Posting user-generated content is how your users interact with one another in your Higher Logic Vanilla (Vanilla) community. When creating content, you can choose from the following post types:
- Discussions, Questions, Polls, Ideas, or Events.
- Comment - any follow-up content (reply) to an existing post.
Notes
- Comments can exist only as part of a post.
- Each post can have an unlimited number of comments.
Examples
In the image below, Lila posted a discussion (Best community software?) at 4:15; at 4:18, Charlie posted a comment (note the smaller heading called Comments).
Custom nomenclature
How your user-generated content is referred to can differ from our default labels. For example, posts, threads, and topics are three very common ways of referring to this form of "conversation."
In your Vanilla community, the default labels of posts and comments can be customized without changing the underlying functionality.
If you'd like to customize these labels, contact your CSM.
Post types
There are a range of post types to ensure your community includes the type of content suitable for its needs.
To create a post, click the New Post button at the top right on any page. You'll then be able to choose what type of post to create.
The options that display are dependent on which addons are enabled in your community, and can include:
Create a discussion
This article focuses on the discussion-creation process. Refer to their associated articles above for help creating the other post types
Select New Post > New Discussion to navigate to a new page where you can configure your discussion.
- If you began the creation process outside a Category, you'll need to select a Category in which to organize the discussion. Otherwise, the Category you were in will automatically be selected.
✔️ TIP: After being posted, a post can be moved to a different Category, as described in Move Discussions. - The Discussion Title is what will show at the top of the post once it’s been submitted. It will also identify the discussion on the category index.
- The text field is where you type your post. You can use the buttons at the bottom left to insert emojis, images, and media, as well as attach files.
✔️ TIP: After being posted, discussions and comments can be edited, as described in Edit Discussions & Comments. - Admins and Moderators can use the options in the Announce section to make their discussion an Announcement.
- Tags mark a discussion with certain keywords so it's easier to search for within the community. By default, up to five tags can be used on a post.
✔️ TIP: Learn how to create and manage tags in Tags. - Once the post is ready, click Post Discussion to publish it. Click Save Draft to store the post under the My Drafts section of your profile. Preview will show the user what the finished post will look like when published.
Comments
Each posted discussion includes a comments section where all users can participate and share their thoughts on the topic.
Rich Editor
Rich Editor is available on all newer communities by default. It provides tools for your users when they create posts and comments.
To learn more about the Rich Editor, read:
Additional resources
Click the link below to access a video that expands on the information in this article.
