> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.clearfeed.ai/clearfeed-help-center/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.clearfeed.ai/clearfeed-help-center/clearfeed-helpdesk/welcome-messages.md).

# Welcome Messages

Create a custom Welcome Message that automatically greets new customers when they join a channel. You have 3 options for configuring your welcome message.

* **To New Request Channels** - The Welcome message will be sent to the request channel whenever a new channel is added to a collection.
* **To New members of Request Channels** - The Welcome message will be sent as an ephemeral message to every new user added to the request channel.
* **Both -** The Welcome message will be sent to the request channel whenever a new channel is added to a collection. It will also be sent as an ephemeral message to every new user added to the request channel.

{% hint style="info" %}
Welcome Message is only visible to the non-responders
{% endhint %}

<figure><img src="https://3455705434-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-x-prod.appspot.com/o/spaces%2FE2O2wTaNovd6fXpEuLKz%2Fuploads%2Fgit-blob-4c314a263bfa404d2dd512d9ebb3b6b32689c67c%2FWelcome%20Message%20Config.gif?alt=media" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

## Greeting DMs for external users

A **Greeting DM** lets external users know that they can file private tickets by messaging the ClearFeed bot. This setting is available for External Helpdesk Collections that have ticketing enabled. It is off by default.

Configure a Greeting DM for an existing Collection:

1. Open the Collection and select **Settings**.
2. Open **Welcome Message**.
3. In the **Greeting DM** section, turn on **Send a greeting DM to external users**.
4. Edit the greeting message.
5. Select **Save**.
6. Choose one of these options:
   * **Send to existing members** sends the greeting to eligible external users who are already in the Collection's monitored channels.
   * **Only new members** sends the greeting when an external user joins a monitored channel or when their channel becomes monitored.

You can also enable the Greeting DM while creating a Collection. The existing-member choice doesn't appear because the new Collection has no monitored members yet.

Each external user receives the greeting once per connected Slack workspace. If the monitoring notification also applies, ClearFeed combines the greeting and notification in one DM.

After receiving the DM, an external user can message the bot to [create a private ticket](/clearfeed-help-center/how-it-works/creating-or-linking-tickets/private-tickets.md#external-users-in-slack-connect-channels). ClearFeed checks the user's current membership each time they start a request.