Discord
What is Discord?
Discord is a free voice, video, and text chat app that's used by tens of millions of people to talk and hang out with their communities and friends online.
People use Discord daily to talk about many things, ranging from art projects and family trips to homework and mental health support. It's a home for communities of any size, but it's most widely used by small and active groups of people who talk regularly.
People love Discord because it’s a home for all their communities and groups of friends. It's a place where they can be themselves and spend time with other people who share their interests and hobbies. There's no algorithm deciding what they should see, no endless scrolling, and no news feed. Conversations on Discord are driven by shared interests.
We use Discord for:
News
Conversation (about anything and everything to do with flight simulation)
Live voice chat (both during flights, and just hanging out together)
Screen sharing (by far the best way of getting help with simulator or aircraft issues)
Installing Discord
Discord is a free download - just visit discord.com (or click the button below) and click the download link. When you first install Discord you will not be a "member" of any servers (you can join lots of Discord servers at once) - read the next section to join our Discord server.
Joining the VirtualFlight.Online Discord Server
To join our Discord server, all you need to do is click the button below - it will pop open a new browser tab, and guide you through the process. Once you've joined, the VirtualFlight.Online logo will appear in the margin of the Discord app for you to visit any time you want.
First Steps after joining the Discord Server
The first thing you need to do after joining the Discord server is "onboard" yourself:
The top left margin of Discord will guide you through a few introductory tasks - such as posting a screenshot, and introducing yourself.
Visit the Browse Channels page (top of the left margin) and choose which channels you want to see. We have lots of channels - most of them are hidden until you complete the self-service onboarding step above.
If you are a member of the Virtual Airline, visit the #airline-ranks channel to get your nickname changed, and to proudly display your rank. Doing so also gives you access to private Virtual Airline channels.
Finally, visit the #introductions channel and introduce yourself to the community!
We look forward to flying with you, and getting to know you!
Stop reading, start watching...
Here's a quick guide to what Discord is, how it works, and why it's great:
Configuring Sound and "Push to Talk" in Discord
Perhaps the most difficult part of Discord for beginners to get their head around is configuring sound, and using the voice chat rooms.
To get started:
Click the cog icon at the bottom left of the Discord app.
Click the "Voice and Video" section in the left margin.
Change the Input Device to your microphone (or headset microphone), and set it's volume
Change the Output Device to your speakers (or headset), and set it's volume.
Switch on "Push to Talk", and then choose a button or key to press in the dialog that appears.
We enforce "push to talk" in many of the flight-related voice channels both to help people not talk over each other, and as a safeguarding measure (so we don't hear things in the background we should not).
Joining and Leaving Voice Channels
Joining Channels
To join a voice channel in Discord, just click on it, and your name will appear within the channel - you will then be able to listen to, and talk to others in the channel.Leaving Channels
To leave voice channels, click the disconnect icon that appears at the bottom of the left margin while connected.Switching Channels
To switch voice channels, just click on another channel - no need to disconnect - you will leave the previous channel, and appear in the channel you clicked.
Sharing your screen with Discord
One of the most useful features of Discord is the ability to share your screen, and watch other people's screen live (if they are sharing them).
To share your screen in Discord, just click the "Screen" button that appears when you are connected to a voice chat channel.
If you are already playing Microsoft Flight Simulator, a special button will appear to share the application directly. If you go this route, other people will only see the simulator (protecting your privacy in the process). If you click the "Screen" button, you get the option to share a specific application, or even an entire screen, should you wish to.
You'll know if somebody else is sharing their screen, because a "Live" icon appears next to their name. Just click on it to watch their screen!
Changing Your Name in Discord
One of the most common things you might want to do in Discord is change your display name within the VirtualFlight.Online server for any of the air traffic control sessions we do - e.g. "G-JBEK Jonathan".
It's straightforward to do:
Click the down arrow next to the "VirtualFlight.Online" title at the top left corner of the Discord app.
Click "Edit Server Profile" from the dropdown.
Edit the "Nickname" field, then click the Exit icon.
You can change your name as often as you like, and it only applies to each server you do it in - so you can have different names in every server you are a member of.
One More Thing
By default, Discord is configured to continue running in the background, and to start with your computer. Most people want exactly the opposite of that, so here's how to fix it:
Click on the cog icon at the bottom left of Discord
Go to "Windows Settings" in the left margin
Make sure all the switches are off.