IN THIS ARTICLE
Mentions
Hashtags
Using Hashtags to Organize and Filter Content
Filtering by Hashtag
Some Ways to Use Hashtags
Reactions
Mentions
Mentions trigger notifications to specific members, groups, or the community at large. Use cases for mentions include continuing conversations, acknowledging peers' ideas, soliciting others' expertise, and encouraging other Community Members to contribute. To cater to the needs of community members and facilitators, several types of mentions are available:
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Mention Specific Community Members: First, type @ in the Post or Comment editor. A list of Members will appear in a pop-up menu. Continue typing the full name or username of the Member you want to mention. When their name appears in the pop-up menu, select it. Upon clicking the POST button, the mentioned Member will receive a notification.
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Mention The Entire Community: Occasionally, facilitators may want to notify the entire community. You can do this by typing @Community in your post. This triggers a notification to ALL the members in the community, even if your community is divided into multiple groups.
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Mention Community Admins: When a community member or a facilitator wants to highlight something to the community's admin, including @admin in their post/comment, alert all the admins in the community by sending out a notification, particularly to them.
Hashtags
Hashtags are words prefixed by #. Hashtags thematically categorize Posts and Comments and enable hashtag-based filtering. Unlike Topics, hashtags can be created by any Community Member. We recommend that Community Members use hashtags to categorize content, organize contributions, facilitate filtering for themselves and their peers, align themselves with a position or movement, and join large conversations for which individual mentions are impractical.
To add a hashtag or use a preexisting hashtag, begin by typing # in the Post or Comment editor. If at least one hashtag already exists, a list of hashtags will appear in a pop-up menu. Continue typing the word you want to use as a hashtag. If the hashtag already exists, select it from the pop-up menu. If the hashtag doesn't already exist, simply hit space when you've finished typing your hashtag. Upon submitting your post, other users will be able to select your hashtag from the pop-up menu.
For more on hashtags, see this guide.
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Using Hashtags to Organize and Filter Content
Hashtags can be used by learners or instructors to organize and filter content for the Community. Unlike topics, which are created by instructors, hashtags can be created by anyone.
To use this feature when posting content, simply type # before the words you wish to tag.
Filtering by Hashtag
To filter your Feed by a hashtag, click on a hashtag link in a post or comment.
Alternatively, select the Hashtag filter from the feed toolbar. You can type the name of the hashtag you want to filter by, or you can choose the hashtag from the drop-down menu. While you can add a new hashtag at any time, you can filter by a hashtag only if that hashtag is already included in a post or a comment in your Community.
For a broader overview of mentions and hashtags, see Mentions and Hashtags.
Some Ways to Use Hashtags
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Use hashtags to point out connections that relate to the course, to help contextualize the content and relate it to your own life, or to function like Topics in courses where the instructor takes a hands-off approach to discussion management.
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Create hashtags that can help you express how confident you are in your posts and comments. For example, if you are answering another student's question, you could use the hashtag #uncertain when you are in the process of solidifying your views on a certain topic or aren't 100% sure in your answer. You could use #confident or #certain to signify that you are more confident in an answer. This can alleviate some hesitation you may feel when you aren't completely confident in a part of your Post, but you still want to be helpful or want to try to get the conversation started.
Reactions
Reactions are ways of liking, applauding, or otherwise acknowledging others' Posts and Comments. Depending on Community settings, those who earn Reactions receive a point boost. To react to a Post or Comment, hover over the Post or Comment you're reacting to and click the "smiley face" icon in the lower left-hand corner
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