Discussions and Articles

In this article, we will look at: 

• Accessing Your Community as an Admin
• How to Create Discussions and Articles
  • How to Create a New Post
    • How to Create a Discussion Post
    • How to Create an Article
    • Visibility and Publishing Options
• How to Moderate Existing Content
• Notes

As an admin, you have the power to enrich your community by creating new discussions and articles. These tools are excellent for sparking conversation, sharing information, and highlighting important topics.

Accessing Your Community as an Admin

To moderate discussions and articles, you must be logged into your community as an admin. This means that you have a member account but with admin privileges.  If you have been added as an admin on the client platform, this does create a member admin account, but you will need to get a password for it.  To get your member admin account password: 

1. Go to the Community Page
2. Click on Sign in
3. Click on Forgot Password
4. Type in your email address that you have admin access for on the client platform side
5. Click reset
6. Go to your email inbox.  If you are unable to find this, please check your junk/spam folder
7. Click on the Reset Password button in the email
8. This will open a new link where you are able to change your password
9. Type in your new password twice.  The password needs to be a minimum of 8 characters long and contain at least: one upper case letter, one lower case letter, one number, and one special character
10. Click Change My Password to update your password
11. This will sign you into the community automatically

Also, you can confirm your admin status by checking the top right-hand corner of the page. It should display your admin account name and email, rather than a preview mode identifier, which says Loading... instead of Hi, and your admin name, and it will not display your email, and often includes jumbled numbers and letters. 

This is an example of the preview mode login:

If you have this view, just click on Sign Out and sign in with your admin member account.

How to Create Discussions and Articles

How to Create a New Post

To create new content, navigate to the discussion section of your community page (in the example, this is called Brand Connect) while logged in as an admin.   Then, click on "New Post." You'll be prompted to choose between a "Discussion" or an "Article."  

Discussions: These are short-form posts, typically a single question or a brief paragraph accompanied by an image, designed to spark quick conversations among members.

Articles: These are longer-form content pieces, similar to short blog posts (around 150 words), featuring a title, an image, and body copy. They are used for more in-depth topics or spotlights.

How to Create a Discussion Post

Discussions are designed to be short and engaging.

• Select a Topic: Choose an existing topic (e.g., "Recipes") or create a new one to categorize your discussion.
• Add a Title: This will be your discussion question (e.g., "What's your favorite quick meal?").
• Upload an Image: Include an appealing image to make your discussion more visually inviting.

How to Create an Article

Articles allow for more in-depth content, similar to a mini-blog post.

• Enter a Title: This is your article's headline.
• Upload an Image: Select a relevant and high-quality image.
• Write the Copy: This is the main text of your article (around 150 words is a good guideline for a "short article"
  • HTML for Formatting: To make your article visually appealing and readable, you'll need to use HTML for formatting. This includes:
    • Bold text (<strong>your text</strong>)
    • Italic text (<em>your text</em>)
    • Emojis (using their HTML entity codes or by directly pasting them, though HTML entities are more reliable for consistent display)
    • Links (<a href="your_link_here">Link Text</a>)

Visibility and Publishing Options

Before publishing, configure these settings:

• Visibility:
  • "All members": This is the most common setting for general discussions and articles.
  • Specific Groups/Lists: You can target your content to particular member segments you've created.
• Feature Post: Check this box if you want your post to be pinned to the forum homepage for prominent display.
• Allow Post to be included in Dashboard Feed: This allows the post to appear on members' personal dashboards, increasing visibility.  This is checked by default.
• Preview Post: It's recommended that you check this as it allows you to preview your post before publishing. This lets you check the layout, formatting, and overall appearance to ensure it looks exactly as intended.
• Public Post: This will allow the discussion to be viewable even when members/public are not signed in

After creating a discussion or article, your post will show as "pending approval". From this status, you can choose to approve, edit, or archive (delete) it.

How to Moderate Existing Content

Maintaining the quality of your community’s discussions and articles is vital. To check for new comments or inappropriate content, click on "Manage > Visible Comments within the Discussions or Articles section. This will show you when the last comment was added.

Here you will be able to see:

• Comment: This will display what the comment is.
• Date Created: On what date the comment was posted
• Commenter ID: This is the member's ID
• Post: On what discussion or article, the member has left a post
• Post Created: The date of the post is the same date as the Date Created
• Topic: What Topic that the post is under

On a comment, you will have three options:

The heart: - To like the comment

 Reply: To directly reply to the comment

... with Hide: To hide the comment

Hidden comments are only visible to admins; regular community members will not see them.

This is what a comment will look like as an admin with the message this comment has been hidden and will only be visible in the article or discussion itself, as the Hide option makes the comment disappear from the Visible Comments tab:

If a member gets deleted for whatever reason, for their comments, they will still be visible in the visible comments tab, and it will say This comment has been deleted.  

When you click on This comment has been deleted, it will look like this:

This is only visible from this view and will not appear for the admin in any other way, and members also will not be able to see this box either.

Notes: 

Points Still Awarded: Even if a comment is hidden, the member still receives points for their activity. The system recognizes that the member performed the action of commenting, and hiding it is a moderation choice, not a point deduction.

Examples of Comments to Hide: This includes spam (e.g., repeated comments from the same user), irrelevant remarks (e.g., "family is good" when it doesn't contribute to the topic), or comments that suggest alternatives contrary to your brand's goals (e.g., a member saying they'll make a product themselves instead of buying it).

Moderation is key: Since comments on discussions and articles appear instantly, timely moderation is crucial. Regularly checking these sections (daily is recommended) ensures that any inappropriate or irrelevant content is hidden quickly, preventing it from being visible to your community for an extended period. This proactive approach helps maintain a positive and professional environment.