Discussion and Feed User Experience

Introduction

The Community platform has the Discussion and Feed modules for the user experience, with a couple of key highlights:

• Discussion Author and Age
• Side drawer for discussion items
• Action icons and links
• Visualization for the number of followers, posts, comments, replies, and likes
• How to Filter with Tags in Discussions and Posts
• Expansion of the number of replies in a thread
• Attaching media and files to posts

Discussion Author and Age

Each discussion will display the author's name and avatar. There will also be an indicator showing the age of the discussion for users to engage and follow along is discussion conversations.

• Each post will have the option to Post Title. Posts that lead with a compelling headline or caption can hook attention and encourage users to engage (like, comment, share). The new post title is optional, posts can be created with or without a title.

Side Drawer for Discussion Items

The drawer design allows users to engage with the discussions and posts in a way where the main items remain in view, making it easier to reference post details when adding comments or replies. The width of the drawer can be increased or decreased by clicking and dragging the left margin.

The drawer will be used when:

• Adding an optional Post Title
• Adding a new discussion
• Adding a new post

• Tags

  

  Commenting and replying on a post, and viewing comments and replies are displayed beneath the post.

Action Icons and Links

The action buttons are styled and organized so that space at the bottom of the discussions and posts is reserved for engaging with them. The actions available within the ellipsis will include editing, deleting, reporting, pinning, copying the link, and making an announcement (for posts only). The ellipsis allows you to easily share your posts with a Copy Link action.

All the various icons available within the ellipsis: 

*All users assume they are members of the group in order to view and engage with discussions and feed.

Visualization for the Number of Followers, Posts, Comments, Replies, Likes, and Tags

Counter Icons provide a visually appealing representation of the number of interactions and will automatically inherit your site's styles. With discussions and posts truncated and limited by height, a See more link has been added in the lower-left area.

At the discussion level, the number of followers and posts within each discussion will be displayed. Clicking Posts will take the user to view the posts in the discussion.

At the post level, the number of likes and comments for each will be displayed. Both remain actionable: click "like" to like the post, or click "comment" to view comments or comment on the post. The number of tags is also reflected in this area. 

How to Filter with Tags in Discussions and Posts

The filter options in the discussion and feed modules will only display tags that are relevant, so users will see only filter options with matching results.

In the example below, only six filters appear because they’ve been used to tag discussion topics, even though many more tags exist under the Tag Types within the Tags tab on the Admin page.

Expanding the Number of Replies in a Thread

There is no known limit to the number of replies of replies within a post and comment thread. 

Attaching Media and Files to Posts

Posts within Discussions and Feed can have media and/or files attached. 

• When attaching Media, JPG and PNG file types are supported. This displays the image in the post.
• When attaching Files, JPG, PNG, MP4, and PDF file types are supported. These files will display as downloadable links at the bottom of the post.
• Media and hyperlinks can be added to the Comments and Replies within Discussions and Feed.
   

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