Posting user-generated content is how your users interact with one another in your Higher Logic Vanilla (Vanilla) community. Posted content can be either a:
- Discussion - how a user starts a new thread about a topic of interest.
- Comment - any follow-up content (reply) to an established discussion.
Notes
- Comments can exist only as part of a discussion.
- Each discussion 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 discussions and comments can be customized without changing the underlying functionality.
If you'd like to customize these labels, contact your CSM.
Discussions
There are a range of discussion types to help communities adjust the functionality to best suit their needs.
To create a discussion, 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. There can be as many as five options:
Select New Discussion to navigate to a new page where you can configure your discussion.
- Click Select a category to choose which Category to add your discussion to.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Once posted, each 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 an array of tools for your users to use when posting discussions and comments.
To learn more about the Rich Editor, see:
Additional Resources
Click the link below to access a video expanding on what you learned in this article.
