Previously, workplace communications app Slack has primarily worked like a (particularly advanced) chatroom, developed so that participants can write, search, and track short messages across multiple channels. But now the service has also updated its Posts system, making it easier for users to write longer messages that would before have been sent via email, and allowing other users to add comments directly to the text.

Posts existed in earlier versions of Slack but were unwieldy, sending users out of the app and into a web browser to write, and offering limited formatting tools. The new "Posts 2.0" now open in the Slack app itself, come with a suite of text options, and will auto-expand links or show images that you choose to share. Any posts you create will go into your starred items, making them quick to dig up when you use Slack, and other users are able to add comments directly to your message to keep discussions organized and in one place.

Slack hasn't killed email just yet, but the new refurbished post system adds a major feature that was lacking in earlier versions of the software. Now, rather than minimizing the app to compose an email that collated longer thoughts, you'll be able to draft and edit more complex and detailed messages in Slack itself, embedding the popular service even further into your working life — for better or worse.