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!
In this article:
How to Mention a Student or Instructor
Access Your Community
Make sure to check with your course instructor if you are not sure how to access your Community! It will often be available on your Student Dashboard when you login 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.
Member Count
When you first login to the main page for your Community, you will notice the member count on the bottom right of the Community banner:
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 this in your account page. This is accessible from My Account in the site header. Make sure to save your changes!
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
- Go to the Community page
- Once in the Community, either navigate to the space that you would like to add a post to, or create a post directly from the Home Page, and click "Write a post in (your space)":
- Add a Post title
- Optionally include Post details for additional context
- 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 make any updates to an existing comment, you can select the ellipses (3 dot icon) to Edit your comment:
How to Mention A Student or Instructor
- Navigate to your community as outlined in the steps above
- 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
How to Follow or Unfollow a Post
- Locate your desired post
- Click on the follow status button on the right - the status will change as you hover over the button to read either unfollow (if you're already following that post) or follow (if you are not following the post currently)
- The status will change once your change has been made - you can always click this button again if you wish to re-follow or un-follow 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 Web App and Email Notifications
Community web app notifications and email notifications ensure that you never miss an update and stay connected with your Community.
Depending on the type of web app notification, you will also receive a corresponding email notification in your email inbox. You will only receive an email notification for 1:1 web app notifications. Email notifications are currently not supported for 1:Many notifications.
You can also manually 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. 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 notifications is global. If you turn off notifications in one Community, it will apply to all Communities.
How to Manage Community Email Notifications
- Log in to your student account
- Go to My Dashboard
- Select a Community you have access to
- Once you are in the Community, select your name on the top right
- In the dropdown menu, select Manage notifications
- Make sure All comments is selected if you would like to be notified by email for every comment in posts you follow OR select Off if you do not want to be notified for any comments.
- Click Save
Trending Posts
After logging in to your Community, you will see the trending posts panel on the right-hand side of your home page. This panel will keep you up to date on the latest and most popular posts!
Read through this article to learn more about Trending Posts.
That should help you get started. Make sure to contact your course instructor if you have any questions. Happy commenting!