sprinto role to @Bot role: Sprinto to make it easier to use Sprinto. You can also make it unmentionable by regular users.

Why is this necessary? Sprinto accepts commands in two ways: slash commands such as /time , and messages that start by mentioning Sprinto, such as @Sprinto#2517 time . Discord also gives every bot a role with the bot’s name (@Sprinto), and in Discord’s @ list the role looks almost the same as Sprinto the bot ( @Sprinto#2517 ).

Discord doesn’t show Sprinto the text of a message that mentions the role, so Sprinto can’t run the command in it. Instead, he posts a note like this in the channel:

SprintoApp

Sorry, I couldn’t read that. Discord doesn’t show me the text when you ping @Sprinto (the role). Start your message with @Sprinto and I’ll see it. When you type @Sprinto, pick the one with my avatar, not the role.

The note notifies nobody, and disappears if the person deletes their message. If the role still has Sprinto’s name, a Sprint Admin also sees a suggestion to rename it. Renaming the role makes the mistake less likely, because the role no longer looks like Sprinto in Discord’s @ list.

Check Sprinto can actually post#

In a sprint channel, Sprinto needs two permissions: View Channel and Send Messages (in a thread, Send Messages in Threads). That’s all a sprint needs. Manage Roles is only needed for the Active Sprinters role. The invite link asks for more permissions than these, but a sprint needs only View Channel and Send Messages.

To check, run /settings channel in your sprint channel. At the bottom of the panel, under “My permissions in this channel:”, View Channel and Send Messages are each marked ✅ or ❌. Anyone can look.

Running /sprint also tells you whether Sprinto can post. If Sprinto can’t post in the channel, you get this reply, which only you can see:

SprintoApp

Sorry, I can’t post in this channel. Please give me the View Channel and Send Messages permissions here, then start the sprint again.

Only you can see this

Whichever way you check, fix a missing permission in the channel’s permission settings.

Roles you create yourself#

Two roles give people extra powers over sprints:

• @Sprint MC can force-cancel a sprint, move a stuck sprint on to its next step, and run locked sprints that only a Sprint MC can cancel.
• @Sprint Admin can do everything a Sprint MC can, and change Sprinto’s settings.

Sprinto never creates these roles. You make them yourself, like any other Discord role, and he recognises them by name. Capitalisation doesn’t matter, the space in the name is optional, and plurals work, so @Sprint MC, @sprintmcs and @Sprinto MC all count as the Sprint MC role. Other names don’t count: a role named “Sprint MC Team” isn’t a Sprint MC role.

The server owner and anyone with the Administrator or Manage Server permission are already Sprint Admins, and so Sprint MCs too. On a small server you may not need either role at all.

Full detail is on the Admin commands page.

Optional configuration#

All of these are optional and all of them can be changed later.

Restrict where sprints can run#

/settings sprint-channels

On a large server with many users, you might want to restrict where sprints can be run.

An empty list of sprint channels means sprints work anywhere. The list is empty by default. More at Sprint channels.

Ping people who are interested in sprints when sprints are happening#

Set up a self-assigned role like @Sprinters, so you can ping people who are interested in sprinting and let them know sprints are starting. To have Sprinto mention that role at the start of every sprint in a channel, add it as a ping role.

Sprinto automatically pings people who joined a recent sprint, but that automatic system is very simple. It’s best to have another way to ping people who have said they’re interested in sprinting.

Set the default sprint#

/settings sprint-defaults

Sets the default start time, length and chimes for sprints on your server, or in one channel, so /sprint does what your server actually wants. The default fills in any option the person starting a sprint doesn’t type: with a default of 20 in 5, /sprint 30 starts a 30-minute sprint in 5 minutes.

Sprinto’s built-in default is a 15-minute sprint, starting in 1 minute, with no chime, and late word counts accepted for 10 minutes after time’s up. A long-form channel might prefer for 30 minutes in 1-2 minutes.

/settings sprint-defaults opens on the server default. On a new server, the panel looks something like this:

SprintoApp

Sprint defaults: Server default#

Nothing is set for this server, so a plain /sprint uses the bot’s defaults:

• Start: in 1 min
• Length: 15 min
• Late edits: allowed for 10 min after time’s up

No channel or server default is set. The buttons below set one for this channel.

Only you can see this

Click This channel first if you only want to change this one channel. Green buttons show the start time, length and chime in effect right now. Click a button to add its option to the default for the server or channel you selected; the button gets a ✓. Click a button with a ✓ to remove its option again. On a new server, Reset to built-in is greyed out, because there is nothing set to clear. When This channel is selected, the same button reads Clear channel override.

Only a Sprint Admin gets the buttons. Everyone else sees the text.

With Edit text you can type the default sprint for the server or channel you selected. You can type most of what you could type after /sprint , such as in 5 minutes or random 10-20 or anything else. If that server or channel already has a default, the box starts with it filled in.

• Leave the box empty to remove the default for that server or channel.
• Type none to set no default there. In a channel, none also stops the server’s default from applying in that channel.
• A clock time in a default has to give more than one time, so at :00/:30 works and at :30 doesn’t. A default with until also needs for at least, which sets the shortest sprint: until :00/:30 for at least 10.

Anything Sprinto can’t use is refused with “Error: Could not set default sprint options: " and the reason. For defaults with chains, and the other rules for defaults, see Sprint defaults.

Make announcements screen reader friendly#

/settings theme

Consider turning on the Screen reader friendly theme if anyone on your server uses a screen reader.

More at Settings.

Everything else#

/settings channel

/settings server

See Settings for every setting.

The Active Sprinters role#

/create-active-role

Creates an @Active Sprinters role. Anyone in a running sprint gets the role for the duration of the sprint, so the members list shows who is sprinting, and that a sprint is happening at all. To run the command you need the Manage Roles permission or to be a Sprint Admin. Sprinto itself needs Manage Roles, and his own role must be above @Active Sprinters. See Active Sprinter role.

Settings worth knowing about#

Three defaults that servers most often want to change:

• family-friendly is on, which keeps the sweary quotes and replies out. Turn it off if your server would rather have them.
• tidy-sprints is off. Turn it on and Sprinto deletes his own join and word-count confirmations 45 seconds after posting them, so a busy sprint doesn’t fill the channel with them.
• shuffle-leaderboard is off, so the scoreboard is ranked by word count. Turn it on and the scoreboard has no ranks at all: everyone is listed in a random order, with their word counts still shown. It suits a server that would rather nobody came first.

Set any of them with /settings channel or /settings server , or by typing a message such as @Sprinto#2517 settings tidy-sprints on . A typed setting changes only the channel you type it in, and Sprinto replies with a message like “OK. Tidy sprints (autodelete joins & word counts): On”. Every setting is covered on the Settings page.

Cosmetic and nice to have#

• Rename Sprinto. Give him a thematically suitable nickname on your server, such as Sir Sprinto Esquire. (Right-click on Sprinto and choose “Change Nickname”.) Most of his messages still call him “Sprinto”.
• Move him up the members list. In Server Settings > Roles, drag the Sprinto role up as high as you’re comfortable, so people can find him.
• Keep other bots out of the sprint channel. If other bots have similar commands which may confuse or trip up sprinters, remove those bots’ permissions in your sprinting channels. You can also do the reverse, and remove permission to use Sprinto’s commands in your other channels.
• Plug your writing server in the #plug-your-writing-server channel on Sprinto’s support server. Remember to use a permalink if you want people to find your server.

See also#

• Sprint basics for how sprints actually run
• Admin commands
• Settings