As with most modern online platforms, the platform contains comment sections. Comments sections are available in all learning experiences and can be toggled on or off. Comments can be viewed and moderated both at a learning experience level and a sitewide level.
Enabling comments on learning experiences
Comments are configured within the manage content section of a learning experience. Here they can be enabled or disabled on specific objects, the XP can be specified, and discussion starters can be added. Click here to see the manage content guide for full details of how to enable them and click here to read our guide to writing good discussion starters.
| Allow Comments: Tick the box to allow comments. This will enable the comments pane alongside your object. |
The elements of the object viewer are highlighted in orange. |
| Discussion Starter: The Discussion Starter appears at the top of the comments pane. See the discussion starter guide to learn about writing good discussion starters. | |
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Comment XP: The amount of XP that will be rewarded to the learner for commenting. If this is set to anything but 0, the learner has to comment on the object in order for it to be marked as complete. |
The "(+2)" indicates how much xp is available when comment xp and completion xp are combined. |
Moderating comments
Comments are visible in a few different places. For Org Admins, all comments across the site can be viewed on the admin dashboard:
Solid-coloured speech bubbles indicate comments and transparent speech bubbles indicate replies to other comments.
A similar activity feed appears in the dashboard of each learning experience:
Each learning experience also contains a moderation section, which can be viewed by course admins, course tutors, org tutors, and org admins.
In Flagged Content, you'll find any comments that learners have reported as inappropriate. They can do this by clicking the red flag beneath any comment and selecting Rude or inappropriate. They can click it again to remove the flag.
The new object viewer UI
We are currently in the process of updating the object viewer UI, which is part of a learning experience where the comments section lives. These updates are incremental, so the new UI is currently optional and can be enabled on a learning experience by learning experience basis. Here are the new features we've introduced so far:
Alert: The following features will only be available in the comments sections with the new object viewer UI enabled.
Mentions
Learners can mention each other in comments by typing @ followed by the name of the learner they want to tag.
The tagged learner will receive an in-platform notification that will link them directly to the comment:
Replies
Learners can use the reply button to reply to specific comments. These replies will appear in their own separate thread, making it easy to conduct and follow conversations.
Emoji reactions
Learners can react to comments using a selection of five emojis. They can delete their reaction by clicking on the emoji once it has been posted.
Sorting
Learners can use the Sort button to reorder the comments chronologically (oldest to newest and vice versa).
Flagging/Reporting
To help maintain a safe and positive environment in the platform, learners can now flag/report comments they deem inappropriate.
When viewing comments from other users, a learner will see a 'Report' option in the ellipsis menu. After clicking and confirming the action, the comment is flagged for moderation. A user cannot report their own comments, and if they change their mind, they can undo their report by clicking on the same menu and selecting the 'Remove report' option.
Once a comment is flagged by a user, it will automatically appear in the 'Moderation' section of the admin area described above, alongside any other content awaiting review. You can then use the existing tools to approve or reject the comment as you normally would.