Community Guide (Student Resource)

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So you've joined a Community and want to get involved! You can create posts, comment on existing posts, and follow threads you are interested in to make sure you get notified of post activity.

This article covers the basics of how to post and comment in a Community as a student. Make sure to contact your course instructor if you have any additional questions!

Access Your Community

Make sure to check with your instructor or site admin if you are not sure how to access your Community! It will often be available on your Student Dashboard or the Learner Hub when you log in to your account or through a direct link. You can also always bookmark a Community page for quick access!

You will be required to login to your account in order to access your available Communities.

Depending on your school, the steps to access your community might look different.

If you see a Student Dashboard (a page in the image below) when you log into your account, find your community by scrolling down the page to the My communities section and by clicking on the community card. If you have multiple communities, you can navigate between different communities by returning to the Student Dashboard and selecting a different community.

If you see a Learner Hub (a page similar to the one in the image below) when you log into your account, click on the Community button in the navigation menu. If you have multiple communities, you will see all of them on the same page.

Member Count

When you first open a community space, you will notice the member count at the top of the feed.

This member count tells you how many people there currently are within the Community, and also displays the profile picture for each member. You can update your profile picture using the steps in the next section.

Edit Your Profile

When you post and comment in a Community, your profile picture and name will appear. If you would like to customize what is visible in the Community, you can update your profile from your account page. Depending on your school, you can do it by clicking on the My Account button in the header.

If you do not see the My Account button in the header, your school might be using a different learner experience. In this case, click on your account profile icon at the bottom of the screen or the top of the screen (if using a smaller screen), then select Profile.

Create Posts

Every Community can have multiple spaces - spaces are areas within the Community where specific topics can be discussed.

Each post will be displayed on the main Community page, and can be selected to view or add comments.

How to Create a Post

Access your community, as described here.
Once in the Community, either navigate to the space that you would like to add a post to
Fill out the text box under "Create new post in (your space)"
Add Post details
Optionally include an emoji, image, video link (Youtube, Vimeo, or Loom), or file attachment (Max 5MB)
Click Create post

How to Edit a Post

Want to make a change to your post? No problem! Once a post has been created, you can select the ellipses (3 dot icon) to Edit your existing post.

Add Comments

You can comment on any post that you are interested in within your Community!

How to Comment on a Post

Locate your desired post
Click on Comments
In the comment field, input your desired text
Optionally include an emoji, image, video link (Youtube, Vimeo, or Loom), or file attachment (Max 5MB)
Select Post comment

How to Edit a Comment

If you need to update an existing comment, you can select the ellipses (3 dot icon) to Edit your comment.

Direct Messages

You can send direct messages to your instructor or another community member in real-time by clicking on DMs in the sidebar of a community or your Learner Hub.

How to Send a Direct Message

From the DMs page, click the plus sign next to New message
Search for the member you would like to message
Select their name from the dropdown to open a chat window
Type your message
Optionally include an emoji
Click the arrow button to send

You can also send a message to another member by clicking on their name or profile picture to open their profile, then clicking the Message button.

For any sent messages in a chat window, you can react to it with an emoji by hovering over the desired message clicking the happy face icon then selecting an emoji from the reaction menu.

If you would like to edit or delete any message that you have sent, you can do this by hovering over the desired message, clicking the ellipses (3 dot icon), then selecting either Edit or Delete.

Blocking Members

If you need to block another community member for any reason, you can do so from within the chat window with that user:

In that chat window, click the ellipses (3 dot icon)
Click Block DMs
Click Block

To unblock a member that you have previously blocked, follow the above steps then click Unblock from the ellipsis menu.

How to Mention A Student or Instructor

Access your community, as described here.
Create a new post, or begin typing a comment
Type "@" and select the profile from the dropdown menu
Finish your comment and hit Post Comment

Like Posts and Comments

If you'd like to show appreciation for a community contribution, you also have the option to add a like to a post or comment. Click once to like and click again to unlike.

Follow or Unfollow Posts

You can follow posts to receive email notifications for comment activity on posts you are interested in! If you create a new post, you will automatically be added as a follower. In addition, if you engage with a post, you will be automatically added as a follower of that post. Engaging with the post includes: reacting to the post or to any reply within it, commenting on the post, or replying to a comment (simply visiting a post does not follow it.)

You can always unfollow a post if you no longer want to receive email notifications or turn off notifications globally.

How to Follow or Unfollow a Post

Locate your desired post
Depending on your school, either:
1. Click on the ellipses (3 dot icon) on a post you want to follow and then click Follow; or
2. Click on the bookmark icon to follow the post.
The status will change once your change has been made - you can always click this button again if you wish to re-follow or unfollow the post at a later date.

Delete Posts and Comments

You can delete your own comments. If you would like to delete a post you have created, please contact your course instructor.

Once a post or comment has been deleted, there is no record of that post or comment history. Make sure to take a screenshot before deleting if you want to keep a personal record.

How to Delete a Comment

Locate your desired post
Click on the post to view the comments
Locate your desired comment
Click on the ellipses (3 dot icon) on the top right
Select Delete comment

Community Notifications

Community notifications ensure that you never miss an update and stay connected with your Community.

There are four types of notifications you may receive:

Email notifications - directly in your inbox
Web app notifications - these are displayed in the web version of Thinkific
In-app notifications - if your Instructor enabled a mobile app functionality, you can receive notifications directly in the Thinkific Mobile app
Push notifications - the Thinkific Mobile app can also send push notifications directly to your device

Viewing web app notifications in a browser will mark them as read in the mobile app and vice versa.

You will receive notifications when the following happens:

When you are added to a community
When an Admin creates a new post - no email notification is sent in this case, only web app, in-app, and push
When someone mentions you in a post
When someone comments on your post or a post you are following
When someone replies to your comment or a thread you are following
When your post gets rejected (if your community requires post approval) - no web app, in-app, or push notification is sent in this case, only email notification.

You can also manually follow posts to receive notifications for activity on posts you are interested in! If you create a new post, you will automatically be added as a follower. You can always unfollow a post if you no longer want to receive email notifications.

You also have the option to turn off all Community email notifications from any Community you have access to. Turning off Community email notifications is global. If you turn off email notifications in one Community, it will apply to all Communities.

It is not possible to turn off web app, in-app, or push notifications or customize which notifications you want to receive.

How to Manage Community Email Notifications

Log in to your student account
Go to My Dashboard
Select your name on the top right
In the dropdown menu, select My Account
Click on Notifications and uncheck Receive email notifications for mentions, replies and posts in my Communities
Click Save